EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Sporting a pair of spring team victories as well as three of the top ten golfers in the Missouri Valley Conference, the University of Evansville men’s golf team takes a great deal of confidence into the MVC Championship, which is slated for Monday and Tuesday.
TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. will play host to the event with 36 holes set for Monday and the final 18 slated for Tuesday morning. The course, which is located in Silvis, Ill., is home to the yearly PGA John Deer Classic. It is also rated as one of the 100 greatest public courses in the United States as well as one of the top five in Illinois.
Earlier in the week, the Purple Aces were picked to finish third in the event. That was the highest UE had been voted in the pre-tournament poll. The Aces began the spring with a victory at the Don Benbow Intercollegiate before taking a win earlier this month at the Bradley Invitational.
The Aces are the only MVC team to have three golfers rank in the top ten in stroke average. Leading that group is sophomore Alex Turner. Turner ranks second in the conference with a 72.35 average. Over the course of the full season, turner posted three top 3 finishes with his highest finish coming at the Dayton Flyer Invitational where he tied for second place.
Quinn Vilneff sits in third place in the MVC with a 72.83 average. The defending winner of the Elite 18 award has finished in the top ten in five out of nine tournaments. His fourth place in the spring opener helped the Aces take the win at the Benbow Invitational. Vilneff posted a 6th place finish in last year’s conference championship en route to All-Conference honors.
Rounding out the conference top 10 is Parker Hensley. The senior from San Antonio has averaged 74.10 strokes per round in his final campaign at UE. Hensley has done an unbelievable job of improving from his junior campaign. Last season, he posted a 78.63 average and has lowered that by over four shots. Hensley tied for second place at the Butler Fall Invitational for his top senior finish thus far.
Wichita State received seven out of nine first place votes and was chosen as the favorite to win the tournament. Illinois State picked up the other two top votes with Evansville being picked in third.
