NORMAL, Ill. – A 12 tournament schedule that features five hosted by Big Ten schools has been announced by Illinois State head men’s golf coach Ray Kralis.
The schedule, which has five tournaments in the fall and seven more in the spring, opens with the Island Resort Intercollegiate, hosted by South Dakota State at the Sage Run Golf Club in Harris, Michigan. The tournament will be the first inside the state of Michigan for Illinois State since at least the 1994-95 season.
The following weekend the Redbirds return to the Badger Invitational, hosted by the University of Wisconsin at the University Ridge Golf Course. The Redbirds have competed in this event over the last eight fall seasons (2020-21 only had a spring season). ISU has won two of the last three Badger Invitational Championships, including last season when the Redbirds finished with an eight-under tournament, three strokes ahead of the second-place squad.
Six days later (September 19-20) the ‘Birds travel to Ohio to compete in the Bearcat Invitational hosted by the University of Cincinnati. The Redbirds have competed in this event on previous time, during the 2019-20 season as the ‘Birds shot under 291 for all three rounds, tying for seventh in the field.
After a busy start with three tournaments over the first three weekends, the Redbirds take a break before their next tournament – the Purdue Fall Invitational on October 10-11. This fall is the second consecutive year that ISU has traveled to West Lafayette in the fall, after tying for sixth at the event during the 2021-22 season.
The fall season concludes in Ohio on October 17-18 when the team competes in the Dayton Invitational, hosted at NCR South Country Club in Kettering, Ohio. Twice the Redbirds have competed at NCR Country Club, most recently in the 2018-19 season when ISU tied for second out of 12 schools, while placing fourth out of 11 teams during the 2017-18 season.
The spring season tees off on February 13-14 at the Border Olympics, hosted by the University of Houston at Laredo Country Club in Laredo, Texas. This season will be the third consecutive year that ISU has competed in the event, placing seventh of 18 schools last season, and eighth of 18 schools during the 2020-21 season.
The Redbirds take to the road again two weeks later, traveling to Scottsdale, Arizona, to compete in the Desert Mountain Collegiate, hosted by the University of Michigan. The last time ISU competed in an event in the Grand Canyon state was in February of 2014 when the Redbirds took the title at the Snowman Getaway in Goodyear, Arizona.
ISU heads back to the Louisiana Classics for the third consecutive season, and the fourth time since 2015-16 to compete at Oakbourne Country Club in Lafayette, Louisiana.
On March 26-28 the Kralis-led Redbird squad will compete in the Craft Farms Intercollegiate, hosted by both Eastern Michigan and South Alabama at the Craft Farms – Cotton Creek Golf Course in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The ‘Birds have had this tournament on their schedule during each of the last four seasons, competing twice with a tenth-place finish last season while taking eighth in 2020-21.
After four consecutive tournaments in warmer weather to start the spring, the ‘Birds stay within Illinois and Indiana for the final three tournaments on the schedule, including the Hoosier Collegiate Invitational hosted by Indiana University at The Pfau Course in Bloomington, Indiana. Last season – the first time for ISU to play at the IU golf course since the spring of 2017 – took fourth overall out of 15 schools.
The next weekend sends the Redbirds to West Lafayette, Indiana, to compete in the Boilermaker Invitational, hosted at the Ackerman Course. In 2019 the Redbirds won the team title at the Purdue spring event, and last season tied for fourth overall of 14 schools in a deep field.
After the Boilermaker Invitational, ISU looks to take on the Missouri Valley Conference field at the 2023 MVC Championships, hosted at Oakwood Country Club in Coal Valley, Illinois. In five of the last six seasons the Redbirds have finished third or better in the conference championship, with the team winner at the tournament earning an automatic berth into an NCAA Regional.
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