VU Golf closes out busy week with 2nd place finish at Mineral Area College Invitational

URBANA, Ill. and FARMINGTON, Mo. – The Vincennes University Golf team was very active earlier this week as the Trailblazers traveled to Urbana, Ill. for the 2024 Mid-West Athletic Conference Fall Preview Monday, before heading to Farmington, Mo. to take part in the 2024 Mineral Area College Fall Invitational Wednesday.

The Blazers opened the week at Atkins Golf Club in Illinois for the 2024 MWAC Fall Preview, getting a first look at the course that will host the Conference tournament in the Spring.

VU was led by freshman Kadin Gibson (Franklin, Ind.) who closed out the 36-hole, one day tournament with a 74 in round one and a 76 in round two to finish in a tie for 11th place overall.

Sophomore Alex Nealis (Olney, Ill.) was the second VU finisher for the tournament, shooting a very consistent 76 in each round, coming away with 15th place overall on the leaderboard.

Freshman Landon Gardner (Danville, Ind.) was the next Trailblazer on the leaderboard, shooting an opening round 75 before coming back with an 81 in round two to finish in a tie for 19th place.

Freshman Brock Naile (Trico, Ill.) would take one shot off of his scores from round one to two, shooting an 80 in the opening round before closing out the tournament with 79 in round two.

Freshman Parker Steininger (Vincennes, Ind.) rounded out the Vincennes day on the course with a first round 79 and a second round 81 to take 27th place overall.

The Trailblazers as a team shot a 304 in round one and a 312 in round two, giving them a tournament total of 616 and a fourth place finish as a team.

VU looked to build on this result when the hit the road again Wednesday to take part in the 2024 Mineral Area College Fall Invitational at Crowne Point Golf Club in Farmington, Mo.

The Trailblazers were again led by Kadin Gibson, who bounced back from an opening round 77 to shoot up the leaderboard with a very impressive three-under 69 in round two to finish in a tie for 3rd overall, while also coming away with a pair of eagles on the day.

Brock Naile was the next VU finisher on the leaderboard, shooting an opening round 76 before closing out his day with a one over par 73 to take sixth place overall.

Alex Nealis was the third Vincennes golfer to place in the top 10, once again having a very consistent day on the course with a pair of 75 rounds to finish in a tie for seventh overall.

Landon Gardner just missed out on joining his VU teammates in the top 10 with an opening round 75 and an 80 in his second round to finish 11th overall.

Parker Steininger closed out the VU week with a 77 in round one of the day, followed by shooting a 79 in round two to place 12th overall.

The Trailblazers as a team came away with a team score of 303 in round one and an impressive 296 in round two, coming away with second place overall.

VU will look to keep this momentum going as they head into their final tournament of the 2024 Fall season Monday, Oct. 14 and Tuesday, Oct. 15 at the 2024 Rend Lake Fall Invitational, hosted at the Rend Lake Golf Complex in Ina, Ill.

 MWAC PREVIEW RESULTS

VU (4th) – 304, 312 – 616

Kadin Gibson (T11) – 74, 76 – 150

Alex Nealis (15) – 76, 76 – 152

Landon Gardner (T19) – 75, 81 – 156

Brock Naile (T24) – 80, 79 – 159

Parker Steininger (27) – 79, 81 – 160

MAC FALL INVITATIONAL RESULTS

VU (2nd) – 303, 296 – 599

Kadin Gibson (T3) – 77, 69 – 146

Brock Naile (6) – 76, 73 – 149

Alex Nealis (T7) – 75, 75 – 150

Landon Gardner (11) – 75, 80 – 155

Parker Steininger (12) – 77, 79 - 156