This week's Missouri Valley Conference golfers of the week include Illinois State's TJ Barger, Evansville's Louise Standtke, Illinois State's Elise Fennell, and Belmont's Sloane Biddle. All were medalists in their respective events.
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Illinois State redshirt junior TJ Barger reached a mark not yet accomplished by a Redbird golfer, as the Bloomington native became the first golfer in program history to card a 62 for an 18-hole score, breaking the previous mark of 63 set in 2007 by Tommy Bliefnick and Joe Emerich on back-to-back days. In the second round Barger had a bogey-free round with eight birdies and eight pars for his eight-under 62 on the par-70 course. His two-round score of 132 also set the school record for a 36-hole tournament, breaking the previous record of 135 set by Felix van Dijk in February last season. ISU earned the team runner-up in the smaller event, as the Birds were narrowly edged out by tournament host Northern Illinois 553-to-555. Central Michigan (597), Southwestern CC (606), Aurora (607), Highland CC (623), and Chicago State (631) rounded out the seven schools in the tournament field. The new record-holder was the individual medalist in the one-day event
The Drake men's golf team wrapped up its time at the Tiger Invitational on Tuesday and ended the tournament tied for ninth place among an 18-team field. The Bulldogs finished with a team score of 874 (295-297-282) after 54 holes of play. Senior Jack Dumas had the top performance for Drake and earned himself a top-10 finish tying for eighth place on the leaderboard. Dumas improved each round of the tournament recording rounds of 74, 70, and 69 en route to his 213 total. The LeClaire, Iowa native had the ball rolling on the greens making 11 birdies over the tournament, which was tied for the second most in the field.
UNI's men's program competed at the WIU Intercollegiate at the TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. Junior Nile Petersen led the Panthers, finishing in a tie for second place at the WIU Intercollegiate, shooting a total score of 217 (+4). Petersen shot consistently over the two-day tournament, shooting a new career best round score with a 69 in round two, a 73 in the first round, and finishing the third round with a 75. Petersen sank eight birdies and 12 bogeys in his season's best finish. The team finished fourth in the nine-team field.
Masatoyo Kato recorded a 2-under 69 to pace the University of Evansville men's golf team in the final round of the Tennessee State Big Blue Intercollegiate at Hermitage Golf Club. Kato opened the event on Monday with scores of 72 and 74. Combined with Tuesday's round of 69, he finished the tournament with a 2-over 215 to tie for 11th. Evansville finished in 6th place in the team standings, wrapping up the tournament at 18-over-par. UE was four behind 5th place finisher Eastern Illinois. Arkansas-Pine Bluff took top team honors as they wrapped up the 3-round event at 4-under.
WOMEN
Belmont University women's golfer Sloane Biddle claimed medalist honors at the Brickyard Collegiate hosted by Mercer University on Tuesday. She recorded Belmont's first individual tournament title of the season and first for Belmont since teammate Chloe Tarkany in The Velvet tournament in Paducah, Ky., in September 2023. Biddle's total of one over par 145 (73-72) is the best 36-hole score for a Bruin since Delia Gibbs posted 142 in the 2022-23 season. Biddle becomes the 10th different Bruin to win an individual tournament title and third freshman in program history. Belmont placed sixth on the team leaderboard with a 36-hole total of 627.
Illinois State freshman Elise Fennell became just the seventh freshman in program history to earn a tournament medalist honor, as she carded a three-round 209, tied for the second-lowest tournament score in program history, and the lowest-ever by a Redbird freshman. Fennell had rounds of 68, 70, and 71 en route to her 209, a stroke better than the previous freshman school record of 210 set by classmate Jessica Jolly at the Clash of Boulder Creek from October 20-22 this fall. She joins Brianna Cooper (2010-11), Samantha Richdale (2002-03), Suzanne Walker (1996-97), Jane Hawkins (1985-86), Karen Schulthes (1980-81), and Pam Tyska (1979-80) as the only freshmen to have earned medalist honors while as a member of the Redbirds. The Redbirds finished fourth in the 16-school tournament with an 882, the 11th-lowest tournament score in program history, using rounds of 294, 292, and 296, all within the 55 lowest single-round scores in program history. Illinois won the team title with an 875. Bradley was also at the event. Jillian Cosler paced the Braves at 13-over-par, finishing tied for 45th. The Braves were 13th in the 16-team field.
Four league teams (Evansville, UIC, Indiana State, Valparaiso) competed at the Indiana State Spring Invitational this week. Evansville freshman Louise Standtke recorded an even round of 72 on Monday to take top honors at the Country Club of Terre Haute. After opening with a 1-under 71 on Sunday, Standtke's even par of 72 gave her a final score of 143. She bested Hunar Mittal and Olivia Jang of Purdue Fort Wayne by three strokes. It is the first victory of her Purple Aces career and second in a row for the program following Kate Petrova's win in last week's Golfweek/Stifel Spring Challenge. Indiana State took third place in its own event. The third-place finish marked the fourth-straight year that the Sycamores placed third in this tournament, dating back to the 2021-22 season. As a team, the Trees shot a combined 601 (+25, 295-306), finishing just behind Evansville (+25, 600) and five shots behind the winner Purdue Fort Wayne (+20, 596). PFW won this tournament last year, as well. Indiana State was led by a trio of Trees, all three tying in sixth place with a score of 149. Those three Sycamores were Briana LeMaire (71-78), Sophia Florek (71-78), and Alana Gilbert (77-72). UIC finished fourth in the team standings. The Flames were led by junior Chaewon Jeong, who had a career best finish placing fourth (+8). The three-over-par score was tied for the best two round score for Jeong this season. Katie Schreiner of Valparaiso turned in a solid tournament with a 36-hole score of 154 (+10). She posted a 78 (+6) on Monday including a birdie on the 12th hole. The 154 was one stroke away from cracking the program's all-time top 10 for 36-hole tournament score. Schreiner was two strokes away from a top 10, finishing at t-13. Valpo finished fifth in the eight-team field.
Two women's programs (Drake, UNI) competed at the WIU Intercollegiate at the TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill., over the weekend. UNI was second (924). UNI redshirt senior Victoria Hualde led the Panther women, finishing in fourth place with a final 226 (+13) score. Hualde scored 78-71-77, shooting her best tournament round score in round two. Hualde made six birdies and 16 bogeys throughout the tournament. Drake finished in fourth place out of five teams after firing a 309 in the final round on Saturday. The Bulldogs' final round was the lowest score among the field, but previous rounds of 315 and 318 put Drake's 54-hole total at 942. Drake was led by Julie Huggins, who tied for seventh at 231. Huggins was consistent throughout her 54-holes of play posting rounds of 75-78-78. North Dakota won the team title (915), and UND's Kylie Warner captured medalist honors.
Missouri State's women's golf squad tied for 10th place Tuesday in the final round of the 2025 "Mo" Morial Invitational at the par-72 Traditions Club. The Bears finished the 54-hole event with rounds of 319-323-319--961. Kiser Pannier (75-77-80--232) was Missouri State's top individual finisher, tying for 17th in the field of 84 individuals with a 16-over-par finish.
Southern Illinois Women's Golf completed its final regular season tournament with a 13th-place finish in the Terps Invitational Monday, April 7, in College Park, Md. Calli Smith was the team's highest finisher shooting every round under 80 and a combined score of 234 (+18), her lowest of the season. SIU took 13th in the team standings.