This week's Missouri Valley Conference golfers of the week include Illinois State's David Perkins, Southern Illinois' Matthis Besard and Loyola's Elayna Bowser.

MEN'S RECAPS
Evansville and Southern Illinois copmeted at the Fuzzy Zoeller Intercollegiate, which was played at Champions Pointe Golf Club in Henryville, Ind., with a Par 72 and 7,174-yard layout.  Playing in his first-ever collegiate tournament, freshman Matthis Besard of Southern Illinois led wire-to-wire after shooting a first-round 66 (-6). He led the field in birdies and par-4 scoring, but it was a par that earned him the win. In the final round, after hitting a ball in the water and taking a drop on the eighth hole, Besard holed out from 70 yards away and ended up winning the tournament by one stroke over teammates Gannon and Thomas with a three-round 66-70-71 (207, -9).  Dallas Koth was Evansville's top player as he led the team with a tie for 27th place.  He notched scores of 74 and an even 72 on his way to a 219.

Illinois State dominated a field that consisted of five teams that advanced to the NCAA Regionals last season, and two to the NCAA Championships, leading wire-to-wire and finishing with a nine-under 855 to claim the 2018 Badger Invitational Title.  The Redbirds' three-round score of 855 is the 10th-best in tournament history, and was four strokes better than 2018 NCAA Championships qualifier Kansas, and eight strokes ahead of Iowa State – who also competed in the 2018 NCAA Championships. Nevada tied with Iowa State with an 863. Marquette took fifth with an 867 as Illinois State also finished ahead of Notre Dame, Rutgers, and host Wisconsin in the 12-team field.  Each of the five golfers for ISU finished inside of the top-30 overall, led by David Perkins, whose three-round total of 208 (-8) saw him finish in a tie for third, which is also the ninth-best single-tournament total in Badger Invitational history.  Perkins continued his strong second round which tied him for the collegiate course record, shooting a 69 (-3) on the day. He started strong, and was two-under at the turn with two birdies and seven pars, as he opened his back nine with two more birdies against six pars. His lone above-par number came on the final hole of the tournament, as he snapped a 37-hole bogey-less stretch for the junior.

Bradley's Drake Bushong (Sr., Pekin, Ill.) picked up where he left off in 2017-18 after winning MVC medalist honors, by pacing the Bradley men’s golf team at the 2018 Golfweek Program Challenge in Myrtle Beach, S.C.  He finished at 3-under 213 at the par-72 True Blue Golf Club to tie for 15th overall.  After matching 72’s in the first two rounds, Bushong carded a three-under 69 in the final round.  His 213 matched the second-lowest 54-hole score of his Bradley career and was his lowest score in a three-round event since his freshman season.  Bushong’s final round 69 was his eight career round in the 60’s, which is tied for the third most in Bradley history.  He helped the Braves to a ninth-place team finish in the men’s tournament at one-under 863 for the eighth lowest 54-hole team scoring in program history. The Bradley men’s and women’s teams combined to finish sixth overall in the 14-team field at the Golfweek Program Challenge.  Valpo also competed in the event, and the Crusaders were led by Charlie Toman, who fired a three-round 216, which included a 69 in the opening round.  Valpo's Mitchell Wittmann also carded a first-round 69 and finished tied for 40th with a 219.

Three men's teams competed at the Gene Miranda Falcoln Invitational at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.  Colorado won the event with a three-round team score of 855.  Missouri State (871, 7th), UNI (895, 15th) and Drake (904, 16th) represented the MVC.  The top MVC finisher in the event was UNI's Sam Sacquitne.  He finished T12th with a three-round 214.  Brad Carpenter of Missouri State was right behind with a three-round 216, tying for 17th place.  Chase Wicklund was the Bulldogs' top scorer over the three days with a 222 (75-72-75) to tie for 46th place. 

Upcoming MVC Men's Golf Schedule:
 

Date	Event	Site	MVC Teams
Sept. 15-16	Eastern Kentucky Intercollegiate	Richmond, Ky.	UE
Sept. 16-18	Iowa Golfweek Conference Challenge	Cedar Rapids, Iowa	SIU
Sept. 17-18	Crusader Collegiate	Chesterton, Ind.	BU, LUC, UNI, VU
Sept. 17-18	Ram Masters Invitational	Fort Collins, Colo.	ILS
Sept. 17-18	Sam Hall Intercollegiate	Hattiesburg, Miss.	MSU

WOMEN'S RECAPS
Six MVC women's golf programs competed at the Redbird Invitational (Drake, Evansville, Illinois State, Loyola and UNI).  Loyola senior Elayna Bowser (Dearborn, Mich.) shattered the program's 54-hole school record as the Ramblers opened their 2018 fall season.  Bolstered by a career-low tying 72 during final-round play, she product closed the two-day event with a 221 (75-74-72) that bested the previous 54-hole low by three strokes.  Bowser, who has led Loyola in stroke average in each of the past two seasons, was the top Valley finisher at the event, claiming fifth overall.  UNI finished fourth as the Panthers were the highest finisher among Missouri Valley Conference teams (see below).  The Panthers had their best round of the tournament with a third-round score of 303, to finish with a final score 921. Hannah Bermel finished in a tie for 12th place to lead the way for UNI.

Illinois State's Caitlin Sims shot a 6-over-par 78 (39-39) in Monday's third and final round to finish in a 14th place tie at the par-72, 6,002-yard Weibring Golf Club.  After picking up two birdies in the final round, one on each side, Sims ended the Redbird Invite with a final score of 227 (75-74-78).  Evansville's Sydney Anderson also tied for 14th place as she carded a 3-over 75 to finish the event with a 227.  A day after recording her best score as a Bulldog with a 73 during the second round, Sigurlaug Jonsdottir (Hafnarfjordur, Iceland) posted a 2-over par 74 (38-36) during the final round to lead the Bulldogs. She finished as Drake's top scorer with an 11-over par 227 (80-73-74) that also tied for 14th individually in the 84 golfer field.

Team Scores
1 Northern Illinois 296-288-298--882
2 Eastern Kentucky 304-295-300--899 
3 Ball State 305-309-302--916 
4 Northern Iowa 311-307-303--921 
5 Bowling Green State 304-316-304--924 
6 Ohio University 310-312-304--926 
7 Illinois State 306-312-310--928 
8 Drake 321-305-308--934 
9 Loyola 311-308-318--937 
9 Evansville 315-311-311--937 
11 Akron 313-319-311--943 
12 Butler 315-328-314--957 
13 W Illinois 333-328-336--997
14 IWU 333 336 333 1002 +138 


Bradley's Frankie Saban (Sr., Orland Park, Ill.) tied for 25th at the season-opening Golfweek Program Challenge in Myrtle Beach, S.C., helping the Bradley women’s golf team tie for seventh in the women’s portion of the event.  She finished at 10-over 223 to pace the Braves at the par-71 Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, posting rounds of 77, 72 and 74 during the three-day event. Bradley’s 906 ranks as the 11th-best 54-hole score in program history.  Saban helped the Bradley women combine with the BU men’s team to finish sixth overall in the 14-team field at the Golfweek Program Challenge.  Valpo also competed at the event.  The Crusaders withdrew from Tuesday’s final round in order to travel back to Indiana prior to the arrival of Hurricane Florence.  Junior Tiffany Curtis (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point) led Valpo in the first tournament of the season, finishing with a 36-hole score of 156.

Two MVC women's teams competed at the MSU/Payne Stewart Memorial, the Missouri State women's golf team came in sixth shooting 308-295-305—908. Individually, Sydney Colwill of Memphis took the overall title after beating Linette Holmslykke of Murray State following a sudden death playoff on the second extra hole. In the team results Memphis finished first with 860, 13 strokes ahead of second place UTEP (873). Murray State (886) came in third followed by, Wichita State (891), Oral Roberts (897), the Bears (908), Arkansas State (911), Southern Illinois (913), Oklahoma City U. (929), Omaha (933), UMKC (934), Little Rock (936), Creighton (963), Drury (975), William Woods (1009).  Missouri State freshman Abby Cavaiani remained in the top 20 (tying for 18th) after shooting 74-71-79—224.  Southern Illinois sophomore Moyea Russell carded her best score in the final round, shooting a 68 (-3) on the par-71 course and breaking the top 10 (T8 with a three-round 219).

Upcoming MVC Women's Golf Schedule:
 

Date	Event	Site	MVC Teams
Sept. 17-18	Loyola Fall Invitational	Flossmoor, Ill.	DU, LUC, VU
Sept. 17-18	Cardinal Classic	Yorktown, Ind.	BU, UE, ILS, INS, SIU
Sept. 24-25	Golden Grizzlies Invitational	Pontiac, Mich.	LUC