Bright Future Ahead for @MizzouMensGolf After 2015-16 Campaign
5/31/2016 10:23:00 AM | Men's Golf
Young Tigers squad gains valuable experience during past season
COLUMBIA, Mo. - As the 2015-16 season came to a close for Mizzou Men's Golf, the Tigers' focus on the competition at hand has quickly turned into optimism for a program that is clearly on the rise.
There were plenty of good moments for head coach Mark Leroux's squad this past season, regardless, as the Tigers registered seven Top 10 finishes and four Top 5 finishes in the 10 events they competed in, while also winning the Turning Stone Intercollegiate outright in the fall (Sept. 6-7, 2015).
Plenty of memorable individual moments also occurred. The Tigers had at least one golfer in the Top 20 individual scoring in all but two of their events this past year, while also landing four different student-athletes in the Top 5 overall in individual tournament play throughout the season.
The ultimate positive in that statistic, though, is that none of the Tigers who registered either a Top 20 or Top 5 finish this season will graduate. In fact, the Tigers' regular lineup only loses longtime contributor Wilson Sundvold, who was a redshirt senior in 2015-16.
The return of young talent is the reason for heightened expectations going into next season; juniors Linus Lilliedahl (Sandviken, Sweden) and Euan Walker (Troon, Scotland) will be returning to lead the Tigers as seniors after closing out the season with a flurry; sophomore standout Hayden Buckley (Belden, Miss.) will be back to build on his very promising 2015-16 campaign, in which he led the Tigers in four different events and freshmen Matt Echelmeier (Columbia, Mo.) and Preston Fleenor (Kansas City, Mo.) will put the invaluable experience they gained to use as sophomores in 2016-17.
The reasons for excitement do not stop with players on the current roster. Leroux pulled in two highly touted recruits for next season in Trevor Ullestad (Jewel, Iowa) and Rory Franssen (Inverness, Scotland). Ullestad, a junior college standout at Indian Hills Community College, brings a winning mentality to the program and boasts an impressive resume that includes two NJCAA All-America honors. Franssen, meanwhile, is one of the best young golfers in Scotland, and has played on some of the biggest amateur stages already, including the European Boy's Championship and the Scottish Youths Championship.
Mizzou's outstanding work in the classroom also continued during the 2015-16 season, led by Walker who earned SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
For Leroux and his Tigers, the 2015-16 season gave his squad a chance to grow. For next season, that willingness to let the program grow is sure to pay off.
