Carbondale Reporter

Anthony De Schutter made Southern Illinois University (SIU) history by becoming only the second golfer from the program to win back-to-back tournaments. De Schutter finished with a score of 205 (-11) at the Badger Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin, on Tuesday. The SIU men's golf team tied for second place with Illinois State, trailing tournament winner Southern Mississippi by ten strokes.

De Schutter's 205 is now the ninth-lowest round in SIU program history. His third-round score of 65 also ties for the fifth-lowest single round by any Saluki golfer and matches his own record set earlier in the year.

Head Coach Justin Fetcho commented on De Schutter’s performance: "He is so competitive and just has the ability to find a different gear when it comes to tournament play," Fetcho said. "He's showing that if he can get himself around the lead of a golf tournament that he is pretty good at closing it out."

Fetcho also shared his outlook for both De Schutter and the team this season: "I believe Anthony has some big goals for not only himself for this season but also this team," he said. "I think we are only just seeing the beginning of what Anthony is capable of doing this year."

In addition to De Schutter's finish, Michael Mikus tied for 12th place with a score of 214 (-2), Ben Keil tied for 19th at 217 (+1), Jaeseung Na tied for 24th at 218 (+2), Blake Saffell (competing as an individual) tied for 29th at 219 (+3), and Cy Norman finished tied for 62nd at 225 (+9).

Fetcho highlighted the team's depth and early progress: "We've talked about how depth is one of the most important things a team can bring to the table each and every day," Fetcho said. "That goes to show the true potential of this team. We have a talented roster, and we've already seen improvements from day one with them. If they can keep working hard and focusing on the correct things, I truly believe we will see a lot of our team having quality individual finishes in events."

Looking ahead, Fetcho noted that maintaining discipline will be key as SIU faces a challenging schedule: "We've had two solid team finishes to kick off the year, but each week is a new week, and we have to be prepared each time out to perform at a high level. We put a big emphasis on a few things in our practices and qualifying after getting home from our first event and I saw some big improvements from our first event to our second event in those areas. If we keep making strides like that as an overall group, I believe we will see some really good results as we continue throughout the season. I'm proud of our efforts this week in working hard on cleaning up some things in a few areas, and now we have a short week and have to work on some more stuff before we leave for Colorado."

The Salukis’ next competition will be at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational in Erie, Colorado.

For updates on SIU men’s golf, follow their official accounts on X (@SIU_MGolf), Facebook (@Saluki Men's Golf), or Instagram (@siu_mgolf).