The Buena Vista University Athletics Hall of Fame welcomes its Class of 2026 during an induction ceremony this Friday, Oct. 2. Throughout this week, we will shine the spotlight on each of the four individual inductees and the team inductee. TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT: 1979-80 Buena Vista Men's Golf Team.

The 1979 and 1980 men’s golf teams were comprised of the same five starting golfers. The group went on to become the first in program history to make it into the NCAA Championships and did so in both years. The Beavers of Coach John Naughton went 5-0 in duals and 2-0 in tournaments before winning the 1979 Iowa Conference Tournament by 13 strokes, the first conference title in men’s golf in 21 seasons.

After placing 18th at the NCAA National Meet in 1979, the Beavers again went undefeated in 1980 and repeated as the Iowa Conference Championship team, again winning by 13 strokes. The 1980 quintet posted the program’s best-ever NCAA team finish by earning eighth place in the national meet. Members of the two varsity lineups included: Tom Geelan ’81, Jeff Opheim ’80, Steve Ewalt ’80, Jeff Sawyer ’80 and Jim Mostek ’82.