Men’s Golf Sets Season Bests at The Hootie at Bulls Bay
3/25/2025 4:03:00 PM | Men's Golf
University of Missouri men's golf finished its best tournament of the 2024-25 season on Tuesday, placing fifth overall at The Hootie at Bulls Bay in South Carolina.
The Tigers finished 21-under par over the three-day tournament, finishing tied for fifth with No. 48 New Mexico. It marks Mizzou's best finish since placing second at the season-opening Canadian Collegiate Invitational with its team score of 843 marking its best by nine strokes in 2024-25.
Overall, Mizzou finished with an 11-under 277 on Tuesday – its second-best score of the season – to remain fifth in the team standings. MU finished under par in all three rounds during its -21 total – following up back-to-back five-under totals with its -11 in the final round.
No. 18 South Carolina and No. 39 Purdue finished tied for first in the team standings at -30 with the Boilermakers claiming the title in a playoff.
"Overall, it was a really good job by the guys this week," said Missouri head coach Glen Millican. "Trent's final round today and top-10 finish were awesome. That, along with Veikka, Mattias and Virgilio playing solid was great to see over here. Trevor's final round was also a highlight and great to see him finish strong as an individual."
Freshman Trent Mierl led Mizzou during the tournament, setting career bests with a final-round tally of seven-under 65 and a tournament score of -9 (69-73-65). The rookie placed seventh overall of 84 golfers – his fifth top-20 in eight events during the season and his second-best finish overall (he placed third in the 30-golfer field at the Put Me In Coach Invitational to start the season).
The highlight of the tournament for the rookie was a pair of eagles during the final round, finding the hole in three strokes on the par-5 fourth and 10th holes. Mierl also added four birdies against just one bogey for his seven-under tally.
"It was great to have another strong tournament and finish in the top 10 this week," Mierl said. "The guys all played well this week and it's what we've been looking to see as a group all season. It's a great step to finishing the season off strong. MIZ!"
Overall, three Tigers placed in the top 20, four in the top 30 and five in the top 40. Graduate student Mattias Varjun and sophomore Veikka Viskari both finished off top-20 performances by placing 18th overall at -5. Varjun's finish was his first top-20 of the season, wrapping up the tournament with a two-under 70. It marks the fourth-straight round for Varjun under par after doing so once in the first 17 rounds of the season, carding a 71-70-70 this week.
Viskari added five birdies on the day to match his teammate at five-under (71-69-71) and finish 18th overall. Viskari carded all three rounds under par for the first time in 21 collegiate tournaments.
"I'm very proud of how the guys handled themselves this week," Viskari said. "I think we did a great job of staying present and feeding off of each other all week. It feels like this has been a long time coming so seeing five guys get it in the red numbers is awesome. We are looking forward to carrying this momentum to Columbia and teeing it up in front of the home crowd!"
Rounding out the strong performances for the Tigers were senior Trevor Mierl and junior Virgilio Paz. Mierl carded a four-under 68 to lead Mizzou on the final day. He was six-under on the front nine with a 31, collecting a birdie on five-straight holes from the second to sixth before adding a sixth birdie on the ninth. Overall, Mierl placed 27th at -3 (72-73-68). Paz also finished in the red with a -2 during the tournament (72-71-71), placing 35th overall.
Mizzou returns to action in less than two weeks, hosting the Tiger Intercollegiate. The tournament begins on Monday, April 7 at The Club at Old Hawthorne.
Players Mentioned
