Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Golf Championship Comes To Quad-Cities This Weekend
The 2023 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Men’s Golf Championship will take place Sunday-Tuesday, April 23-25, on the 6,760-yard, par 71 layout at Oakwood Country Club, designed by legendary golf course architect Pete Dye. Teams will play 18 holes each day, starting at 9:30 am Sunday and 9:00 am on Monday and Tuesday.
All 10 MVC men’s golf programs will battle for the title, which carries an automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals.
“We are grateful for our long-standing relationship with the Missouri Valley Conference and their belief in our regional destination as a host for championship events,” said Joan Kranovich, Vice President of Business Growth & Director, Sports QC. “This event brings ten NCAA Div1 golf programs to the Quad Cities to compete for the championship. Anytime we can bring collegiate events to the Quad Cities helps us build our QC sports portfolio, as well as introduce student-athletes to a potential place to visit, intern, and live.”
The Quad Cities previously hosted this event in 2014 at TPC Deere Run and in 2008 at the Davenport Country Club.
SCHOOL/PLAYER STATISTICS
Southern Illinois is the reigning champ as the Salukis earned a 17-stroke victory at the 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Golf Championship contested at the par-72, 7,014-yard layout at the Country Club of Paducah, in Paducah, Ky. Valparaiso was runner-up last year.
Illinois State enters the championship as the highest-rated MVC men’s golf program (109 in Golfstat’s national rankings). The Redbirds were slated as favorites in the preseason coaches poll conducted in February. The Redbirds have a balanced and talented lineup that features three among the league’s top 15 in stroke average. Valentin Peugnet cards a 73.28 average; Felix van Dijk is at 73.76; and Alex McCulla has a stroke average of 73.94 this season. The Redbirds finished the Boilermaker Invitational last week at eight under par with a three-round 844, the third-lowest team score in program history. All five Redbird golfers shot under a 220 for the tournament, led by van Dijk who tied for sixth overall with a three-round 207 (-6) and earned MVC Golfer of the Week honors.
Valparaiso has great reason for optimism heading into this year’s event, as they enter the weekend with a conference-best team scoring average of 290.13. Head coach Dave Gring’s team enters the championship with significant momentum after finishing as the team runner-up at Penn State’s Rutherford Intercollegiate, just one stroke behind the host Nittany Lions, who won their home tournament for an eighth straight season. The Valpo lineup boasts the top two scoring averages in the conference and three of the top 10. Senior Caleb VanArragon (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) leads The Valley with a 70.90 scoring average, while sophomore Anthony Delisanti (Sanborn, N.Y. / Niagara Wheatfield) – the defending MVC Championship medalist – is second at 71.47. Yianni Kostouros (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point [Ball State]) is the third Beacon in the league’s top 10 with a scoring average of 73.70.
The reigning champs, Southern Illinois, have been led by sophomore Braden Hoisington this season. He leads the team and is ninth in the Valley in scoring with a 73.73 average. He carded a season-low 67 (-5) in the third round of the SIUE Derek Dolenc Invitational and has five top-15 finishes this season with his best finish being sixth at SIUE.
Belmont hopes to find itself in the mix for the team title in its first MVC Golf Championship. The duo of Jack Schoenberger and Michael Senn lead the way for the Bruins. Schoenberger leads the team and ranks fifth in the MVC in scoring at 72.2. He’s posted three top-10s and six top-20s this season. Senn is second on the team and sixth in the MVC in scoring with a 72.6 average. He earned his first career individual title at the Ernie Denham Classic in April.
Missouri State’s Max Kreikemeier has been the best for the Bears this year. He was medalist at the Tunica National Intercollegiate with a school record-tying 205 (-11) on rounds of 70-67-68 and he recorded five other top-10 finishes. His 71.04 stroke average ranks third in the Valley. Kreikemeier is a two-time All-MVC selection and is poised to become the first Bear to be a three-time All-Conference Player.
UNI’s Griffin Parker cracked the top-10 on the leaderboard in Paducah last season, finishing strong with a 73 (+1) in the final round to take home eighth place. Entering this year’s championships, Parker has led UNI with an average score of 74.4 per round, with a season-best round of 66 this past fall at the Grier Jones Shocker Invitational and four top-10 finishes. Tommy Doyle led the Panthers with 26 rounds of 70 and a 74.7 average score, as Thomas Storbeck notched a pair of rounds in the 60s, including a team-best round of 66 at the Grier Jones for a 75.4 average.
Drake’s Lucas Scherf is among the league’s best. He won the individual championship while -12 in the Loyola Intercollegiate on Feb. 28. He takes five consecutive top-20 finishes into the MVC Championships and has twice earned MVC Golfer of the Week in 2022-23. He has a season average of 72.95, which includes a spring stroke average of 70.86.
Bradley’s best golfer this season has been Josh Kirkham — the senior is among the top golfers in the league with his 72.33 stroke average. In the fall he set a school record after tying for first at the SIUE Derek Dolenc Invitational. His 66 in the second round tied the school record for lowest 18-hole performance; he then followed with a 67 to become the first golfer in school history with two rounds of 67 or lower in the same tournament.
Jay Nimmo leads Murray State into their first MVC Championship experience as he was Player of the Week once in 2022-23 season when he won the Hoosier Classic (April 9) on scores of 72-70-69=211. His stroke average of 73.7 is 11th in The Valley.
In last week’s TSU Big Blue Intercollegiate, the Evansville Purple Aces put forth one of their best performances of the year. Michael Ikejiani carded a 4-under 67 in the final round to rally UE to a second-place finish in the team standings. Nicholas Gushrowski (74.4), Carson Parker (74.59) and Ikejiani (74.67) all are among the league’s Top 25 in stroke average.
MVC Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1. Illinois State 99 (9)
2. Valparaiso 91 (1)
3. Southern Illinois 80
4. Belmont 69
5. Bradley 52
6. UNI 44
7. Missouri State 43
8. Murray State 34
9. Drake 28
10. Evansville 10
