Marquette Men’s Golf Sweeps 2024-25 BIG EAST Awards

NEW YORK – The Marquette University men’s golf team swept the 2024-25 BIG EAST Conference Men’s Golf Awards, led by league player of the year Patrick Adler, freshman of the year Vincent Cervantes and coaching staff of the year.

Adler, a senior from Winnetka, Illinois, burst onto the college golf scene this fall with a pair of medalist honors in the Windon Memorial Classic at Conway Farms on Sept. 29-30 and the RedHawk Intercollegiate on Oct. 14-15 at Pittsburgh Field Club.

His victory at Conway Farms buoyed his player of the year candidacy with a five-stroke win against a loaded tournament field with an 11-under 202. His score is tied for the third-best mark in MU program history for a 54-hole event and his 11-under is the sixth-best score-to-par for an MU player.

Adler finished the year at No. 138 in the Scoreboard NCAA Division I Men’s College Golf Rankings, the highest in the league and 14 spots above the next closest BIG EAST player, teammate Max Lyons, the 2023-24 BIG EAST Player of the Year. He earned three BIG EAST Male Golfer of the Week honors (Oct. 2, Oct. 16, April 22) during the year and is joined on the All-BIG EAST First Team by Lyons and MU junior Johan Widal.

The Loyola Academy graduate has been on a rapid ascent since filling in as a substitute in the final round of the 2024 BIG EAST tournament at Riverton Pointe Golf Club in Hardeeville, South Carolina. Adler led MU with a 1-under 71 in his first league tournament action and went on to win the 122nd South of Ireland Amateur Open at historic Lahinch in County Clare over the summer. That launched a senior campaign that has included four top five and seven top 20 finishes, and the team lead in five events with a 71.16 scoring average, an average of -0.10 strokes-to par-per round.

Lyons, a fellow senior, ranks No. 152 according to Scoreboard and is the MU leader this season with a 70.71 stroke scoring average, which is -0.55 strokes to par per round. That scoring average is tied for the second-best single season mark in program history and the score versus par is fourth best. He has recorded scores under par in all six tournaments he’s played this spring and in 13 of 16 rounds.

The native of Phoenix, Arizona is third all-time at MU in career scoring average (72.05), score to par (0.60) and par-or-better rounds (64). Lyons has recorded four top five finishes this season and led MU with 11 rounds in the 60s and 19 par-or-better rounds. He has a team-best 461 par-or better holes (106 birdies) this season and a team-best second round scoring average of 69.82 strokes.

Prior to this season, only three players in Marquette history had ever recorded a season-long scoring average under par (Mike Van Sickle, Hunter Eichhorn and Oliver Farrell) and both Adler and Lyons have done so through 31 rounds.

Widal, a junior in his first year of NCAA Division I, leads MU with seven eagles as does his .935 (29-of-31) counting scores percentage. The native of Halmstad, Sweden earned BIG EAST Male Golfer of the Week on Feb. 6 after helping the Golden Eagles to a victory in BIG EAST Match Play at Bear Lakes Country Club while never reaching the 16th hole in any of his three matchups.

Widal led the Golden Eagles at five events during the year and tied for the team lead with Adler at the BIG EAST Championships in a tie for fourth overall. He has recorded 17 rounds of par-or-better in his first taste of NCAA Division I and owns four top 10 finishes, including three this spring. His 449 holes of par-or-better is second only to Lyons and he has a team-best seven eagles.

Cervantes, the league freshman of the year, is a member of the All-BIG EAST Second Team. He won the Irish Creek Collegiate (April 7-8) to become the first MU freshman golfer to earn medalist honors since Eichhorn won the 2018 BIG EAST Individual Championship. His 6-under 64 in the second and final round of the event stands as a single round low for an MU golfer this season.

The Golden Eagles, led by head coach Steve Bailey and assistant coaches Jordan Niebrugge and Josh Robinson, won five team titles in 2024-25, including three this spring. Most recently Bailey, Niebrugge and Robinson led MU to the 2025 BIG EAST Men’s Golf Championship at Callawassie Island in Okatie, South Carolina by 11 strokes over runner-up Xavier.

The BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year award is the sixth such honor for Bailey at MU and he’s earned it alongside five different coaching staffs.

MU has finished first or second in nine of its last 10 team events, dating back to Sept. 29-30 in the Windon Memorial Classic at Conway Farms. The Golden Eagles will make their sixth NCAA Regional appearance on May 12-14 at Atkins Golf Course in Urbana, Illinois.

MU BIG EAST Notables:

• Fourth time with four all-conference selections (2024-25, 2022-23, 2018-19, 2017-18).
• Adler is the sixth MU player named league player of the year (Hunter Eichhorn was a three-time BIG EAST Player of the Year).
• Cervantes is the fifth MU player named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and first since Lyons in 2021-22. MU players have won five of the last eight top freshman awards (award was not given in 2019-20).
• MU’s coaching staff has earned the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year or equivalent eight times. Bailey has earned the honor a total of six times with five different assistant coaches.

BIG EAST Player of the Year
2024-25 Patrick Adler
2023-24 Max Lyons
2021-22 Hunter Eichhorn
2020-21 Hunter Eichhorn
2018-19 Oliver Farrell
2017-18 Hunter Eichhorn
2014-15 Patrick Sanchez
2008-09 Mike Van Sickle

BIG EAT Freshman of the Year
2024-25 Vincent Cervantes
2021-22 Max Lyons
2018-19 Tyler Leach
2017-18 Hunter Eichhorn
2016-17 Matthew Bachmann

Keep up with the Marquette men’s golf program through social media by following on X (@MarquetteMGolf) and Instagram (@MarquetteMGolf) and ‘liking’ on Facebook (/MarquetteMGolf).

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.