NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State head men's golf coach, Ray Kralis, announced his program's 2019-20 schedule on Wednesday morning.
Throughout the 11 matches and one exhibition, the Redbirds will compete in nine different states and in the Bahamas. They play five events in the fall and six tournaments and an exhibition in the spring.
"We strive to provide a great competitive experience for our student-athletes," said Kralis. "We put together a schedule that will both test and grow them as players and people. I am confident this year's schedule will do that. While we will return to a couple of venues as defending champion, everyone starts at zero as we face a new set of challenges on some tremendous courses and are presented with a new set of opportunities against some great competition. I am looking forward to getting started."
The season opens on Sept. 8-10 when the Redbirds travel to Madison, Wisconsin to compete in the Badger Invitational. This is the sixth consecutive season Illinois State has competed in this tournament, and it will look to defend its championship at the tournament from last season. The following week the 'Birds compete at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Illinois State travels to Cincinnati, Ohio two weeks later to compete in the Bearcat Invitational hosted by the University of Cincinnati on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Three weeks later the Redbirds return to the Little Rock Invitational hosted by University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Oct. 21-22.
The fall season ends for the Redbirds when they compete in the White Sands Intercollegiate in Nassau, Bahamas from Nov. 1 until Nov. 3.
On February 1, the spring season unofficially opens when Illinois State plays in the annual Tinervin Cup alumni exhibition with Illinois in Placida, Florida.
The spring season officially begins on Feb. 10-11 with the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate, a tournament that Illinois State has competed in the last 11 seasons. The Redbirds continue their tear in the south in March, when they compete in the Mission Inn Spring Spectacular in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida March 14-15. and the Craft Farms Intercollegiate in Gulf Shores, Alabama hosted on March 30-31.
The Redbirds travel to Columbia, Missouri April 6-7 for their fourth consecutive appearance in the Tiger Invitational. A week later the team travels to Indiana for the Boilermaker Invitational hosted by Purdue University on Apr. 11-12.
Men's Golf closes out the 2019-20 season in Flossmoor, Ill. when they compete in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships on Apr. 27 and 28.
