McLean County Times

The Illinois State University men's golf team has released its 2025-26 schedule following its recent Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Championship win, the program's second in three seasons. The upcoming season includes participation in several tournaments hosted by schools from major athletic conferences.

The Redbirds will begin their season on August 31 at the Island Resort Intercollegiate, a tournament where they have previously found success, including a victory to start the 2022-23 season.

In the second week, Illinois State returns to the Ram Masters Invitational in Fort Collins, Colorado, for the first time since 2021-22. The event is held at Fort Collins Country Club, and ISU has participated six times before, with its best result as runner-up during the 2018-19 season.

Later in September, ISU will compete in the Badger Invitational for the tenth time. This year’s event will be played at TPC Wisconsin. Illinois State won this tournament in its debut appearance during 2021-22 and finished as runner-up in 2023-24 and third place in 2022-23.

The team will also travel to West Lafayette, Indiana, for the Purdue Fall Invitational on October 13-14 at Kampen-Cosler Course. The Redbirds were runners-up at this event last season.

The fall portion of the schedule concludes with a trip to Kettering, Ohio, for the Dayton Invitational at NCR Country Club on October 20-21. This marks ISU’s fifth appearance at this tournament and its first since 2023-24.

The spring schedule features four tournaments that are repeats from last year. The Redbirds open with the Border Olympics at Laredo Country Club in Texas on February 16-17. In their last appearance there during the 2023-24 season, they set a school record with a score of 832 (-32), surpassing their previous record by four strokes.

A week later, ISU travels to Dorado Beach Collegiate in Puerto Rico. The team has competed there twice before and recorded scores of 22 under par through 36 holes in 2023-24 and 20 under par through 54 holes last season.

Next is the Louisiana Classics Invitational at Oakbourne County Club on March 9-10—ISU’s ninth time competing in this annual event.

At the end of March (30th and 31st), Illinois State heads to Memphis for its second consecutive appearance at the Memphis Intercollegiate hosted by University of Memphis at Colonial Country Club.

For the first time since the 2020-21 season, ISU will play in the Missouri Tiger Invitational on April 6-7 at The Club at Old Hawthorne. Their best finish was third overall during their last visit four years ago.

A one-day tournament—the Muirfield Shootout—hosted by Miami (Ohio) on April 20 will serve as a final tune-up before conference championships. It takes place at Country Club of Muirfield in Dublin, Ohio.

The Redbirds close out their regular season with an opportunity to defend their MVC Championship title when they travel to Waterloo, Illinois, for the conference championship hosted at Annbriar Golf Club.