Springfield native Neal Stafford is in his 18th full season at Missouri State, having been appointed men's golf coach prior to the spring 2005 season, and has consistently assembled competitive squads on the course and in the classroom.
Since his arrival, the Bears have accumulated 13 individual tournament winners with eight team titles, 28 podium placements and 33 total top-five finishes. Eleven of those top-five finishes have come at the Missouri Valley Conference meet, including a runner-up in 2012 and third-place finishes in 2011 and 2019.
Stafford has coached a total of 20 first-team all-MVC selections at Missouri State, including six players to earn the honor on multiple occasions, headlined by three-time picks Will Hogan and Max Kreikemeier. The latter set the school's single-season scoring record at 71.07 in 2022-23 and took over the career lead at 72.85 heading into his final season.
Hogan was named the MVC Golfer of the Year in 2011 and became the first MVC golfer to earn a bid to the NCAA Championship since 2002. That came a season after being named the league's Newcomer of the Year, joining Jordan McLaurin (2009), Daily Young (2011) and Joey Johnson (2013) as Bears awarded the league's top newcomer distinction.
Young would go on to win MVC Golfer of the Week nine times during his career, among the top-10 totals for any player in league history, and Bear golfers have claimed the weekly award a total of 48 times in Stafford's tenure.
Stafford has made a habit of recruiting dedicated and hard-working players who exemplify the term "student-athlete," placing an emphasis on their work in the classroom as well as on the golf course. His teams have regularly posted some of the highest GPAs in the MSU Athletic Department, with 15 players earning MVC Scholar-Athlete recognition and Brad Carpenter twice receiving (2017, 2019) the MVC Elite 17 Award, given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA at the conference tournament.
Stafford was the Class 4 state champion in 1997 at Kickapoo High School and went on to attend the University of Missouri, where he was a four-year letterman. He was a member of the Big XII Commissioner's Honor Roll in 2000-01 and a conference All-Academic Second Team selection as a senior the following year. While with the Tigers, he earned the Charlie Diggs Citizenship Award and, after completing his eligibility, served as a student assistant coach in 2002. He received his bachelor's degree in Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
Stafford came to Missouri State from Millwood Golf & Racquet Club in Springfield, where he worked as an assistant professional, serving in all capacities of the golf operation, including golf instruction, tournament management and golf shop merchandising.
Stafford and his wife, Sarah, reside in Springfield with their son, Grant, and daughter, Chloe.
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