PENFIELD, N.Y. — The Mississippi University for Women men’s golf team begins its second-ever stay at the NCAA Division III championships today at the Midvale Country Club. The Owls qualified with their second-straight St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship win in Indiana two weeks ago, with all five team members placing inside the Top 20 on the individual leaderboard.
Matt Wilkinson, the SLIAC individual champion, narrowly beat his teammate, Zach Riley, for the title.
“We all compete against each other,” Wilkinson said. “Sometimes in a tournament, it’s a fun game between ourselves, and that helps us beat everyone else. We’re competitive, and leaving no room for anyone to breathe was number one because we loved going to the national championships, and we didn’t want it to be close to secure the tickets.”
In 2024, the Owls traveled to Boulder City, Nev. for the NCAA DIII championships, but failed to make the cut for the final rounds with a 621 total score. It was a different level of competition than they were used to, but the experience drove the team to make it back again the next year.
“We’re all older now, we’ve matured in golf,” Wilkinson said. “Overall, from every part of our game, we’re a better team, and we know what it takes now. We’re calm and collected, we get business done and get out of there.”
Wilkinson was named the SLIAC Player of the Year and a 1st team all-conference player alongside teammates Zach Riley and Luke Yocum. Spence Davis and Cameron James picked up 2nd team All-SLIAC honors.
The group, led by SLIAC Coach of the Year Benji Williams, has a different mindset this time around. All five players made the trip last year, and they’re ready to make more noise this time around.
“We’ve already done this once, and I think the guys got a good taste for it last year,” Williams said. “They know they can compete with the guys who will be there. We’ll get to play with Emory again; they were there last year, so it should be fun.”
“It seems like we’re more prepared this year than when we were going into it in our first year in DIII,” Riley said. “I think we should be more prepared and know what to expect, what to do when it comes down to the first and second rounds.”
The Owls finished 6th or better in every tournament this year, including wins at the Lyon College Scots Invitational, the Spalding University Preview at Timbergate and the SLIAC championships.
According to the players, their motivation stemmed from the trip to the DIII tournament last season. They realized the team had the potential to win an automatic qualifying spot through their conference again, and hit the ground running when they all got back to campus in the fall.
“Last year we played some great golf, we just weren’t quite national-championship ready,” Wilkinson said. “I think going and getting a feel for what it takes to make the cut or be in contention, that put a chip on our shoulder when we got back here in August. We knew how much we needed to work, and this entire team has dug out the dirt every day since then. Our games have elevated, and I’m feeling confident going back with the same five we had last year.”
Last week, the Owls spent plenty of time working on their game at the Elm Lake Golf Club before flying north over the weekend. They’ll tee off this morning to open the first round after going through the course in practice rounds on Sunday and Monday.
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