By JASON KETZ
Sports Editor

(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — Over the course of the 2015-2016 golf season, the Mules have played in 10 total tournaments as a team. In those 10 tournaments, the team has finished nine times inside the top five. Redshirt senior Teddy Jones and junior Alex Springer have led the team to a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Super Regional tournament and a No. 9 rank in the latest Bushnell/ Golf Coaches Association of America poll.

“I had three players coming back on this team that had a lot of top quality experiences,” said Time Poe, Mules head golf coach. “I felt like having a group like that returning made the expectations pretty high.”

The Mules started off the season on a winning note, earning a first-place finish at the Missouri Southern State University Men’s Fall Invitational where Jones took home the top spot with at 5-under-par. Spring and senior Travis Mays both tied for second place at 3-under-par.

“I was very fortunate to win the tournament,” Jones said. “I didn’t do that well in the qualifying in order to make the tournament so it was a boost for me to play even better in the later rounds.”

After finishing in 5th place at the Division II National Preview and a 3rd place finish at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championships, the Mules got their second tournament win of the year at the Missouri Western State University Invitational. Mays was the top finisher for the Mules, finishing in third place, while Jones and Springer both tied for fifth.

In their final tournament of the fall portion of the season, the team traveled to the Payne Stewart Invitational in Branson, Missouri. The Mules won their third tournament of the season by a total of 23 strokes. Jones took home the individual title while freshman Cole Dillon tied for second, and Springer tied for ninth.

“It was a good sign for our team to win that tournament,” Jones said. “We were able to dominate that tournament which is special because of all the great performances we got from out team.”

The Mules finished the fall season with a No. 10 ranking in the GCAA poll, finishing in the top five in all of their tournaments played capturing team titles at three, which was an accomplishment Poe was satisfied with.

“Anytime you are in the top 25 in the nation you have to feel pretty good about that,” Poe said. “It says that we are a team that could be there at the National Championships which is what our goal is.”

In their first tournament of the spring season, the Mules competed at the Broncho Invitational where the team finished in sixth place – the worst finish the team had all season.

But the Mules responded the very next weekend with a team title at the St. Edwards Invitational in Austin, Texas. Springer was the top finisher for the Mules with a tie for 4th place at 1-under-par, while Mays was the only other Mule to place in the top 10.

“That was a great tournament for us to bounce back at,” Springer said. “We had a lot of people play really well which was a good start to the season.”

The Mules would finish their next two tournaments inside the top five as a team with a 5th place finish at the Barry Buccaneer Invitational and a 4th place finish at the Southwest Baptist Invitational.

Heading into the MIAA Championships, the Mules were the No. 1 team in the conference and the region. With a tie for 4th place at 3-up from Jones and a 9th place 5-up from Springer, the Mules took home 3rd place as a team.

Jones was named the MIAA Golfer of the Year after winning the individual season long standings, this marks the third straight season a Mule has taken home the honor. Playing all 10 events of the season, Jones took home individual titles at two tournaments while posting an average score of 73.23.

“It was a good feeling,” Jones said. “To be honest it wasn’t a goal for me because I pay attention to our team’s points but it was aggravating because we weren’t able to win the team title.”

Even though Springer finished in second place in the MIAA individual standings, he was announced as a semi-finalist for the Jack Nicklaus Award, which is presented to the best golfer in Division II. Springer qualifies to compete at the Barbasol Shootout for a chance to compete at the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championships in July.

“It’s an honor,” Springer said. “It’s a really big accomplishment for me but I know I have a lot more work to do to get that done.”

The Mules will begin play at the NCAA Super Regional at The Meadows Golf Club in Allendale, Michigan beginning Monday.