“Over the past five years, golf sponsorship among Midwest Conference schools has fluctuated with membership changes and the elimination of two programs. What remains are six institutions with a commitment to providing competitive programs in which the participating athletes have a quality experience,” explained Heather Benning, MWC Executive Director. “The opportunity to compete for a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament is part of that quality experience, as is maintaining long-standing rivalries and an identity as part of a larger collective.”

“I believe I speak on behalf of my member institutions when I say that we are grateful for the invitation for affiliate membership with the SLIAC, as it allows MWC golf-sponsoring schools to sustain relation to one another while becoming part of what now will be a stronger and deeper regional golf conference,” said Benning.

The Midwest Conference held its first men’s golf championship in 1935 with a triangular competition between Carleton College, Lawrence University and Knox. Within five years’ time, sponsorship doubled with the addition of Beloit College, Cornell College and Coe College, with Grinnell and Monmouth also adding the sport in 1940. There was no league competition from 1943 to 1945 due to the War, then for the next seventy years (1946-2015) sponsorship hovered around ten institution before beginning a steady decline to only a half dozen programs.

Those Midwest Conference schools still sponsoring men’s golf own 31 of the league’s 81 titles. Knox has a record 29 championships, while Monmouth was crowned victor 13 times. St. Norbert College boasts three titles while Grinnell and Illinois College each have won twice. The league’s most recent champion is Lake Forest which won its first title in 2018.

Women’s golf started in the Midwest Conference in the fall of 1996 and continued over the past quarter century with only two interruptions when it failed to host a championship due to low sponsorship in 1997 and 1999. Reigning champion Grinnell is coming off of its sixth league title, while Illinois College also has six championships under its belt, with Knox being crowned victor four times and Monmouth taking the title once in 2002.

With the addition of the MWC institutions in the sports of men’s and women’s golf, the SLIAC is able to solidify an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships. The five new members join existing women's teams from Eureka College, Fontbonne University, Iowa Wesleyan University, MacMurray College, Spalding University, and Westminster College as well as a proposed new program from Blackburn College. On the men's side, the new members will join Blackburn College, Eureka College, Fontbonne University, Iowa Wesleyan University, MacMurray College, Spalding University, Webster University, and Westminster College.

For the companion release on the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s website, click here.