The 2024 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Golf Championship will take place Sunday-Tuesday, April 21-23, on the 7,060-yard, par 72 layout at The Golf Club at Porta Cima in Sunrise Beach, Mo.. All 10 MVC men's golf programs will battle for the title, which carries an automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals.
The Golf Club at Porto Cima is a Jack Nicklaus designed facility that opened in 2000. Over the last 23 years Porto Cima has hosted several Missouri Golf Association Championships, the annual Missouri Intercollegiate and the 2011, 2015 & 2019 Men’s MVC Championships. Golf Digest has recognized The Club at Porto Cima as the one of the best private golf courses in America.
Sunday, April 21
9:30 am -- Tee Times begin off Hole #1
Monday, April 22
9:00 am -- Tee Times begin off Hole #1& Hole #10
Tuesday, April 23
8:00 am -- Tee Times begin Off Hole #1 & Hole #10
Illinois State is the reigning champ as the Redbirds ran away with the 2023 MVC Championship. ISU enters this weekend as the highest-rated MVC team in the NCAA national rankings (Clippd). The Redbirds enter the tournament ranked No. 78 nationally, followed by MVC members Southern Illinois (139), Valparaiso (157), Belmont (173), and Missouri State (195).
The Redbirds have a loaded roster, led by Valentin Peugnet. He leads ISU in stroke average at 70.5 strokes per round and has two medalist honors during the season (at the Purdue Fall Invitational on October 9-10 and at the Border Olympics on February 19-20). This season he has helped Illinois State record six of the 11 lowest 54-hole tournament scores in program history, and the lowest 36-hole tournament score. Alex McCulla is second on ISU in stroke average at 70.8 per round, just seven total strokes behind Peugnet for the team lead. McCulla has one medalist honor during the year (at the Island Resort Intercollegiate) and four top-10 finishes – most on the team. He has 20 rounds (of 29 total this season) where he has carded a round at or under par, tied for the third-most in a season in school history
The Salukis have been led by the duo of newcomer Edouard Cereto and Dain Richie. Cereto leads the Salukis with a 71.69 stroke average through 32 rounds this season. His last two tournaments this spring have yielded a medalist performance (73-68-71=212 at the Hoosier Collegiate, and a third-place finish at the Hawkeye Invitational (6-under 207). He earned league golfer of the week honors both weeks. Richie was second for SIU with a 72.13 stroke average through 32 rounds. He carded 23 rounds in the 70s and eight in the 60s this year.
Valparaiso's Caleb VanArragon is the league's highest-rated player in the NCAA. He earned medalist honors on four occasions this season. He owns 16 career top-2 finishes, 24 career top-5 finishes, 34th career top-10 finishes and has won medalist honors six times in his collegiate career and VanArragon has achieved the following accolades in his career – 2022-23 NCAA Regional Qualifier (at-large), 2022-23 CSC At-Large First Team Academic All-American, three-time MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, three-time MVC Elite 17 Award winner, four-time All-MVC First Team honoree, 2020 MVC Newcomer of the Year. Teammate Anthony Delisanti enjoyed three top-5 finishes and five top-10 finishes this season. He enters the MVC Championship as the two-time defending MVC Individual Medalist, earning automatic NCAA Regional berths each of the last two seasons.
Belmont's top two golfers have been Jack Schoenberger and Michael Senn. Schoenberger leads the team in scoring with a 70.3 average, which is currently the second lowest average by a golfer in the Division I era. He posted five top-10 finishes and nine top-20 finishes (which is fourth most by a golfer at Belmont in the Division I era). Senn ranks second on the team in scoring at 70.7, while he posted four top-10 and seven top-20 finishes this year, winning the individual title at the Big Blue Intercollegiate.
Missouri State's Hampus Wijkström is on pace to shatter the school single season scoring average record, currently sits at 70.15 before the MVC Championship. He has earned MVC Golfer of the Week honors four times this season and has five top 5s and 4 top 15s in 11 tournaments. Teammate Max Kreikemeier ranks second for the Bears in stroke average with a 72.36 through 33 rounds. Kriekemeier has one individual medalist win this year, taking top honors at the Twin Oaks Intercollegiate while leading Missouri State to a third-place finish. Has had 27 of his 33 total rounds in the 70s this year with four of those in the 60s.
Drake's Emil Riegger had the lowest average for the Bulldogs with a 72.09 mark. Riegger has finished in the top five three times and top 19 six times … 17 of his total 32 rounds of par or better … 10 of 15 rounds this spring have been par or better. Murray State's duo of Lennon Albans and Jay Nimmo have paced the Racers. Albans has a 73.9 stroke average for 2023-24, while Nimmo has a 74.7 stroke average.
UNI's Griffin Parker has led the Panthers with a 73.20 average. He led UNI with top score in five tournaments, including the first four events of the season; meanwhile, JD Pollard ranked second on the Panther roster with a 73.79 average. He shot a season-low round of 63 in the final round of the Twin Oaks Intercollegiate, the best round by any UNI golfer this season. Evansville's Daniil Romashkin led UE with a 73.68 stroke average. His top finish of the season was a tie for third at the Valpo Fall Invitational. And Bradley's top performer this year has been newcomer Carter Stevenson. The freshman ranks first for Bradley in stroke average at 73.39, and he has 3 top-10 finishes (highlighted by tying the school record at the SIUE Derek Dolenc Invitational (68-67-70).
2023 RECAP
Setting marks for the lowest single-round team total at the Missouri Valley Conference Golf Championship since 1998 in each of the first two rounds, the Illinois State men's golf team ran away with the 2023 MVC Championship, the program's sixth conference title, and the first conference crown since 2007. ISU's final-round 284 put the 'Birds with a three-round 836, which is the lowest three-round tournament score in program history and second-best in MVC championship history. The Redbirds' three-round total of 836 distanced themselves from Valparaiso (849), Northern Iowa (856), Bradley (858), Murray State (862), Southern Illinois (862), Evansville (863), Belmont (869), Missouri State (882), and Drake (883). For the second consecutive season, Valparaiso's Anthony Delisanti was medalist. Delisanti shattered the MVC Championship record and the modern program record with his 54-hole score of 200 (-13), breaking a record that stood for more than 70 years.