Decatur, IL – The Millikin University men's golf team aims to maintain their billing as one of the top teams in the CCIW during the 2026-27 season, as Millikin enters a fresh season off a third-place finish at the CCIW Championships in 2026.
Millikin was prolific throughout their schedule last year. The Big Blue won three events, including a top slot finish at the CCIW Preview. Millikin was led in scoring by Jack Bollinger, who averaged a 73.9 over 20 rounds of play.
This season, the Big Blue open play with an exhibition, the Battle for Route 51, on August 30. Millikin opens official play on September 5 and 6 at the Highland Classic, an event the Big Blue have won three years in a row. Millikin will play three more tournaments in the fall: the Carthage Classic (September 14-15), the Wabash Fall Classic (October 5-6), and the Golfweek October Classic (October 18-20).
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In the spring of 2027, the Millikin men will open with the Jekyll Island Collegiate tournament (March 19-21), before taking part in the Illinois Wesleyan Spring Invite (April 2-3) and Cochran Collegiate Classic (April 12-13). The Big Blue will host the Butts Classic on April 19 and 20. The regular season will close with the CCIW Preview, followed by the CCIW Championships, with both dates undecided at this point.
Millikin's 2026-27 roster includes a 50/50 split of nine returners and nine new faces. The Big Blue will add seven freshmen and a pair of transfers to a strong team, including Illinois College transfer Teddy Walbaum. Millikin's lineup will look noticeably different at the front end for the first time in years. This comes following the graduation of Jack Bollinger and Luke Bradley. The multi-time All-CCIW selections were Millikin's top two scorers last season.
The Big Blue return three of their top five average scorers in Trevor Biggerstaff, Jake Krstulovich, and Dominick Emig. All three shot under an average of four over par on the year. Biggerstaff shot the lowest round on the team last year with a 63. Emig and Krstulovich have opened with a strong showing in early qualifying rounds. Head coach Sam Osborne also identified Will Ross and Ethan Noellsch as two returners who have stepped up in the early going and are contending for a spot in the scoring five on opening day.
Sam Osborne, a 2010 Millikin graduate, returns for his 16th season leading the Millikin golf programs in the fall of 2026. He is joined by new assistant coach Yui Srichantamit. A native of Khon Kaen, Thailand, she joins the Big Blue staff after two seasons serving as a graduate assistant at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University. Also returning to Osborne's 2026 staff is Hannah Harpster, and Millikin adds student assistant Will Haegen to the staff.
"This season will be interesting for our men's program. It's a big lineup change for us without Luke and Jack, but we have three seniors and a junior who have experience in our program. I expect them to perform and be in our lineup, but they're certainly going to be pushed by this group of newcomers," said Osborne. "We're playing a number of tournaments that have very competitive fields. Our standard and expectation with this group is to be in the top three/five, or to go win the whole thing."
