The Illinois State women’s golf team will begin its defense of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Championship on April 19 in Silvis, Illinois, according to an April 18 announcement. The event will be held at TPC Deere Run and features a competitive field where the top five schools are separated by fewer than 50 national ranking spots.
The championship is significant for the Redbirds as they have a history of success in this event, having won more titles than any other school in the conference. In recent years, Illinois State has claimed three of the last four championships, including two consecutive wins. Last season, the team set a new championship record with an 874 team score and achieved a margin of victory that was among the largest in event history.
This year’s lineup includes Elise Fennell, Reagan Kennedy, Alex Sparrow, Dani Grace Schrock, and Reagan Braker. The team’s most recent performance saw them finish twelfth at the Boilermaker Spring Classic. Kennedy led with a one-over-par final round and finished tied for twenty-sixth overall after moving up nineteen places on the leaderboard. Fennell was Illinois State’s top finisher with a three-round score of 223 and tied for sixteenth place individually.
TPC Deere Run is recognized as one of America’s top public golf courses by Golf Digest and ranks fifth in Illinois according to GolfWeek Magazine. Course architect D.A. Weibring said about TPC Deere Run: “It has all the things I think you’d like to have in a golf course.” The venue regularly hosts PGA Tour professionals during the John Deere Classic each July.
Illinois State Redbirds benefit from resources such as the Redbird Athletics Excellence Fund for competitiveness and recruitment according to their official website. The program utilizes facilities like OSF HealthCare Athletics Training Center for student-athlete preparation according to their official website and competes in NCAA Division I events across various regions according to their official website. The athletic department also offers news updates, schedules, rosters, and fan resources according to their official website, maintaining strong ties with Illinois State University according to their official website.
