WEST POINT, Miss. – For the first time since October 2021 the Missouri Baptist Men's golf team has claimed a tournament championship. Playing in the Blue Mountain Golf Classic in Mississippi, the Spartans bested 11 other schools to claim a five-stroke victory.

The two-day tournament started well for MBU as they enjoyed a two-stroke cushion after Round One on Monday. The win was truly a team victory as none of the Spartans finished the tournament higher than third place or lower than twelfth. In fact, three MBU golfer finished in a tie for third.

Drew Wielgus, Alexander Engelhardt and Jannik Daeschner all finished the tournament at +7 (151) at the 6,862-yard, Par 72 Mossy Oak Golf Course. Wielgus was the model of consistency with rounds of 76 and 75. In his second round he had a rough stretch of four consecutive bogeys on the sixth through ninth holes but was able to finish the back nine with two birdies and a bogey to finish his round at +3. Meanwhile Engelhardt bogeyed each of his first four holes before settling in to card a +5 (77). For the second week in a row, it was Daeschner who took lessons from his first round to vastly improve when he saw the course a second time. The sophomore from Wiesbaden, Germany struggled to a +7 in the first round on Monday. But like last week he was vastly better in the second round. He was even par through his first five holes of Round Two before a bogey on nine put him one over par. He would par his ninth hole to get back to even, then finished his back nine by keeping his score at even with two birdies and two bogeys. His Round Two Par-72 was tied for the second lowest score of any golfer for any round in the tournament and improved his position from Round One to Round Two by 15 spots. A week ago, at the CBC Mustang Invitational, Daeschner was 10 shots better from the first day to the second.

Last week's Spartans low-scorer, senior Jack Moran, was just one stroke back of his teammates in sixth place at +8 (152). Rounding out the Spartans team was freshman Josemaria Gutierrez. The native of Mexico City, Mexico scored a +7 in the second round to finish in a tie for twelfth place at 155.

MBU finished at 602 (+26), five shots better than host school and tournament runner-up Blue Mountain Christian University.

Senior Triston Buckley played as an individual and finished in forty-seventh place at +22(166).

The tournament victory for the Spartans is their first since October 2021 when they claimed the top spot at the Baker University Invitational tournament played in a match-play format.

Next up for MBU is their very own MBU Invitational at Spencer T Olin Golf Club in Alton, Ill. on April 17 and 18, 2023.