Columbia News

The University of Missouri men's golf team achieved its best result of the 2024-25 season by finishing fifth at The Hootie at Bulls Bay tournament in South Carolina. The Tigers ended the three-day event 21-under par, tying with No. 48 New Mexico for fifth place. This performance marks their highest finish since placing second at the Canadian Collegiate Invitational earlier in the season, and their team score of 843 is their best by nine strokes this year.

Missouri posted an 11-under-par round of 277 on Tuesday, their second-best single-round score of the season, which secured their position in the top five. The Tigers completed all three rounds under par during the tournament, with back-to-back five-under rounds followed by an 11-under final round.

No. 18 South Carolina and No. 39 Purdue finished tied for first at 30-under par, with Purdue winning the title after 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 Missouri during the tournament, setting personal records with a seven-under-par final round of 65 and a total score of nine under (69-73-65). He finished seventh among 84 golfers—his fifth top-20 finish in eight events this season and his second-best overall result.

Mierl's performance included two eagles in the final round on the par-5 fourth and tenth holes, along with four birdies and only 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!"

Three Tigers placed in the top 20: graduate student Mattias Varjun and sophomore Veikka Viskari both tied for 18th at five under par. Varjun recorded his first top-20 finish of the season after scoring two under on Tuesday; he has now posted four consecutive rounds under par after achieving that just once in his previous seventeen rounds this year.

Viskari added five birdies during his final round to match Varjun at five under (71-69-71) for an eighteenth-place tie—his first time carding all three rounds under par across twenty-one 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!"

Senior Trevor Mierl contributed a four-under-par round of 68 on Tuesday—leading Missouri on that day—and finished six under on the front nine with five straight birdies from holes two through six plus another on nine; he ended up tied for twenty-seventh at three under (72-73-68). Junior Virgilio Paz also concluded his tournament below par at two under (72-71-71), securing thirty-fifth place overall.

Missouri will next compete as host at its own Tiger Intercollegiate beginning Monday, April 7 at The Club at Old Hawthorne.