The Millikin men’s golf team hosted its annual home event, the Butts Classic, on April 20-21 at the Country Club of Decatur. The tournament honors James Butts, a 1951 Millikin alumnus who contributed to the university’s first two conference titles in 1949 and 1951 and was inducted into the Millikin Athletics Hall of Fame in 2024.
The event began in 2023 and was originally held at South Side Country Club before moving to its current location. This year’s tournament featured a field of fourteen teams competing over three rounds for a total of fifty-four holes.
Millikin entered two teams into the competition. During Monday’s opening round, the “B” team edged out the “A” team by two shots, led by junior Dominick Emig with a score of two-over-par 74 and strong performances from graduate student Martin Ammeux and freshman Ethan Noellsch. The “A” team’s top scores came from sophomore Trevor Biggerstaff and freshman Luke Butler. Both squads improved their scores in the second round later that day, demonstrating resilience as one of only a few teams to do so.
After day one, Millikin’s “B” team held eighth place while the “A” team followed closely behind in ninth. In Tuesday’s final round, senior Jack Bollinger led the “A” team’s climb up three spots on the leaderboard with a one-over-par 73—one of Tuesday’s lowest rounds given challenging wind conditions. Bollinger finished tied for fifteenth alongside Ammeux after both posted steady final rounds.
Looking ahead, Millikin will compete next in the CCIW Preview on Thursday, April 23rd to get an early look at this season’s conference course.
