Pioneers Tee Off For The Spring

Pioneers Tee Off For The Spring- Wil Teague, Sports Information Director, 3/9/26

Springfield, MO- Pioneer Golf hit the course for the first time this Spring, opening up their Spring season in Springfield, MO, at the Evangel University Valor Invitational. At the end of today's 36 holes, the Pioneers find themselves in 10th place overall, sitting at +128 with a total of 704 strokes as a squad. 

Pace-setting the team in the Spring debut is freshman Christopher Riddle, who leads the Pioneers at +18 over par (162 strokes) through two rounds. Riddle jumped ahead of his team by cleaning up his round two, as the California native shaved off 12 strokes with the help of three birdies in the round. Riddle sits at 28th overall. 

Fellow freshman Christian Walls place-holds second for the team, with the Paragould native being consistent, rolling out two 85 score rounds to land him +26 over par (170 strokes) and place him 39th overall. 

Sitting in third for the team is freshman and Strawberry, AR native Slayde Barker, who also bounced back in round two of today's event, shaving off 11 strokes in the second round to bring his total to +37 over par (181 strokes) and place him in 50th individually. 

Senior Kyle Russell rounded off the group with the Walnut Ridge, AR native finishing day one at +48 over par (192 strokes) for 55th place overall. Russell shaved off two strokes on the second trip to join teammates Barker and Riddle in the stroke loss club. 

Up Next: The Pioneers will conclude their time in Evangel University's Spring Invite with a final 18 holes tomorrow. #GOPIONEERS