URBANA, Ill. - The Coyote men's golf team will take on one of their toughest challenges of the season this weekend as they compete in the Fighting Illini Spring Collegiate.  The two-day, three-round event will take place Saturday and Sunday at the Atkins Golf Club in Urbana, Illinois.

The Coyotes' lineup will include Nick LaMotte, Max Schmidtke, Logan Hamak, Cole Witherow and Ryan Neff.  This will be their final competition before the Summit League Championships which are set for April 28^th through 30^th. 
 
The Illini Spring Invitational features one of the more challenging fields USD will see this year.  The 12-team field features seven squads from power six conferences.  Four teams hail from the Big Ten.  The two teams from the MAC finished second and third in that league last year, while Loyola Chicago finished second in the Atlantic 10.  South Dakota will be the only Summit League team competing in the event.  The field includes Ball State (MAC), Butler (Big East), DePaul (Big East), Illinois (Big Ten), Loyola Chicago (Atlantic 10), Marquette (Big East), Michigan (Big Ten), Michigan State (Big Ten), Northwestern (Big Ten), South Dakota (Summit), Toledo (MAC) and UC San Diego (Big West). 
 
The tournament, hosted by the University of Illinois, will tee off early Saturday morning.  Round two will commence immediately following the conclusion of the first round.  The third and final round will begin early on Sunday.  The Atkins Golf Club opened in 1999.  The University of Illinois took ownership of the course in 2020 and renovated and lengthened it into a championship caliber course.
 
Live stats can be found here.  Follow @SDCoyotesMGolf on Twitter/X for updates throughout the tournament.