The 2026 Fox Hunt at Strategic Fox Golf Course in Plymouth got the perfect Friday evening it deserved — upper 70s, not a cloud in the sky, the kind of late May afternoon where the only thing better than watching good golf is playing it. Tim Markel played it. He played it very well. And by the time the field was finishing up their final holes in the golden hour, the 2026 Fox Hunt trophy already had his name on it. Markel finishes with 61 points, wins the $20 first-place check, and claims his second Mulligan Tour victory of the 2026 season.
The story of Markel’s round was written early and written decisively. He hit 10 of his first 11 greens in regulation — threading approach after approach on a par 3 layout that punishes anything less than commitment — while avoiding the three-putt snakes that can bleed a Fox Hunt scorecard dry in a hurry. The points accumulated, the position on the leaderboard grew, and by the time the back nine was underway Markel had built the kind of cushion that makes a field wonder if anyone can run him down. Then, just for good measure, he hit both of his final two greens to close it out — 72% of greens hit in regulation across 18 holes, a front nine of 26 gross points followed by a back nine of 33. You can win the Fox Hunt with a hot putter. You can also win it the way Markel did — by hitting every green that matters, avoiding the errors that kill points totals, and finishing the way you started.
Helen Puffenberger made the most serious bid to run him down. After a quieter front nine, she turned aggressive on the back — hitting 11 of her final 13 greens in regulation and building a back nine of 33 gross points that matched Markel stroke for stroke over that stretch. The chase was real. It was compelling. It came down to the final green, where Puffenberger missed the last GIR and couldn’t quite close the gap. She finishes with 58 points and $13 for second place — a performance that would have won most Fox Hunt editions and was simply beaten by a better one on this particular Friday evening.
Willi Hesse claimed third place with 49 points, a strong individual showing from the two-time Tour Championship winner who continues to build toward the breakout 2026 result his game is capable of. Stewart Levine and Mike Prieskorn tied for fourth at 46 points each — Levine with a balanced 31-36 gross split and Prieskorn with an efficient 28-31 that kept pace until the back nine got away from him. Tyler Floyd checked in at 45 points for sixth, and the three-way tie at seventh — Scott Wilsey, David Wilson, and Chuck Withey all at 43 — produced a competitive middle of the leaderboard on a course where the scoring gaps between positions tend to be tighter than any other event on the Mulligan Tour calendar.
David Wilson’s 43-point performance at seventh is worth noting on its own. One of the tour’s newer members, Wilson has been building his record since Q School in March and has been showing up on leaderboards at venues across the Western Division all spring. A seventh-place Fox Hunt finish is competitive at any experience level. The format’s unique demands — GIR-weighted scoring, putting efficiency, no net birdies recorded — give newer players a different kind of challenge than standard stroke play, and Wilson handled it.
The 2026 Fox Hunt is in the books. Markel has two wins this season, the Chelsea Classic and now the Fox Hunt, and has put himself firmly in the 2026 money race conversation. The Mulligan Tour now turns to a busy June calendar, with the East Side Charity Classic the very next morning. Two events, two divisions, one spectacular late-May weekend.