It's been a piece of the pie when it comes to Justin Fetcho's recruiting efforts for the last couple of years.
The Southern Illinois University men's golf coach and Eldorado native has talked to potential recruits about being a part of a Missouri Valley Conference championship team and being able to do so as a host school.
Come next April 23-24, SIU will get that chance as the Salukis will play host to the MVC Golf Championships at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
"Everyone that I've talked to is very excited," Fetcho said. "Our players are very excited and the way the cycle has been, they've known this opportunity was coming up and are excited host a conference championship. This was a a big piece of the pie to recruits, the chance to host conference championship and one that I hope gives us a slight advantage. In a sport like golf, anytime you get a course you are familiar with, you'd like to think it gives you a leg up.
"Plus, just from a fan standpoint, this is going to be the one time for folks to see our guys live and not just some of their parents, but people from general public and from university to come out and cheer our guys on."
The course is no stranger to MVC Championships, having hosted the women's tournament this past spring. The SIU men last won an MVC title in 2016.
The Jack Nicklaus designed course, built in 2002, is descried as a "strategic masterpiece" and ranked as the No. 1 course in Missouri and has hosted countless other golf events.
For all the positives, there is one negative.
As a host school, SIU won't be able to practice or play on Dalhousie during the 2017-18 academic calendar.
Also, the way the MVC is set up, SIU is part of a four school rotation that includes Missouri State and Loyola and used to include Wichita State. The Shockers left the Valley and were replaced by Valparaiso. This past year, Loyola hosted at Cog Hill near Chicago and Missouri State uses Porta Chima at Lake of the Ozarks.
Now that WSU is out, Fetcho is interested in who might take the Shockers spot, but realizes as a Midwest school, there are plenty of good courses up for grabs, namely Belle Rive in St. Louis and Victoria National in Evansville.
As for Dalhousie, Fetcho said there's no denying that a championship tournament will get championship attention.
"SIU has hosted at Dalhousie before I was here and all the teams and players enjoyed the experience. It's a great test and an even better championship site. When they asked us to host and Dalhousie was the option, I was ok with that. They have been great to us, the staff is so accommodating. It's a first class course and it's always run first class. I'm looking forward to it."
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Register, Eldorado Journal & The Gallatin County Democrat. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.
