CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
Nine MVC men's golf programs will compete in the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Golf Championship (April 26-28). Teams will play 54 holes over three days on the par-71, 6,860-yard layout at Annbriar Golf Course in Waterloo, Ill. The top three MVC men's programs in the most recent NCAA rankings — Southern Illinois, Illinois State, and Drake — will be paired together on the first day of the championship.
TJ Barger of Illinois State highlights three ISU golfers who rank in the top eight in the MVC Clippd national rankings. Barger leads ISU with a 71.1 stroke average, on pace to be the 11th-lowest single-season scoring average in MVC history. Of his 32 rounds this season, 22 have been at or under par, with six top-10 finishes in 11 tournaments. He is joined in the top eight by Max Fauczuez and Pietro Pontiggia.
Five Salukis rank in the top 11 in the NCAA rankings, including Anthony De Schutter (2nd in MVC), newcomer Jaeseung Na (3rd), Ben Keil (4th), Blake Saffell (9th), and freshman Michael Mikus (11th). De Schutter carries a 71.2 scoring average and won three tournaments this season — only the second Saluki ever to do so in a single year — with four top-10, eight top-20, and nine top-25 finishes. Na averaged 72.5, recorded two top-three and five top-25 finishes, and tied SIU's school 18-hole record with a 64. Keil was named MVC Golfer of the Week after finishing third at the Hawkeye Invitational and ranked second on the team in scoring in three separate events.
Three other MVC schools have golfers in the top 10 of the Clippd MVC rankings. Bradley's Carter Stevenson averages 72.11, with three top-five finishes, seven top-20 finishes in nine tournaments, and five straight finishes of 16th or better entering the championship. Drake is led by Nate Spear (73.23 average, four rounds in the 60s, one top-five, one top-10, three top-25) and Sam Johnson (74.30 average, one top-five, three top-25). Defending medalist Trey Wall leads Murray State with a team-low 72.95 average. Across 32 rounds in 11 events, Wall had seven top-15 finishes including five top-10s, with a best finish of runner-up at both the Joe Feaganes Marshall Invitational and the Grover Page Classic.
- 2025-26 NCAA Team and Player Rankings: Click Here
- Preseason Poll (voted on by coaches in February prior to Spring play): Click Here
- MVC Golf (Men's/Women's Record Book): Click Here (PDF)
About the Course (
Website)
For 32 years, Annbriar Golf Course in Waterloo, Illinois has welcomed golfers to a hidden gem nestled in a small town just outside of St. Louis. Since opening in 1993, Annbriar has earned recognition as a Top 50 Golf Course and has become the hometown destination for golf the whole family can enjoy. Annbriar has proudly hosted premier tournaments, including:
- Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Championship (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
- Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Championship (2026)
- Korn Ferry Tour Qualifier (2025 & 2026)
2025 Men's Golf Championship Recap
Illinois State earned a three-stroke victory over second-place Murray State in a 54-hole championship that went down to the wire. Murray State's Trey Wall took medalist honors at Missouri Valley Conference Men's Golf Championship at the par-72, 7,267-yard Des Moines Golf & Country Club (North Course) in West Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by Drake University. With a final-round 285, the Redbirds tied for the lowest round of Tuesday, and the team’s 856 out-distanced Murray State’s 859. Belmont (866), Drake (873), Valparaiso (875), Northern Iowa (880), Southern Illinois (883), Bradley (889), Evansville (896), and Missouri State (907) rounded out the 10 schools in the tournament field. Wall became the first student-athlete from the Murray State men's golf program to win the Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championship Tuesday when he carded a final round 3-under-par 69 to secure a two-shot victory. Wall, a redshirt freshman from Benton, Ky., had a tremendous first day at the event when bad weather on Sunday pushed Monday to become a 36-hole day. Wall shot a score of 70 in the morning and then posted a game-changing 67 in the afternoon to create a one-shot lead. The Racers had their best finish in three tries at The Valley title of second place, after a fifth in 2023 and a fourth in 2024.