Men's golf opens 2026-27 season with Battle for 51

Clinton, IL - Millikin University Men's Golf opened their 2026-27 season on Sunday afternoon, taking on Illinois Wesleyan University. Millikin was defeated 8-4 in a head-to-head format but saw some bright performances over the afternoon.

In dual play, pairings are pitted against one another, with each hole played representing one point. Each hole can be tied, or won by either golfer in the pairing. The round is played until all 18 holes have been completed, or one golfer is mathematically unable to catch up and tie the match. Each pairing is worth one team point, and tied pairings are scored as half a point for each team.

In pairing one, Luke Butler was dominant, using a pair of eagles to win by six points with five holes remaining. Tyler Rea also won at pairing two. Fighting to a tie after 11 holes, he won three consecutive points. The decisive point swing was enough for him to be up three points with just one hole to play. At pairing five, Alex Grenier was tied through the front nine. He pulled out a four-point lead, clinching the win with two holes to play. Teddy Walbaum battled to a tie at pairing six, in a match where neither golfer was ever ahead by more than two points. Also earning a draw was Dominick Emig at pairing 11. Emig trailed by four after 10 holes, but closed with a strong eight marks on the card to pull things back by the end of the 18th.

"I'm proud of how our team battled today against one of the perennial Division III powerhouses." said Director of Golf Sam Osborne '10. "We had great performances throughout the lineup, and this was a great learning experience for a group that got much younger over the summer. We got to see how we stack up against the team to beat in our league, and we know what we need to work on moving forward."

Millikin looks forward to September 5th and 6th, when the Big Blue will open their fall season officially at the Highland Classic.