NORMAL – Illinois State head men's golf coach Ray Kralis has announced that Quincy Notre Dame senior Alex McCulla has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Redbirds starting in the 2021-22 season.
"I am thrilled Alex has chosen to join the Redbird family," said Kralis. "He is a proven competitor who is comfortable at the top of the leaderboard and is not afraid to go low. I am very impressed with him as a person and believe his upside is off the charts. He is very capable of making his presence felt immediately, and I look for him to have an impact right away."
McCulla is a two-time IHSA state runner-up and a three-time state qualifier, only missing his senior year because the tournament was canceled. He averaged 69.6 strokes per round as a junior and 69.8 as a senior and he finished his career 70 total strokes under par.
This past season (2020) he was his conference champion with an 18-hole score of 68, regional champion with a 72, and sectional champion with a 73. Over the summer he took fifth place in the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) UHY St. Louis Junior Tournament with scores of 70, 70, and 73.
During his junior season he helped Lead Quincy Notre Dame to a Regional and Sectional championship. He was the sectional runner-up medalist with a three-under 69. His two-round scores of 65-70 on the par-71 course in the state championship saw him finish second overall, a stroke behind the individual champion, while also helping his squad to an overall second place finish.
As a sophomore he again helped lead his squad to championships in the regional and sectional round of the IHSA Tournament, taking medalist honors in the regional and finished as the runner-up at the sectional. In the one-round 2018 IHSA Class 2A State Championship, he finished runner-up with an even-par 71 while the team finished in third place, three strokes off the team champion.
During his freshman season the McCulla-led Quincy Notre Dame team won the Roxana regional behind McCulla's 70, which earned him medalist honors by three strokes. In the sectional his 73 powered Quincy through to the State Championship, where his team took eighth place. Individually he shot rounds of 78 and 78 in the final tournament of the season, placing 33rd and was the second-highest freshman in the standings.
