Courtesy: UMKC Athletics Senior Bret Iliff and the UMKC men's golf team will open the spring season at the Pat Hicks Thunderbird Invitational on Monday and Tuesday in St. George, Utah.

This Week
The UMKC men’s golf team will open the 2010 spring season at the Pat Hicks Thunderbird Invitational on Feb. 8-9 in St. George, Utah.  The 36-hole tournament will be held at the Sunbrook Golf Club (6,758-yard; par 72) using the Point and Black Rock nines.  Eighteen holes will be contested on both Monday and Tuesday.

The Field
The 11-team field will include: Boise State, Butler, Cal State-Fullerton, College of Charleston, IPFW, UMKC, Oral Roberts, Seattle University, Southern Utah, Utah State and Western Illinois.

Last Competition
The ‘Roos finished in eighth place out of 13 teams in their final competition of the fall season at the Bill Ross Intercollegiate, which was contested on Oct. 19-20 at Blue Hills Country Club in Kansas City.  The squad finished with a 54-hole total of 913 strokes.  Two UMKC players placed among the top-11 in the individual standings with freshman Viktor Mikaelsson leading the way by placing 10th with a 224.

‘Roos Picked Second In Summit League Preseason Poll
UMKC was picked to finish as The Summit League runner-up in a vote of the league’s 10 head coaches.  The ‘Roos received one first place vote en route to tallying 70 points.  Western Illinois was tabbed as the preseason favorite to claim the league title after getting six first place votes and finishing with 75 points.

Frosh Shines During Fall Season
Freshman Viktor Mikaelsson was UMKC’s top golfer during the team’s five fall tournaments.  The Sweden native finished in the top-10 in each of the final two tournaments (D.A. Weibring Intercollegiate & Bill Ross Intercollegiate) to give him a team-high three top-10 showings on the year.  He also paced the squad with a 75.00 scoring average.

One Hogben Of A Career
Senior Alex Hogben has posted 19 top-15 finishes and a total of 10 top-10 finishes during his playing career in Kansas City.  During the fall season, the England native posted his top finish at the Jim Colbert Intercollegiate (148) and Bill Ross Intercollegiate (225), as he tied for 11th in bouth tournaments.

Robson Emerges As A Sophomore
After posting a 79.00 scoring average over six rounds as a freshman, Will Robson emerged with the third-best average on the squad during the fall.  The England native finished among the top-25 in three-of-five tournaments where he had a 75.79 scoring average.

All-League Honors All Around
The Kangaroos have three players on the 2009-10 roster that have garnered all-league honors during their careers at UMKC.  Senior Alex Hogben was a second team all-league selection in both 2008 and 2009, while junior Josh Taylor also was a second team honoree in ‘09.  Redshirt senior Brett Iliff, meanwhile, was a first team selection in 2008.

Coach VanDenBorn
J.W. VanDenBorn is in his third season as the Director of Golf for UMKC, where he oversees both the men’s and women’s golf programs. Overall, VanDenBorn has been the head coach for the men’s golf program for the past six years.  In each of the last two years, VanDenBorn guided the ‘Roos to back-to-back runner-up finish at The Summit League Championships.
    In his six years with the program, VanDenBorn has guided his squad to five top-four finishes.  In 2006, he coached Stephen Clark to the Mid-Con Player of the Year honors, which was the first such honor in the program’s history.