2008 State Farm MVC Men’s Golf Championship * April 21-22, 2008 ? Davenport Country Club * Host: Northern Iowa
Tuesday Recap: The Wichita State men's golf team put the finishing touches on a dominant performance at the 2008 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship, which concluded Tuesday at the Davenport Country Club in Pleasant Valley, Iowa. The Shockers won the tournament by 24 strokes over second-place Southern Illinois, while Connor McHenry claimed individual medalist honors by finishing four strokes better than teammate Dustin Garza, who finished in second. All five Shockers earned all-conference honors as the Shockers enjoyed the largest margin of victory at the MVC championship since Tulsa won by 26 strokes in a rain-shortened 36-hole tournament in 1995.
With a 15-stroke lead after the tournament's opening rounds, the Shockers shifted into overdrive in Tuesday's action. McHenry eagled the 480-yard, par-5 No. 12 hole on his way to a 70 (-2) in the final round, finishing with a tournament-best 208 (72-66-70). Garza also posted a 70 in the final round to move into second place with a final count of 212 (70-72-70). Illinois State's Tommy Bliefnick was third with a three-round 213, and MVC Golfer of the Year Ryan Spears finished tied for fourth with a 214 (73-69-72). Southern Illinois enjoyed its best finish at the MVC men's golf championship since 1990, as the Salukis finished runner-up, 10 strokes better than third-place Illinois State. It marked the seventh title for Wichita State since 1999, while the Shockers have finished first or second at the league championship for 12-straight years.
1 Wichita State Univ. 287 279 284 850 -2
2 Southern Illinois U. 291 290 293 874 +22
3 Illinois State U. 301 298 285 884 +32
4 Drake University 298 299 301 898 +46
5 Evansville, U. of 295 300 304 899 +47
T6 Missouri State 306 300 296 902 +50
T6 Northern Iowa, 301 297 304 902 +50
8 Creighton Univ. 296 299 309 904 +52
9 Bradley University 317 309 295 921 +69
1 Connor McHenry Wichita State 72 66 70 208 -5
2 Dustin Garza Wichita State Univ. 70 72 70 212 -1
3 Tommy Bliefnick Illinois State U. 74 69 70 213 E
T4 Ryan Spears Wichita State Univ. 73 69 72 214 +1
T4 Andy White Northern Iowa, U. of 70 69 75 214 +1
T6 John Danielson Southern Illinois 73 70 73 216 +3
T6 Luke Joy Drake University 73 73 70 216 +3
8 Kyle Reddington Evansville, 71 74 72 217 +4
T9 Blake Driskell Southern Illinois 73 74 72 219 +6
T9 Zach Potter Wichita State Univ. 72 75 72 219 +6
11 Jordan Cox Southern Illinois U. 72 73 75 220 +7
12 John Sutko Creighton University 74 73 74 221 +8
T13 Phillip Collier Southern Ill. 73 73 77 223 +10
T13 Jack Courington Missouri State 75 76 72 223 +10
T15 John Cronly Missouri State 76 70 78 224 +11
T15 Joe Emerich Illinois State U. 76 79 69 224 +11
T15 Matt Kouri Creighton University 72 74 78 224 +11
T15 Tyler Sanders Wichita State 79 72 73 224 +11
T15 Jordan Weber Northern Iowa 74 77 73 224 +11
T20 Kyle Bragg Illinois State U. 78 73 74 225 +12
T20 Michael McDonnell Creighton 74 76 75 225 +12
T20 Ben Murphy Illinois State U. 75 78 72 225 +12
Monday (36-hole) Recap -- Pre-championship favorite Wichita State had a second round team score of 279 to take a commanding 15-stroke lead into Tuesday's final round at the 2008 State Farm MVC Men's Golf Championship. The Shockers shot 287-279=566 on the tournament's first day and lead second-place Southern Illinois (291-290=581). While Wichita State has a 15-stroke lead over the second-place Salukis, the middle of the pack is up for grabs as four strokes separate five teams from third to seventh place. Creighton and Evansville are knotted at 595, while Drake is in fifth at 597. Northern Iowa is right behind at 598, and Illinois State is at 599. Missouri State is eighth with a team score of 606, and Bradley is ninth with 626. Individually, three Shockers are among the top four scorers through 36 holes, including tournament leader Conor McHenry. McHenry fired a tournament-low 66 in the second round to finish the day at a four-under-par 138. Andy White of Northern Iowa is one stroke behind at 70-69=139, while Shocker teammates Dustin Garza (70-72=142) and Ryan Spears (73-69=142) are tied for third. McHenry (66), White (69), Spears (69) and Illinois State's Tommy Bliefnick (69) were the only players to break 70. Tuesday's final 18-hole round begins at 8 a.m. as teams will go off No. 1 (Creighton, Drake, Northern Iowa, Evansville, Southern Illinois, and Wichita State) and No. 10 (Illinois State, Missouri State, Bradley). The tournament is being played on the par-71, 6,633-yard Davenport Country Club in Pleasant Valley, Iowa. The tournament champ receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals.
Results: The Missouri Valley Conference will utilize live scoring, courtesy GolfStat. Click here for results/tee times.
2007 Review -- Illinois State's Ben Murphy shot a tournament low 66 on Tuesday's final round to help Illinois State to a 13-stroke victory over second-place Wichita State at the 2007 State Farm MVC Men's Golf Championship. John Sutko of Creighton fired a 68 on Tuesday to win medalist honors by four strokes over Murphy.
2008 Information --
Course: Davenport Country Club, 25500 Valley Drive, P.O. Box 507, Pleasant Valley, IA 52767
Format: Individual stroke play ? team competition. Players will play 54 holes for the medalist competition. The team score for the 54-hole competition will be comprised of the best four of five scores for each 18-hole round from each team. The final score is determined by totaling each daily round.
Pairings -- Pairings on the first day shall be determined by the pre-championship coaches’ poll. Pairings for subsequent rounds shall be based on the results of the previous round, with the highest scoring teams and individuals teeing off first. Play will begin at 8:30 AM on Monday the 20th-shotgun and 8:00 AM on Tuesday the 21st with tee times on 1 & 10.
Schedule of Events
Sunday, April 20
1:00 PM ? 2:00 PM ? Team Practice, One 5-some per team
6:00 PM ? Coaches Meeting
Monday, April 21
7:00 AM ? Range Opens
8:30 AM ? Rounds 1 & 2 begin with a Shotgun Start
Tuesday, April 22
6:30 AM ? Range Opens
8:00 AM ? Round 3 begins with Tee Times at 1 & 10
After Lunch-Post-Championship Awards Ceremony