Illinois men’s golf will play in a 13-team NCAA regional that includes the No. 1 overall seed and a host school both from the Southeastern Conference.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

May 6, 2026

In order for Illinois to advance to its 17th NCAA Championship in the last 18 years, they’ll need to do so in a regional with the top-ranked college program, the world’s best amateur player and a host school.
The Illini men’s golf program received the second seed in the NCAA Athens (Ga.) Regional where the top seed in that region is the No. 1 overall seed Auburn.

Illinois is coming off its third consecutive runner-up finish in the Big Ten Championships and will enter NCAA regional play as the No. 12-ranked program in the nation - the highest ranked cold weather/Midwest Division 1 program.

In back-to-back years UCLA topped Illinois as the Bruins remained undefeated in the conference title event as a Big Ten Conference member with the 2026 version seeing UCLA survive what was nearly a historic comeback effort from Mike Small’s Illini squad.

Starting the day 15 strokes back and in third place, Illinois actually managed to make up the entire deficit before the final group reached the 15th tee. However, UCLA’s top players played the final three holes of Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Oregon brilliantly to build back their winning four-stroke margin.

Auburn was awarded the national No. 1 seed for the third straight season during the regional field reveal on The Golf Channel on Wednesday afternoon and will travel just 180 miles north to play in its NCAA regional. The Tigers have five stroke play wins this spring season including being the top team after medal play in the 2026 Southeastern Conference Championships. The SEC has a stroke play and match play bracket format similar to the NCAA Championship format to crown its league champion, which Auburn lost in the semifinals to Mississippi. Auburn will line up with the world’s No. 1-ranked amateur player, Jackson Koivun, as its anchor player in the five-golfer lineup. Koivun became the top-ranked amateur player nearly a full year ago and elected to return for his junior season after a runner-up finish in the 2025 NCAA Championships and becoming the first player ever to sweep all four major collegiate awards in the same season, the Haskins Award, Jack Nicklaus Award, Ben Hogan Award and Phil Mickelson Award. In the summer before the 2025-26 season, Koivun led the United States to win in the 50th edition of the Walker Cup accounted for three of the USA’s points with one win in foursomes and two in singles. He then had a successful three-month stretch using sponsors exemptions on The PGA Tour to make six weekend cuts in seven cuts including three Top 10 finishes with the only missed cut being the 2025 United States Open Championship.

Illinois will begin Monday's round of competition playing alongside Auburn and No. 13-ranked and No. 3 seed Vanderbilt with the first tee time set for 8 a.m. CST. Illinois, Auburn and Vanderbilt will be joined in this regional by Brigham Young, Georgia, Louisville, Kansas, Northwestern, College of Charleston, Rice, Southern Mississippi, Harvard, and Howard.

In a reverse from last season where Illinois, for the first time in school history, hosted a NCAA regional at Atkins Golf Club in Urbana, and finished tied for first with Oklahoma State, the Illini will enter a regional against a host school. Georgia, the No. 5 seed in this regional, will have the opportunity to play on its home course starting next week.

Today’s selection marks the Illini's 21st NCAA regional appearance under head coach Mike Small, and the program's 24th since 1989. Small has led the Illini to seven NCAA Regional titles, including each of the last two seasons at the Stanford Regional in 2024 and the Urbana Regional hosted at Atkins Golf Club in 2025. Small's seven regional championships rank as the second-most in NCAA history – tied with former Clemson head coach Larry Penley – just one off the lead shared by Texas' John Fields and Oklahoma State's Alan Bratton.

The Big Ten Conference had six teams (UCLA, Illinois, Southern California, Oregon, Northwestern and Purdue) selected among the 81 total teams divided into the six NCAA regional fields. UCLA, the two-time Big Ten champions after defending its title last week, was selected as a five-seed in the NCAA Corvallis (Ore.) Regional hosted by Oregon State where Purdue was the No. 8 seed. USC was given the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Winston-Salem Regional hosted by Wake Forest. Northwestern will be the No. 8 seed in the NCAA Athens (Ga.) Regional. Oregon was given one of the final at-large bids into a regional by being the No. 11 seed in the NCAA Columbus (Ohio) Regional. Washington, which was ranked ranked No. 46 nationally and finished third in the Big Ten Championships, was not selected into a NCAA regional field but three of its team members will compete as individuals in the NCAA Corvallis (Ore.) Regional.

The low five teams and low individual not on a qualifying team from each of the six NCAA regional sites will advance to compete at the NCAA Championship on the North Course at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California from May 29 - June 3.

In what he’s called his “deepest lineup in years”, Small will get to pencil in four players who were just named All-Big Ten first team selections earlier this week. Ryan Voois, Max Herendeen, Dane Huddleston and Trey Marrion earned All-Big Ten first team honors, while the Illini’s likely No. 5 player next week - sophomore Freddie Turnell - was named to the All-Big Ten second team.

Herendeen was been selected for the second time in his career to compete in the 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup as part of Team USA by being the one captain’s pick on the team. Herendeen competed last summer in the prestigious Ryder Cup-style event on home soil but will once again represent Team USA as they take on Team International at Tralee Golf Links in West Barrow, Ireland from July 3-5. Herendeen is the eighth different Illini men's golfer to compete at the Palmer Cup. Illinois has now sent a representative to the event five times in the last six years and 11 times since 2010. Herendeen joins Adrien Dumont de Chassart and Thomas Detry as the third Fighting Illini to play in the event twice, and the first to do so with Team USA. Other Illini to compete in the Arnold Palmer Cup are: Tommy Kuhl (2023), Adrien Dumont de Chassart (2021 and 2022), Nick Hardy (2017), Charlie Danielson (2016), Thomas Detry (2014 and 2015), Thomas Pieters (2012), and Scott Langley (2010).