CEDAR CITY, Utah – After showing steady improvement throughout its season-opening tournament, the Southern Utah University men's golf team heads to Illinois for the SIUE Dolenc Invitational Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 28-29, at Gateway National Golf Links in Madison.
The Thunderbirds will join a 17-team field for the 54-hole tournament, with 36 holes scheduled for Monday before the final 18 holes Tuesday.
Southern Utah enters its second tournament of the fall after closing the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational at the U.S. Air Force Academy with its best round of the tournament. SUU improved its team score in each round, going from a 300 in the opener to a 294 in the second round before firing a one-over 289 in the finale.
The Thunderbirds finished 15th at 19-over 883 (300-294-289), an 11-shot improvement from their opening round to their final round.
Head Coach Richard Church said:
"We saw a lot of positives in our first tournament, especially with the way we continued to improve from round to round. Now the challenge is to build on that and put together a complete tournament. We have three guys in the lineup who played this course last year and had some really good rounds here, so that experience should be valuable. Michael is coming off a great opening tournament, and I was really encouraged by the way the entire lineup competed and improved as the week went along. We want to keep taking steps forward and give ourselves opportunities to compete."
Tournament Information
What: SIUE Dolenc Invitational
When: Monday-Tuesday, Sept. 28-29
Where: Gateway National Golf Links
Location: Madison, Illinois
Host: SIUE
Format: 54 holes, 36 holes Monday and 18 holes Tuesday
Who: Bellarmine, Bradley, Eastern Illinois, Idaho, Indian Hills Community College, Lindenwood, Missouri State, Morehead State, Northern Iowa, SIUE, Southern Indiana, Southern Utah, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, UT Martin, Weber State, and Western Illinois
Live Scoring: https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/245127/scoring/team
The Thunderbirds
Southern Utah will send the same five golfers who represented the Thunderbirds at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational into competition at Gateway National, with Michael Stirland leading the lineup following his top-25 finish in the season opener.
1. Michael Stirland
2. Charlie Gillespie
3. Braylon Bingham
4. Jing-Cheng (Jarell) Wang
5. David (Charles) Serdenia
Stirland Leads the Lineup After Top-25 Finish
Michael Stirland moves into the No. 1 position after leading the Thunderbirds at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational.
The Hurricane, Utah, native finished tied for 21st at one-under 215 with rounds of 72, 69 and 74.
Stirland made his biggest move during the second round, firing a three-under 69 to climb into a tie for 12th through 36 holes. His round featured an eagle on the 402-yard first hole along with four birdies, and his 69 tied for the ninth-best round of the day.
He added three more birdies during the final round and completed the tournament at one-under.
Stirland was one of 28 players in the field to finish the 54-hole tournament under par. The final leaderboard featured an eight-player tie for 21st at one-under, with Stirland among that group.
Gillespie Returns to Site of Career-Low Round
Senior Charlie Gillespie will play from the No. 2 position after opening his season with an even-par performance at the Gene Miranda.
Gillespie finished tied for 29th at even-par 216, recording rounds of 72, 74 and 70.
The St. Andrews, Scotland, native saved his best golf for the final round. Gillespie fired a two-under 70 and played his final nine holes in three-under 33, recording birdies on Nos. 10, 12 and 18.
Gateway National also provides Gillespie with a return to the site of one of the best rounds of his collegiate career.
At the 2025 Dolenc Invitational, Gillespie fired a five-under 66 in the second round before following with a one-under 70 in the finale. He finished tied for 38th at one-over for the tournament.
Bingham Trending in the Right Direction
Senior Braylon Bingham occupies the No. 3 position after lowering his score in each round of the Gene Miranda.
The Cedar City native opened with a 78 before shaving three strokes off his score with a 75 in the second round. Bingham continued the progression with a one-over 73 in the final round to finish tied for 73rd at 10-over 226.
His final round included birdies on the fifth and 14th holes and represented a five-shot improvement from his opening round.
Bingham will also return to familiar territory at Gateway National.
He displayed impressive consistency at last year's Dolenc Invitational, recording rounds of 73, 72 and 71. Bingham improved his score in each round and finished tied for 51st at three-over.
Wang Looks for Another Low Round at Gateway
Junior Jing-Cheng "Jarell" Wang enters the lineup at No. 4 after also showing steady improvement throughout the season opener.
Wang recorded rounds of 78, 76 and 75 at the Gene Miranda, lowering his score each day on his way to a tie for 80th at 13-over 229.
He got off to a strong start in the final round, recording three birdies over his first eight holes and playing his opening nine in one-under 35.
Wang now returns to a course where he produced his lowest round of the 2025-26 season.
At last year's Dolenc Invitational, Wang opened with an even-par 72 before firing a three-under 68 in the second round. He eventually finished tied for 43rd at two-over.
Serdenia Looks to Carry Final-Round Momentum
David (Charles) Serdenia rounds out the Southern Utah lineup at No. 5 after producing his best round of the Gene Miranda on the final day.
Serdenia opened the tournament with an 83 and followed with an 80 before making a significant move in the finale.
He fired an even-par 72, an 11-shot improvement from his opening round and eight shots better than his second-round score.
Serdenia recorded four birdies during the round, including two over his final six holes, to finish the tournament in 88th place at 19-over.
His final-round performance was part of Southern Utah's best team round of the tournament and gives Serdenia something to build on as the Thunderbirds head to Illinois.
Familiar Ground at Gateway National
While Stirland and Serdenia will get their first look at the Dolenc Invitational as Thunderbirds, Gillespie, Bingham and Wang all return with tournament experience at Gateway National.
All three produced at least one round of par or better at the 2025 event.
Gillespie went particularly low, shooting a five-under 66 in the second round before closing with a one-under 70. Wang fired a three-under 68 during the second round, while Bingham finished his tournament with rounds of even-par 72 and even-par 71 over the final 36 holes.
The trio combined for five rounds of par or better during last year's tournament.
Southern Utah finished 13th in the 18-team field at the 2025 Dolenc Invitational, posting a seven-over 859 (295-275-289).
SUU made its biggest move during the second round when the Thunderbirds combined for a nine-under 275, 20 shots better than their opening-round score.
That second round featured Gillespie's 66 and Wang's 68 as Southern Utah put together one of its lowest team rounds of the season.
Looking to Build on the Opener
If there was one consistent theme for Southern Utah at the Gene Miranda, it was improvement.
The Thunderbirds lowered their team score in each successive round:
Round 1: 300 (+12)
Round 2: 294 (+6)
Round 3: 289 (+1)
Total: 883 (+19)
The progression amounted to an 11-shot improvement between the first and third rounds.
That improvement was reflected throughout this week's lineup.
Stirland provided the Thunderbirds with a top-25 individual finish and completed the tournament under par.
Gillespie saved his lowest round for the finale with a two-under 70.
Bingham improved from 78 to 75 to 73.
Wang followed a similar path, going from 78 to 76 to 75.
Serdenia made the largest single-round move of the group, following an opening 83 and second-round 80 with an even-par 72 to close the tournament.
Now the Thunderbirds will look to carry that momentum to Gateway National, where three members of the lineup have already shown the ability to put together low rounds.
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