The 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Golf Championship takes place Sunday, April 24-Tuesday, April 26. Teams will play 54 holes over three days at the par-72, 7,014-yard layout at the Country Club of Paducah, in Paducah, Ky.
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Saturday, April 23 -- Practice Rounds
Sunday, April 24 -- Tee Times, beginning at 9:30 am CT (all teams off No. 1)
Monday, April 25 -- Tee Times, beginning at 9 am CT (all teams off No. 1)
Tuesday, April 26 -- Tee Times, beginning at 9:30 am CT (split tees)
Illinois State entered the spring season as the coaches top choice, and the Redbirds enter the championship as the top-rated MVC program in GolfStat's team rankings (121). Illinois State has one regular-season championship to its credit. Drake (2) and Valparaiso (1) have also earned a team title during the 2021-22 campaign. Southern Illinois (160) follows ISU in the GolfStat rankings, with Valparaiso (161) right behind. The Salukis had the league's best team statistical ranking, with an average team score of 4.50 strokes over par. Valpo's average team score of 291.67 was the league's best.
MVC Coaches Poll (February)
2022 Championship Central
GolfStat Team & Player Rankings
Live Scoring
Joe Hodgson leads the Redbirds in scoring average, and he has played in 33 rounds this season, averaging 73.2 strokes per round. The senior has 14 rounds at or under par this season, and he has a top-10 finish at the Badger Invitational. A transfer from Lander University, Valentin Peugnet is second on the team in scoring average at 74.3 strokes per round. The two-time MVC Golfer of the Week has had a dozen rounds at or under par during the season in the 11 tournaments and had a season-low scoring round of 70, set twice during the season, the first at the Badger Invitational and the second most recently at the Boilermaker Invitational during the spring.
Matthis Besard of Southern Illinois is currently ranked No. 145 in NCAA Division I on Golfstat.com (as of April 19) and enters the 2022 MVC Championship with a league-best stroke average of 70.20 through 30 rounds this year. He fired a season-best round of 64 (-8) at the Savannah Harbor Invitational, finishing first with a mark of 200 (-16) for the all-time low 54-hole score in Southern Illinois men's golf program history. His seven collegiate-career individual tournament wins are the most at SIU and he is the all-time leader in career rounds in the 60s at Southern Illinois. He finished in the Top-3 in seven consecutive starts with his four wins. Meanwhile, Birgir Magnusson enters the 2022 MVC Championship with the league’s ninth best stroke average, 73.73 through 26 rounds this season. He has had 24 rounds in the 70s and had his best tournament at the 2022 Shark Invitational, where he finished first overall earning him MVC Golfer of the Week honors.
Coach David Gring's Valparaiso squad is balanced, led by junior Caleb VanArragon. In 12 tournaments, he owns nine top-10 finishes including eight top-5 outings and five top-2 performances. VanArragon was medalist at the Spirit Hollow Fall Shootout and Dove Mountain Intercollegiate and individual runner-up at the Valpo Fall Invitational, Zach Johnson Invitational and TVA Community Credit Union Invitational. He was named the MVC Golfer of the Week six times this season and has earned that honor 11 times in his career, becoming just the sixth golfer in conference history to accumulate 10 or more weekly honors. He is in position to set the modern program record for single-season scoring average for the third consecutive season and will own the top three single-season scoring averages in program history at season’s end.
Devin Johnson of Loyola holds a team-low 72.6 stroke average across 21 rounds of play this season that leads the Rambler roster and ranks fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference. He fired 10 rounds at or below par and shot a season-low four-under-par 67 during the second round of the Zach Johnson Invitational. Johnson was named MVC Golfer of the Week after earning a share of third place (71) at the Redhawk Invitational.
Drake's top golfer is Tim Lim. He leads the Bulldogs with a 71.7 stroke average per round. Lim shot a season low 67 twice in both the ODU/OBX Invitational and at the Twins Oaks Intercollegiate Mar. 21-22 finished tied for eighth thru 36 holes. Lim shared medalist honors with Caleb VanArragon of Valpo with an even par 72 at the Spirit Hollow Shootout in the fall. He was twice named MVC Golfer of the Week.
Griffin Parker was UNI's top finisher in five of the Panthers' eight tournaments this season. He tied for first at the SDSU Invite, where he carded a 70 in two rounds to finish -4 par. He was in the top 25 in seven of the eight tournaments and placed in the top 15 in five tournaments. He averaged 73.22 and carded a low of 67 in the final round of the Zach Johnson Invite. He ranks sixth in the league in stroke average.
Missouri State has one of the league's top newcomers in Alex Locke. Locke ranks first on the team in scoring average at 73.41. He owns six top-20 finishes in 29 rounds and 10 events with no rounds above 77. His best finish was 12th at the Kansas State Invitational at Colbert Hills as he earned MVC Player of the Week honors. Locke carded a final round 68 in Phoenix at the Loyola Intercollegiate to help the Bears to a school record 272 (-16) and a 3rd place team finish.
Bradley's most consistent golfer has been junior Josh Kirkham. He was Bradley’s top finisher in nine of 10 events, while leading the team with a 73.96 stroke average, which ranks 10th among Bradley season marks. Kirkham has a team-best two top-10 finishes, and he posted seven top-20 finishes. He posted a 71.71 average over the final seven rounds of the regular season.
Isaac Rohleder will lead the Purple Aces into the MVC Championship. The junior played in 10 events and averaged 77.36 in 2021-22. Last year, he was Evansville's top performer with a 74.57 stroke average over 14 rounds of play. He tied for 21st at the 2021 MVC Championship.