Matthew Cullen

M.C. Mini Masters Champion 2001, 2007, 2010
Most Holes-in-one trophy winner 2002, 2016, 2017, 2018
M.C. Mini Masters Match Play Invitational champion 2014, 2015

Born: 1979
Occupation: Community college counselor
Mini golf experience: Never mini-golfed before in his life, despite being in the MCMM every year since its inception and being the first player other than his father, Michael, to win the tournament.
Interesting facts and some lies: Matthew is a very boring person. He likes to stare at cicadas. Matthew's favorite holiday is Charge-Up Day. Every Charge-Up Day, he dons his Charge-Up Clown outfit and sets out to visit the local battery-only recycling shop to pose for pictures with kids. Unfortunately, there isn't one of those around and he just ends up walking around the neighborhood scaring people. All the other days, he likes to build furnishings out of used sporting equipment. He never eats charcoal.


Player History
Past MC Mini Masters Results
2025: 49-43-45-46-49-46--278 (+16) (T-26th/51 overall, 5th/5 Champions' Division)
2024: 41-39-42-43-40-39--244 (-12) (T-4th/54 overall, 2nd/5 Champions' Division)
2019: 45-48-41-43-43-42--262 (-11) (6th/46 overall, 4th/4 Champions' Division)
2018: 37-48-42-43-41-38--249 (-24) (3rd/32 overall, 3rd/4 Champions' Division)
2017: 48-42-39-46-44-38--257 (-16) (3rd/40 overall, 3rd/3 Champions' Division)
2016: 40-49-48-46-42-42--267 (- 6) (8th/42 overall, 4th/4 Champions' Division)
2015: 43-50-40-52-40-38--263 (- 4) (T-7th/38 overall, 4th/5 Champions' Division)
2014: 46-39-37-41-42-38--243 (-12) (2nd/39 overall, 2nd/4 Champions' Division)
2012: 45-41-41-51-40-47--265 (- 1) (T-5th/38 overall, 4th/5 Champions' Division)
2011: 46-36-38-39-44-44--247 (-23) (T-2nd/30 overall, T-2nd/4 Champions' Division)
2010: 44-43-42-40-40-34--243 (-27) (1st/29)
2009: 55-49-43-43-40-34--264 (- 4) (T-4th/29)
2008: 40-51-40-40-40-39--250 (-19) (2nd/24)
2007: 42-43-38-37-45-45--250 (-25) (1st/25)
2006: 43-40-47-44-45-46--265 (-10) (4th/26)
2005: 40-43-48-44-43-51--269 (- 1) (T-5th/37)
2004: 46-44-45-51-48-45--279 (+ 2) (7th/36)
2003: 39-47-38-46-42-56--268 (-12) (T-5th/32)
2002: 44-45-38-40-37-50--254 (-26) (2nd/27)
2001: 45-51-38-45-42-38--259 (-18) (1st/35)
2000: 53-49-45-40-46-47--280 (+ 3) (4th/18)
1999: 46-56-47-42-49-46--286 (+ 9) (6th/26)
1998: 45-50-46-39-46-42--274 (- 3) (4th/11)
1997: 47-54-52-46-44-42--285 (+ 8) (6th/13)

Course Championships
Sisolak's West, 1998 (39)
Sisolak's West, 2000 (40) [tied]
Sisolak's East, 2001 (38)
Kristof's, 2001 (38)
Sisolak's East, 2002 (38)
Lighthouse, 2002 (37)
Congo River, 2003 (39)
Action Territory, 2005 (43) [tied]
Action Territory, 2006 (40)
Lighthouse, 2007 (37)
Libertyville, 2007 (45) [tied]
Rocky's Fun House Gurnee, 2008 (40) [tied]
Lighthouse, 2008 (40) [tied]
Par-King Black, 2008 (40) [tied]
Par-King Red, 2009 (34) (T-lowest round in MCMM history)
Action Territory, 2010 (44)
Par-King Black, 2010 (40) [tied]
Par-King Red, 2010 (34) (T-lowest round in MCMM history)
Sisolak's West, Round 1, 2011 (36)
Lighthouse, 2014 (39) [tied]
Congo Rapids, 2014 (37)
Par-King Red, 2017 (38) [tied]

Hole-in-one history
Aloha Falls: 3rd, 11th (4), 13th, 16th
Ballybunion: 18th
Congo Falls: 1st, 4th, 11th
Congo Rapids: 9th, 12th
Congo River: 3rd, 4th, 5th (2), 7th (3), 11th (3), 14th
Harry Semrow: none
Kristof's: 1st, 4th, 6th (2), 7th, 9th, 10th, 13th, 14th, 15th (2), 16th (2), 17th, 18th
Lighthouse: 1st (3), 2nd, 3rd (3), 4th (3), 5th, 7th (2), 8th, 10th, 11th (6), 12th, 13th, 14th (3), 15th, 16th (8), 18th (4)
Lost Falls: original 2nd; current 2nd, 5th, 6th, 10th, 13th, 14th, 16th (2)
Par-King Black: 3rd, 4th, 7th (2), 8th, 10th, 16th (3), 18th (2)
Par-King Red: 1st (3), 2nd, 4th (3), 5th, 6th (2), 7th, 11th (5), 12th (3), 14th, 16th (2), 18th (2)
Rocky's Fun House Gurnee: 2nd
Rocky's Fun House Waukegan: none
Sisolak's East: 4th (3), 5th, 15th, 18th (3)
Sisolak's West: 3rd (2), 4th, 6th, 8th (2), 17th, 18th (5)
Wild West: 2nd, 11th
Wisconsin Adventure: 3rd, 11th, 12th (3), 14th

Unique Aces (only hole-in-one in MCMM history at a given hole)
Action Territory (Lost Falls) 2nd (which no longer exists!)

Personal records by course
Aloha Falls: 43 (2018, 2019)
Ballybunion: 43 (2005)
Congo Falls: 41 (2014)
Congo Rapids: 37 (2014)
Congo River Kenosha: 39 (2003)
Harry Semrow: n/a
Kristof's: 38 (2001)
Lighthouse: 37 (2002, 2007)
Lost Falls: 40 (2006)
Par-King Black: 40 (2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2024)
Par-King Red: 34 (2009, 2010)
Rocky's Fun House Gurnee: 38 (2007)
Rocky's Fun House Waukegan: 43 (2009)
Sisolak's East: 38 (2001, 2002, 2003)
Sisolak's West: 36 (2011)
Wild West: 39 (2024)
Wisconsin Adventure: 37 (2018)

Career Highlights
2016: Finished 8th out of 42 players overall and 4th out of 4 in the Puttz Division, his lowest placement ever (but in the largest tourney field in MCMM history)...Led all players with 10 aces (a personal best and just the 13th time an MCMM player scored at least 10) to claim his second Most Holes-in-one trophy, his first since 2002...Tied for 2nd place at Wisconsin Adventure (40)...Saw his epic sixless streak finally come to an end at Lighthouse's 13th hole, after an amazing 1,285 consecutive holes, the equivalent of 11 tournaments plus 97 holes--or 71 straight rounds plus 7 holes...Through 2016, the two next longest streaks in MCMM history totaled 1,031 holes combined, and the longest active streak was just 314 holes...Scored 1-2-3-4-5-6 at Lighthouse...In that same 1,285-hole span, Matthew had just 17 fives...Led all players in threes at Wild West (11)...Tied for the most holes-in-one at the field at three courses: Wisconsin Adventure, Aloha Falls, and Par-King Black...Tied for the fewest threes at Aloha Falls (4)...Tied for the fewest bogeys at Wisconsin Adventure (2)...Established new personal bests at both Wisconsin Adventure (43-40) and Wild West (50-49)...Tied for the low back 9 at Aloha Falls (20)...His hole-in-one at Aloha Falls' 11th made him the first player with multiple MCMM aces at that hole.
2015: Finished T-7th out of 38 players overall and 4th out of 5 in the Puttz Division...Finished in third place (or tied for third) at three different courses: Lighthouse (40), Par-King Black (40) and Par-King Red (38)...His total of 78 at the two Par-King courses was also tied for third-best...Tied for most twos at Par-King Black (15)...Extended his sixless streak to 1,237 holes, which is more than the next three longest active streaks combined (1,186)...Has had 16 fives during that streak after recording two this year...Was one of two players with only one bogey at Par-King Black...Bizarrely, recorded no birdies at Par-King Red while holing three eagles--he aced the par-3 1st, the par-3 5th, and the par-3 roulette wheel...It marked the first time any MCMM player has had three eagles in one round at Par-King Red.
2014: Finished 2nd out of 39 players overall and 2nd out of 4 in the Puttz Division...Tied for the most holes-in-one in the field but lost the trophy to Nate Blazier in a tiebreak since Nate had never won a holes-in-one title before...Tied for third place at Aloha Falls (46) and tied for the low back 9 in the field (21)...Scored back-to-back holes-in-one at Lighthouse's 3rd and 4th holes en route to tying for the low round at the course with a 39...Tied for the low front 9 at Lighthouse (18) as well...Paced all players with the low front 9 (19) and low back 9 (18) at Congo Rapids, winning the course with a 37 to set a new MCMM record for the layout and take over the overall tourney lead by 3 strokes...Tied for 2nd at Congo Falls with a 1-over 41 to fall into a dead heat at the top of the leaderboard with brother Mick...Fell into 2nd place by 4 strokes after a 42 at Par-King Black...Fell behind by as many as six strokes, got back to within three, but never closer, as he finished 4 strokes back...Tied his lowest-ever stroke total (243)...Recorded his first-ever hole-in-one at Aloha Falls by acing the 11th hole, giving him holes-in-one at 12 different courses in MCMM history...Tied for most twos (13) and fewest threes (3) in the field at Congo Rapids...Aced two holes at each Congo River course to become the first player in MCMM history with holes-in-one at 14 different courses...One of five players to lead the field with two aces at Congo Falls...Tied for fewest threes at Par-King Red (2)...Had only two fours and one five all day, making him one of three players to lead the field in fewest holes with a score higher than three...Had yet another sixless tournament--his tenth consecutive--extending his sixless streak to 1,129 holes, 601 longer than the second-longest sixless streak in MCMM history...Has had just 14 fives during that streak...Tied for second in total twos (67)...Tied for most birdies at Lighthouse (10)...Led all players with five birdies at Congo Rapids and was one of just five players with an eagle...Was one of just two players to record an eagle on each Congo River course...Tied for most pars at Par-King Black (13) and most birdies at Par-King Red (5)...Led all players with 28 total birdies.
2012: Tied for fifth out of 38 players, 4th out of 5 Puttz Division players, finishing one stroke under par...Tied for 3rd in the field at Action Territory (45)...Tied for 4th at Lighthouse (41) and Par-King Black (40)...Posted the low back 9 at Par-King Black (17)...Was one of four players to go sixless, his ninth straight sixless tournament...By scoring a 2 on the 15th hole at Par-King Black, Matthew reached an almost unthinkable 1,000 straight sixless holes...During that span, he scored just twelve fives (though he added a 13th five at Par-King Red as his streak stretched to 1,021)...His streak is 493 holes better than the previous record (Michael Cullen's 528).
2011: Came in second at Action Territory with a par round of 46, five strokes back of brother Mick's 41...Tied for the tourney lead with three aces and 12 twos in the first round at Sisolak's West, recording the low front 9 (18) while taking the course trophy with a record-low 36...Tied for the 4th-lowest score in the second round at the same course (38)...Tied for the low front 9 (19) at Lighthouse, tying for second at the course with a 39 to post his third straight sub-40 round, a feat accomplished only once in the first 14 MCMMs (though matched by two other golfers in this edition of the tournament)...His round at Lighthouse was also his second career bogeyless round...Entered the 5th round in a tie for first place, but fell three strokes behind Mick Cullen after a 44 at Par-King Black...Finished in a tie for 2nd overall...Posted an eight consecutive sixless tournament, extending his streak to 913 holes, highlighted by a spectacular putt for five off the alternate tee at Par-King Red's 13th hole after his first tee shot rolled back at him and off the course and his second went in the water to incur stroke penalties...Recorded the day's only double eagle, at Action Territory's 12th hole...Led the field in birdies (11) in Sisolak's West's first round.
2010: Tied for lowest front 9 (22) and posted low back 9 (also 22) at Action Territory en route to winning the course title with a 44...Tied for 4th in the first round at Sisolak's West (43)...Posted back-to-back aces at Lighthouse's 10th and 11th (the latter a wacky hole) en route to posting a field-best 17 on the back 9 and finishing with a 40, one stroke shy of tying for the low round on the course...Tied for the low front 9 (19) and the overall lowest score at Par-King Black (40)...Posted back-to-back aces at Par-King Red's 11th and 12th holes and another ace on the 14th for three in a four-hole span, carding a record low of 16 on the back 9 while tying his own record for all-time lowest round (34) on any course...The round helped him overcome a three-stroke deficit going into the final round as he beat Tom Schweiss by four strokes for his third MCMM title, in the first tournament ever to feature four players posting scores of 20 under par or better...After a three-stroke swing on the 2nd hole of the round, Matthew took the lead on the 5th hole when he scored two to Tom's three...Schweiss beat him by a stroke on the tenth to even it up, but Cullen's three-aces-in-four-holes stretch gave him a three-stroke lead he would not relinquish...Posted his career low total score (-27)...Led the field in twos (12) at Action Territory and tied for most aces (3) at Par-King Red...Was one of six players to go sixless and one of only two to go fiveless, the only player to do both...With his seventh straight sixless tourney, extended his record streak to 805 holes without a six...Led the field in birdies (8) at Par-King Red while tying for that honor at Lighthouse (10)...Had only one double bogey all day to tie for the tourney low.
2009: Tied for the third-lowest round at Par-King Black (40) and Lighthouse (43)...Posted the low front 9 and back 9 (17 each) at Par-King Red en route to setting a new record for lowest round in MCMM history (34), moving from 7th into a tie for 4th in the final standings...Tied for the hole-in-one lead (7), tallying more than half of them (4) at Par-King Red to lead the tourney...Led the field in threes (12) at Action Territory, tying for most threes at Sisolak's West (7)...Led the field in bogeys (6) at Sisolak's West, tying for most bogeys at Action Territory (7)...Scored the most pars at Par-King Black (15)...Tied for the most birdies (7) and eagles (1) at Par-King Red...Again went sixless, a sixth straight year, extending his own record to 697 consecutive sixless holes.
2008: Tied for the third-lowest score at Congo River (40)...Tied for low score at Rocky's Fun House (40)...Posted low front 9 at Lighthouse (20) en route to tying for the course's low score (40)...Tied for the low front 9 (21) at Par-King Black en route for tying for the low score there as well (40)...Posted the low front 9 (18) at Par-King Red and finished just one stroke off the overall course title with a 39...Finished second to Tom Schweiss, four strokes out of the overall lead at -19...Scored a record-tying 15 twos at Rocky's Fun House to lead the field.....With his 12th sixless hole at Rocky's Fun House, passed Michael Cullen for the ll-time longest sixless streak, reaching 529 holes...Went sixless all day again, extending his record streak to 589...Was one of four players to go fiveless all day...Tied for most pars (12) at Congo River, most bogeys (7) at Action Territory, and most birdies at Rocky's Fun House (9)...Scored one of the field's two eagles at Par-King Red.
2007: Finished one stroke back of the winning total at Congo River with a 42...Tied for the low front 9 (20) at Action Territory while finishing second at the course with a 43...Tied for the low front 9 (18) at People's Choice while finishing one short of the course-winning total with a 38...Tied for the low front 9 (19) and posted the low back 9 (18) at Lighthouse to win the course trophy by two strokes with a 37...Led by a stroke entering the final round and had fallen behind R.J. Dusak with six holes to go, but beat Dusak by a stroke on each of the next two holes and tied him on each of the last four to prevail by a single shot, winning his second MCMM title...Tied for low round (45) at Libertyville...Posted the lowest total score of his career (-25)...Tied for the most aces (2) at Congo River and scored the most holes-in-one (3) at Lighthouse...Tied for most twos (11) at Libertyville and scored the most twos (13) at Kristof's...Led the field in total holes-in-one (7)...Scored the first double eagle of his career at Congo River's 14th hole...Tied for most pars (11) at both Action Territory and Congo River...Scored the most birdies at Libertyville (7)...Scored a field-leading three eagles at Lighthouse en route to his first career bogeyless round...Tied for the most total eagles (4) in the tournament and scored the fewest bogeys (9, establishing a career low)...With his fourth straight sixless tourney, extended his sixless streak to 481.
2006: Tied for the lowest round in Action Territory history with a 40, beating the field by three strokes...Was one of only three players under par at Libertyville (46)...Tied for the most aces at Congo River (2) and tied the course record for holes-in-one in a round at Kristof's (4)...Tied for second overall in total aces (7)...Tied for the fewest fours (4) all day and extended his sixless streak to 373 holes with a third straight sixless tourney...Tallied the most birdies (5) at Action Territory and tied for the most (5) at Libertyville en route to totaling the most birdies all day (34)...Scored the fewest bogeys (10) all day while being one of only two players not to score a double bogey.
2005: Tied for 2nd among amateurs at Congo River (4)...Posted the low front 9 (17) at Congo River, setting a new record...Tied his father for low round at Action Territory (43)...Tied for 5th, just 6 strokes out of 1st place...One of six players with only one four at Action Territory...Led all players with 7 birdies at Kristof's...Tied for the lead in pars at Ballybunion (12)...Tied for the fewest total double bogeys in the field (2)...Posted his third straight sixless tournament.
2004: Tied for 2nd at Action Territory (44), just one stroke behind the course winner...Tied for low front 9 (22) at Libertyville...Finished over par for the first time since 2000...Tied for most 3s at Congo River (9)...Scored the fewest 3s (1) at Lighthouse...Extended his sixless streak to 157 holes with a sixless tournament...Tied for most pars (12) at Action Territory.
2003: Posted a personal best of 39 at Congo River to win his only course title of his career there...His 17 on the back 9 set a new standard that was only equaled once thereafter before the course was demolished...Bested the field with a 20 on the front 9 at Action Territory...Came in 2nd at Sisolak's East with a 38, falling only to Tom Schweiss's record 35...Scored a 6 on Sisolak's West's 5th hole that would be his final six for quite some time, as he ended the 2011 tournament with a streak of over 900 consecutive holes without a six...Tied for 5th at Lighthouse (42)...Led the field in 2s at Congo River (13)...Was one of two players with three aces at Sisolak's East...Tied for fewest bogeys at Congo River (2)...Led all players with 12 pars at Action Territory and tied for fewest bogeys at the course (2)...Tied for most eagles (1) and birdies (9) at Sisolak's East...Led the field in pars at Sisolak's West (12) while posting the fewest bogeys (1, tied).
2002: Tied for 2nd place at Action Territory (45)...Tied for the low back 9 (17) at Sisolak's East en route to his second straight course title there...Tied for fourth at Sisolak's West (40)...Recorded the low front 9 (20) at Lighthouse en route to tying Tom Schweiss for the course title with a new course record score of 37...Entered the final round tied for the lead before falling behind brother Mick by four strokes to finish 2nd...Tied for most 2s (14) and recorded the fewest 3s (1) at Sisolak's East...Led the field in aces (4) at Lighthouse, one of only two people all day to record four holes-in-one in the same round...Tied for the most threes at Libertyville (10)...Won his first holes-in-one title with nine aces...Tied for the fewest fours (5) and achieved another sixless tournament...Scored 11 birdies at Sisolak's East to lead the field and set an MCMM record for the course...Tied for fewest bogeys (1) at Sisolak's West...Recorded his first career bogeyless round at Lighthouse (2 eagles, 9 birdies, 7 pars)...Led the field in pars at Libertyville (12).
2001: Became the first player other than his father to win the MCMM, coming from 5th place at the start of the final round...This remains one of just three come-from-behind victories in the 6th round and is the only time a player has won the tournament without playing in the final foursome...Recorded the low front 9 at Sisolak's East (18) on his way to a course-record-tying 38 to take the course trophy...Scored one of the five total eagles by the field at that course...Tied for the low front 9 at Lighthouse (20) as well as the most 2s (13)...Scored the fewest 3s (2) at Lighthouse...Tied for both the low front 9 (18) and low back 9 (20) in taking the title at Kristof's with a new course record score of 38...Tied for the most birdies at Kristof's (7)...Led all players with 70 twos.
2000: Tied for 4th at Action Territory (49)...Recorded the most 3s at Action Territory (10)...Tied for low front 9 at Sisolak's East (21)...Tied for the low front 9 (20) and total score at Sisolak's West (40)...Tied for the most 4s at Kristof's (4)...Led or tied for most eagles at three courses (SE, LH, Kr)...Tied for most pars (10) at Lighthouse.
1999: Recorded the low front 9 at Congo River (19) and finished one stroke off the low total score with a 46...Tied for 2nd at Sisolak's West (42)...Tied for most 2s at Sisolak's West (13)...Tied for fewest total fours on the day (8)...Tied for most pars at Congo River (9)...Posted the most birdies (6) and fewest pars (2) at Action Territory...Tied for the most birdies at Sisolak's West (6)...Tied for fewest total eagles (1).
1998: Recorded the low back 9 at Congo River (21) en route to tying for second place with a 45...Tied for the low front 9 (21) and high back 9 (25) at Sisolak's East, finishing with a par score of 46...Posted the low back 9 (18) at Sisolak's West in carding his first career sub-40 round (39) and winning his first MCMM course title...Recorded back-to-back aces at Kristof's 16th and 17th holes...Finished under par overall (-3) for the first time...Tied for third in the holes-in-one race (5)...Led the field with three aces at Kristof's...Tied for the most 2s at Action Territory (10) and Sisolak's East (12)...Led the field in total twos (61)...Tied for the fewest total fours (7)...Scored 1-2-3-4-5-6 at Kristof's...Led or tied for the most birdies at three courses (AT, SE, SW)...Led the field in total birdies (36) and posted the fewest bogeys (17).
1997: Scored his first MCMM hole-in-one on Congo River's 7th hole...One of two players with two aces at the opening course and the only competitor with two eagles there...Led the field in twos at Lighthouse (12)...Tied for low front 9 at Lighthouse (21)...His 10 birdies at Lighthosue were the most by any player at any one course all day...Tied for 3rd-lowest total score at Lighthouse (44)...Posted low back 9 at Kristof's (21) as he finished with a 42, one stroke back of tying for the low score at the course...One of two players to go all day without a six...Tied for the overall lead in eagles (4).