Illinois golf is getting stronger and stronger each week. After a solid performance at the Windon Memorial Classic, the Illini finished in fourth place, just a mere three strokes behind runners-up Purdue and California.

Minnesota took the title home with a score of 5-under par.

Heading into the final round of play Tuesday, the Orange and Blue were in second place of the 17-team field. But with a shaky third round, the squad fell two spots on the leaderboard.

Despite the team's slip, senior Joe Affrunti felt the team would learn from its drop in the standings and not repeat its mistakes.

"We need to figure out how to play better in the second round," Affrunti said. "We can't be content with our first two rounds of play and focus on the third round. Even if we are in the lead we need to concentrate."

Affrunti was the leading contender for the Orange and Blue in the past two tournaments. Two weeks ago, he led the Illini in fourth place at the Inverness Intercollegiate.

His performance this week was no comparison to his previous games of play.

Affrunti recorded the highest finish of his collegiate career Tuesday, finishing in a three way tie for runner up at 5-under par. In the second round of the competition, he carded an outstanding round of 66, marking the lowest score of an Illini golfer this season. This score also tied with the third-lowest round in school history.

"I feel like this course sets up well for me," Affrunti said. "It's pretty traditional — played like a lot of the courses I grew up playing. After struggling a bit in the first round, I really put it together in round two."

Head coach Mike Small was more than pleased with Affrunti's performance and hoped for continued success.

"Joe played really well," Small said. "He played well at Inverness, too. He is coming around as a player and learning about himself. He finished strong and had some nice shots."

Following in Affrunti's lead, junior Garrett Chaussard finished strong on the individual board as well. He tied for 13th place at 2-over par with rounds of 72-72-74. Patrick Nagle carded rounds of 72-76-76 to finish at 9-over par.

Unfortunately, the team did not fulfill its goal of every tournament: winning.

"The whole goal of every tournament is to win," Small said. "There is still room for improvement. Our goal is always to go and win."

Although the Illini didn't finish as the leader of the pack, they learned a lot from this prestigious event.

"We'll take good things away from it and work on the things we didn't do well," Small said. "There were a lot of bright spots and everyone helped to a certain extent. We are making good progression."

The team was not content with their overall finish and hoped to improve by their next appearance. The team will travel to California for the Alister MacKenzie Invitational on Oct. 13 and 14 and anticipates a step in the right direction.