Missouri Valley Conference men's golf programs have started their spring schedule, and coaches have voted Illinois State as the league favorite. The Redbirds received nine of 10 first-place votes and 99 total points to earn the top spot in the poll. Valparaiso received the remaining first-place tally, and the Beacons are picked second with 91 points.
The league spring season culminates at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship, April 23-25, at Oakwood Country Club in Coal Valley, Ill. The winner will represent the Conference in the NCAA Championship.
Southern Illinois has been slotted third by the coaches, while Belmont is next with 52 total points. Bradley (52), UNI (43) and Missouri State (42) are tightly bunched for the next three positions, followed by Murray State (34), Drake (28) and Evansville (10).
Illinois State's Valentin Peugnet enters the spring season with an individual GolfStat ranking of 79 after a stellar fall season that saw him average 70.9 strokes per round with four top-10 finishes in five tournaments (he finished 16th of 75 golfers in his lone non-top-10 tournament). The squad returns its top three golfers from last seasons’ MVC Championship, including Felix van Dijk who tied for 4th and Alex McCulla who tied for 10th. Illinois State has finished inside of the top three at the MVC Championships in each of the last five tournaments, and seven of the last eight.
Valpo closed the fall season with four consecutive top-3 team finishes, finishing the fall with an .800 winning percentage at 48-12. Entering the spring, the team has finished in the top five in 19 of the program's last 22 tournaments. Reigning Missouri Valley Conference individual champion Anthony Delisanti led the team with a 70.33 scoring average this fall, followed closely by Caleb VanArragon at 70.80.
Southern Illinois had three Top-5 team finishes last fall, taking 4th (of 15) at the K-State Wildcat Invitational; 3rd (of 16) at the SIUE Derek Dolenc Invitational; and 3rd (of 9) at the Iowa Fall Classic. The team was led in the fall by Braden Hoisington and Tom Cleaton who posted team-best averages of 73.13 and 73.87, respectively.
During the 2022 fall season, Belmont posted three top-six finishes in five events with a fall best third place finish at Marshall in September. Freshman Jack Schoenberger led the team in scoring with a 72.7 average and three top-20 finishes. His best finish was a tie for third at Marshall. Graduate student Joe Bultman ranks third on the team in scoring at 73.5 and has two top-20 finishes. Bultman’s best finish was a tie for sixth place at the Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate. Bultman has the low round of the season for BU, a 66 in the second round at Marshall.
Bradley men's golf started its spring season at the Advance Golf Partners Collegiate earlier this week. In the fall, Josh Kirkham highlighted the Braves with a 72.06 stroke average and three Top 10 individual finishes. Luke Armburst, a transfer from the University of Illinois, could provide a spark for the team this spring. Armbrust had a 75.86 scoring average in the fall. Bradley had two Top 5 team finishes in the fall, taking 5th place in the Wildcat Invitational and tying for 5th at the Derek Dolenc Invitational.
UNI begins its spring season at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate (March 12-14). The Panthers finished in the Top 10 in five of its six tournaments last fall, with a best of third place in the 10-team field at the Grier Jones Shocker Invitational. Tommy Doyle ended the fall season by notching his second top-10 finish of the season as UNI men's golf closed out the fall schedule at The Clerico at the Oaks Country Club in Oklahoma.
Missouri State senior Max Kreikemeier leading the way for the Bears again after posting a 71.57 scoring average in the fall. Looking to become the Bears' first three-time all-conference performer since Will Hogan (2010-12) and just the third in school history (Rohan Allwood, 1998-2000). The Bears' top finish in the fall was sixth place at the Grier Jones Invitational in Wichita...and best score was the season-opening Jim Rivers Invitational, where they posted 288-293-294—875. Coach Neal Stafford has a solid core of seniors Kreikemeier and Carter Lee, and junior Eric Schuessler...will be looking for help from among seniors JP Lavalle and Austin Gillund, and freshmen Christian Rischer and Owen Swearingen.
The Racers started the spring portion of the 2022-23 season with a 5-4 match play win over Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tenn. In the fall, Murray State had three top-10 showings with a seventh-place finish in a strong field at the Arkansas State event in Jonesboro, Tenn. Jay Nimmo, a transfer from Mississippi State, leads the Racers with a scoring average of 73.47. Kamaren Cunningham is second on the team with a scoring average of 74.07. Both are sophomores.
Drake placed second in the Earl Yestingsmeier Match Play event Feb. 6-7 with match victories over Dayton and Loyola. Graduate students Shayne Patel and Lucas Scherf return along with seniors Nick Pittman and Silvester Tan to highlight an experienced lineup. Notably, five of Drake’s eight student-athletes are from the state of Iowa. Matt Lewis is in his 12th season as the head coach of the Drake men’s golf program.
Evansville's Nicholas Gushrowski had the low scoring average while Michael Ikejiani finished strong for the Evansville men in the fall of 2022. Averaging 74.36 strokes, Gushrowski finished with a 75 or lower in eight of his 11 rounds. Ikejiani had one of the lowest rounds in school history at the Alabama A&M Fall Invite. In the second round, he shot a 5-under 67, which was the 4th-lowest score in program history.