Madison, IL - The McKendree University Men's Golf team did not have to go far to open up their Fall 2026 season. The Bearcats ventured over to Gateway National Golf Links in Madison, Illinois for the Arch Cup, a tournament which the Bearcats hosted this year. McKendree sent out four different teams to the event, totaling 23 golfers. The mass of Bearcats was led by newcomer Simon Meiby, who dazzled with a -9 through his two Tuesday rounds. A +3 on Wednesday still had him in medalist contention, falling in a one-hole playoff, but still impressing in his Bearcat debut. Edison Wu (T-10th), Matthew Delanty (T-12th), Tristan Traustason (T-16th), Thierry Boucher (T-19th) all finished inside the individual Top 25. McKendree's "A" team placed sixth as part of a team leaderboard that saw just six strokes separate 3rd and 6th place.

Meiby started his McKendree tenure with a bang, hitting red numbers left and right for an exceptional -7/64 in round one, a round that included going -5 on the front nine, and a -5 stretch that saw him birdie the 5th, eagle the par-five sixth, then birdie the 7th and 8th. In fact, of the 36 holes Meiby golfed on Tuesday, only 3 were bogey or higher. While the score crept up just a bit on Wednesday, he still played under 80 at a +3/74, a final round that included three birdies, the last of which came on the crucial par-4 8th to keep him in contention for medalist honors, ultimately going to a playoff, which was won by Quincy's David Gartrell. 

Edison Wu collected his first individual Top 10 of the academic year. Wu's efforts were powered largely by his second round on Tuesday, breaking 70 for a -3/68. The round included three birdies apiece on the front and back nine: two on par 3's, three on par 4's, and one on the par-5 18th. He would finish with nine birdies, including a multi-birdie final round. 

Matthew Delanty looked like he was just going to miss breaking 70 in his opening round on Tuesday, but a -3 finish between the 16th and 18th holes helped keep that in tact with a -2/69, including a eagle on the par-5 18th. That -2/69 would be his best round score of the event, but he was still able to keep his scores under 80 the whole duration, going +3/74 and +6/77 the rest of the way to pick up an individual Top 15 finish. 

Tristan Traustason would improve round-by-round over the course of the Arch Cup. He would start with a +6/77, getting two birdies on the front nine and one on the back. His second round saw another three birdies for a +3/74. Traustason would ultimately save his best for last with an E/71 on the Wednesday finale, including a solid -2/33 on the back nine, getting birdies on the 10th, 12th, 14th, and 18th. 

Thierry Boucher would just about turn in three identical scorecards. He played even in his first two rounds, going for +4/75 in both. Like Traustason, Boucher would also play his best round on Wednesday, including a three-birdie back nine for a +2/73 and capping the Bearcats' list of Individual Top 25 finishers. 

FULL BEARCAT INDIVIDUAL SCORING
2nd (via playoff) | Simon Meiby | McKendree (C) | -6 / 207
T-10th | Edison Wu | McKendree (A) | +5 / 218
T-12th | Matthew Delanty | McKendree (A) | +7 / 220
T-16th | Tristan Traustason | McKendree (A) | +9 / 222
T-19th | Thierry Boucher | McKendree (B) | +10 / 223
T-26th | Parker Renken | McKendree (B) | +13 / 226
T-29th | Harris Munro | McKendree (B) | +14 / 227
T-33rd | Aidan O'Keefe | McKendree (B) | +16 / 229
T-38th | Pe Nontarux | McKendree (C) | +17 / 230
46th | Jack LeMatty | McKendree (A) | +22 / 235
T-47th | Floris Everwijn | McKendree (D) | +23 / 236
T-47th | Keegan Rose | McKendree (A) | +23 / 236
T-53rd | Carter Rose | McKendree (D) | +25 / 238
56th | Kyle Peck | McKendree (Individual) | +26 / 239
T-57th | Josh Belzer | McKendree (B) | +27 / 240
T-60th | Jacob Goble | McKendree (D) | +28 / 241
63rd | Canton Wesch | McKendree (C) | +30 / 243
64th | Lucas Thompson | McKendree (C) | +31 / 244
66th | Quentin Meyer | McKendree (Individual) | +33 / 246
67th | Edward Rockall | McKendree (Individual) | +36 / 249
T-68th | Blake Sandrowski | McKendree (D) | +37 / 250
71st | Carson Diffley | McKendree (C) | +40 / 253
73rd | Andrew Neutzling | McKendree (D) | +50 / 263

BEARCAT TEAM PLACINGS
6th | McKendree-A | +37
8th | McKendree-B | +50
10th | McKendree-C | +72
12th | McKendree-D | +113

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE BEARCATS
McKendree will take a few weeks off from competition before resuming the fall season on Monday and Tuesday, September 21st and 22nd at the Broadmoor Country Club in Indianapolis, Indiana for the UIndy Fall Invitational, where they hope to not need to tolerate the torrential downpour that they faced during the same event in 2025. 

There, the Bearcats will face many familiar foes, including the following that are GLVC members: Maryville, UIndy, Missouri S&T, Drury, and UIS.