WATERLOO, Ill. – Behind a career-low round from senior Francis Bautista, the Illinois State men's golf team closed the first day of the 2026 Missouri Valley Conference championship in third place in the field, with 36 holes to play.
Southern Illinois leads the field after the first day with a team score of 279 (-5), with Murray State (282) and the Redbirds (283) each chasing behind. Bradley (287), Evansville (288), Drake (290), Northern Iowa (297), Belmont (299), and Valparaiso (300) rounded out the nine schools in the tournament field.
The opening-day leader for ISU was senior Francis Bautista who is tied for third overall, while TJ Barger is inside of the top 10 in a tie for ninth. Max Faucquez' 72 has him tied for 13th, while Sam Ottwell is tied for 17th and Pietro Pontiggia tied for 22nd.
As a team, the Redbirds jumped into the top two early in the round and remained at the front of the leaderboard for most of the front nine. ISU surrendered its advantage late in the front nine, before a steady back nine put the Birds back into contention a third of the way through the championship, as the Redbirds seek to become the first school to win back-to-back men's golf titles since 2014 and 2015. SIU hit a strong stretch to finish the round; however, eventually taking a four-stroke lead over ISU with 36 holes to play in the Championship.
Bautista got off to a fiery start, as he had three birdies and an eagle over his first five holes, and he went into the turn with a three-under par 32. His back nine opened with a pair of pars before a birdie dropped his aggregate score to -4, as he followed with six consecutive pars, securing his career-low round of 67 on the par-71 course.
TJ Barger had a steady opening round, with two birdies and five pars over his first seven holes. He closed his front nine with a bogey and a par, making the turn with a one-under-par 34, as his back nine opened with two pars and a birdie, dropping him to two strokes under par through a dozen holes. After a par a bogey dropped him back to -1 on the day he carded a birdie on the par-three 15th hole; however, he came back with a double-bogey to push him back to even par through 16 holes before carding a par on the final two to end with an even-par 71.
Max Faucquez opened his day with a birdie, par, and three bogeys through five holes, before steadying the ship with a run of 12 pars and a birdie over his next 11 holes, with the birdie coming on the par-four 11th hole, as he closed with a one-over 72 on the day.
Playing in his first MVC Championship, freshman Sam Ottwell got off to a rocky start with two consecutive bogeys; however, with a birdie, bogey, and eight pars over his next 10 holes, he remained at two over through a dozen holes before his second birdie of the day on the par-five 14th hole dropped him back to +1 on the day. He closed his round with two pars and a bogey, finishing with a two-over 73 on the day.
Pietro Pontiggia had three birdies over his first five holes to jump to three shots under par early in the first round; however, a stumble around the turn with back-to-back double bogeys on the ninth and tenth holes pushed the senior to one stroke over par, before righting the ship with two consecutive pars. He closed his day with four pars and two bogeys, ending with a three-over 74.
The Redbirds, Salukis, and Racers tee off tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. off the first tee for the second of three rounds of the 2026 MVC Championship.
