The 2024 Midwest Masters Tournament will be held on August 24th as the competition moves into it’s sixth year.
Saturday’s tee times will range from 2:40 to 3:00 p.m., returning to a standard three-group arrangement in 2024. In total there are 12 players scheduled to compete at this year’s Midwest Masters.
For the first time, our defending champion will be off the tee in the opening group at the Masters. Official scorer and five-time winner Nathan Utley will tee things off at 2:40 p.m., with his father Rex Utley playing alongside Brayden Cowling and Mitch Lear.
The second grouping, teeing off at 2:50 p.m., includes Board of Governor Tanner Watkins of Indianapolis, Indiana. Rounding out the group will be last year’s runner-up Carter McCue, plus former honorary scorer Wyatt Mosson and West Salem’s Kevin Schuh.
Our final grouping of the day will see players tee off at 3:00 p.m., led by Board of Governor Jonah Laws in his fifth Masters. Doug Findley will make his second start in the Tournament, while Lucas Rogers makes start number three alongside Jordan Cox’s fourth appearance.
Headlines and Trends
Scoring Trends: The 147-yard Par Three third hole has the lowest field average score relative to par (3.98) while the 506-yard Par Five second hole has the highest (7.21). Four holes set field Tournament lows in 2023.
Strong Field: This is the second time that the Masters has had 12 competitors in the field – matching the 2022 total.
Five-Time: Nathan Utley enters the 2024 Tournament after winning the first five editions of the Masters. Last year’s event saw the closest margin of victory at four strokes – the second consecutive year that the margin of victory has shrunk.
Shaking Off the Aches: Heading into this year’s Tournament, defending champion Utley will be battling back from a wrist injury sustained in early August while fellow Board of Governor Tanner Watkins will be nursing a back injured in July.
Veterans Aplenty: For the first time in Midwest Masters history, there will be no players making their debut in 2024. In each of the first five editions we had at least one first-timer on the course.
Southpaws: There are two left-handed players in this year’s field: Jordan Cox of Olney, Illinois and Brayden Cowling of Irving, Texas.
Ironmen: Five players have started every Midwest Masters thus far: Jonah Laws, Mitch Lear, Wyatt Mosson, Nathan Utley and Tanner Watkins.
Five-For-Five: Only Mitch Lear and Nathan Utley have finished in the top five in each of the Tournament’s first four events.
Family Ties: The father-son combination of Rex and Nathan Utley will make their fifth all-time start together.
Birdie Hunt: There have not been scores under par recorded at the following holes at the Midwest Masters: Hole’s No. 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18. Notably, Hole 16 is a par five.
Breakthrough on No. 2: Last year saw the first two birdies on the card at the Par Five second hole – the first three years had only seen one par in recorded Masters history. Nathan Utley and Carter McCue recorded birdies while three players notched pars. Seven players scored double bogey or worse.
80 – The New 90: In the first three editions of the Midwest Masters Tournament from 2019 to 2021, Nathan Utley was the only player to shoot under 90. In the last two Tournaments, each time we have seen a trio of players shoot in the 80s – last year it was Nathan Utley (80), McCue (84) and Rogers (89). No player has shot in the 70s in the five years at the Masters.
Domination: Five-time champion Nathan Utley has never trailed in the Midwest Masters after the second hole. Last year, Utley was tied with McCue after three holes before opening up a lead he would not relinquish for the rest of the day.
100 is the Number: Last year’s Midwest Masters field had an average score of 100.31 – up slightly from the field average from 2022. While challenging course conditions saw four holes have their highest average score in a Tournament, 2023 marked the first year that no holes on the course had an average score of seven or higher.
About Cambridge: Cambridge Golf Course, home of the Midwest Masters, measures at an 18-hole distance of 6,227 yards for the Tournament and has a par of 72. The first nine distance totals 3,109 yards while the second nine distance amounts to 3,118 yards.
Yardages, Vol II: Three holes (No.’s 2, 7 and 16) total 500 yards or more while three holes (No.’s 3, 5 and 13) measure at less than 155 yards.