Minooka Grad Anfield Excels On the Golf Course, In The Classroom

NORMAL, IL — Minooka High grad Dan Anfield spent his college years getting the job done on the golf course and in the classroom.

Anfield completed his senior season at Illinois State in the spring, and on Thursday, he was one of four Redbirds to earn a 2020-21 NCAA Division I All-American Scholar designation from the Golf Coaches Associations of America (GCAA). Illinois State also earned an All-Academic team designation after finishing the season with an above 3.0 grade point average.

According to a release, to be eligible for the All-American Scholars honor, golfers had to participate in 40 percent of their team's competitive rounds, have a stroke average under 76.0, maintain a minimum cumulative career GPA of 3.2 and have high moral character.

This spring, Anfield averaged 74.6 strokes per round over seven tournaments, scoring under par in seven rounds. His season-low round was a 68 at the April 10-11 Boilermaker Invitational, where he finished 23rd. In fact, Anfield finished in the top 25 in each of the team's final three tournaments

Anfield capped his career in style at the Missouri Valley Conference Championship on April 26-27, when he shot a 78-77-72 for a three-round total of 227, finishing in a tie for eighth at the event held at Flossmoor Golf Course. The 6-foot-4, 175-pound Anfield had three birdies and a dozen pars in the final round.

Anfield's performance at the conference championship helped the Redbirds to a tournament-low round of 286 on the competition's final day, as ISU (299) nearly overcame a 21-stroke deficit, before falling by four strokes to Loyola (295).

Anfield finished with a career scoring average of 74.7.

Off the course, Anfield, a native of Channahon, majored in finance and had a 3.45 GPA.

Anfield is no stranger to success on and off the course. At Minooka High, he was a two-time IHSA Class 3A State Tournament qualifier and four-time All-Southwest Prairie Conference selection. Anfield helped Minooka to three conference championships (2013-15) and his team went 33-0 in duel meets during his four seasons.

Anfield was a four-year scholar athlete in high school, a member of the honor roll all eight semesters and a two-time academic excellence award winner.