Men's Golf Prepped for MVC Championship in Kansas

Live Tournament Scoring

The University of Northern Iowa men's golf team will take part in the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Championship, April 25-26, at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan. Teams will play 36 holes on Monday and conclude with 18 holes on Tuesday.

UNI head coach John Bermel will take a veteran-laden squad into the championship. Bermel will field a lineup of three seniors and two juniors for the 54-hole event. In last year's event, UNI tied for second - its best finish since 2002.

Junior Dustin Atkinson (Ames, Iowa) leads the Panthers with a 74.22 stroke average. Atkinson has tallied six top-10 finishes this season. He has been UNI's top finisher in all four of its spring tournaments. Atkinson has scored in the 60s or 70s in 15 consecutive rounds.

Senior Kyle Driscoll (Hartland, Wis.) has posted four top-10 finishes this year. Driscoll is tied with Atkinson for the team lead in total rounds in the 60s and 70s with 25. Driscoll owns a 74.56 stroke average entering the MVC Championship. Driscoll earned all-MVC honors last season after placing fourth at the 2015 MVC Championship.

Senior Jacob Bermel (Cedar Falls, Iowa) has a 77.93 stroke average through 27 rounds this season. Bermel scored a collegiate-low round of 69 in the second round of the Zach Johnson Invitational (Oct. 5). Bermel tied for 19th at the 2015 MVC Championship.

Junior David Spengler (Luxemburg, Wis.) is coming off a career-low tying round of 74 at the Oral Roberts Shootout (April 12). Spangler will bring a 78.72 stroke average in the tournament.

Senior Eric Sikkema (Clinton, Iowa) has a 78.74 stroke average through 27 rounds this season. Sikkema shot a career-best 71 in the second round of the Zach Johnson Invitational (Oct. 5). Sikkema placed second at the Zach Johnson Invite with rounds of 72-71-72 (215).

The MVC coaches have tabbed Wichita State as the unanimous favorite to win this year's men's golf title.

Rank	School (First-Place Votes)	Points
1.	Wichita State (9)	81
2.	Missouri State	65
3.	Illinois State	63
4.	Southern Illinois	54
5.	Bradley	45
6.	UNI	36
7.	Evansville	25
8.	Drake	24
9.	Loyola	12

The defending champ, Wichita State enters the MVC Championship as the league's top rated program in the GolfStat team rankings while three Shockers rank among the MVC's top seven players in stroke average this year, including junior Grant Bennett. This week Bennett was named Valley Golfer of the Week for the fifth time this season. Bennett, a native of Prosper, Texas, finishes this season with the most GOTW awards in the conference. Bennett is also the Valley's stroke leader (71.12), the only Valley golfer with a score vs. par below zero (-0.9), and also has shot the best single-round score in the conference this year (65).

He's joined by teammates Jacob Bishop (73.65) and Conrad Walcher (73.81) among the top seven in the league. Bradley (Drake Bushong-2nd at 72.80 and Lyle Burns-3rd at 73.07) follow Bennett on the MVC stroke average leaderboard this year. The Bradley duo of Bushong and Burns have combined to win 5 medalist honors this year, with Burns the league-leader with 3 titles.

Bushong, Illinois State's Trent Wallace and Missouri State's Adam Fisher -- all freshmen -- rank in the Top 8 in stroke average this year. Wallace, meanwhile, is the only other in the league to have more than one medalist crown this season.

The Shockers have been the league's most dominant program for nearly two decades, finishing first or second (with 14 titles) in each of the last 19 seasons. Notably, the Shockers have won the league championship 14 of the last 17 seasons, including eight-straight. Illinois State is the only other Valley men's golf team to earn a title since the Shockers' championship run began in 1999, as the Redbirds claimed team victories in 2002, 2005 and 2007.

Missouri State and Illinois State have been tabbed as the biggest challengers to Wichita State, picked second and third, respectively, in the coaches pre-championship poll. Although the Redbirds placed ninth last year, Illinois State has finished second to the Shockers in the team standings in three of the past five MVC Championships.

In addition to Wallace, ISU's Zach Burry ranks among the league individual stroke leaders (7th, 74.03). The Bears, meanwhile, have three players in the Top 11 in stroke average, led by senior Joey Johnson, who ranks sixth in the league at 73.73. Fisher (74.17) and Brik Brauburger (74.27) are not far behind.

During the season, the league sported five team titles. MVC golfers combined to take home 11 medalist honors during 2015-16.

Prairie Dunes Country Club is the host site for the 2012 MVC Men's Golf Championship. The course was designed by Perry Maxwell and opened in 1937. In the vision of the Carey family and Perry Maxwell, Prairie Dunes has become a renowned course and has played home to several major events including: U.S Women's Amateur, Curtis Cup Match, U.S. Mid- Amateur, U.S. Women's Open, U.S. Senior Open and also hosted the 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship. Prairie Dunes was honored in 2005 by Golf Digest as being named one of America's greatest Golf Courses.

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