Murray State Takes Aim at OVC Men's Golf Title

The Murray State men's golf squad has been there and done that. They know the pain of smelling the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship and falling short. MSU's three seniors, Kyle Shirley, Jamie Frazier and Will Cox also know this is their last chance to put those bad memories to rest.

Sunday, the O'Reilly's OVC Men's Golf Championship begins three days of competition at the County Club of Paducah, Ky.

“This is something we've been talking about four years,” MSU head coach Eddie Hunt said. “They have come so close the last three years; they'll be disappointed if they don't make a good showing.”

Indeed, the Racers have been in the thick of it in each of the last three OVC events.

In 2003 at the same Paducah course, then freshman, Will Cox played wonderfully and finished fifth to help the Racers to a third place finish. Austin Peay was a run-away champion however with a score of 874. Eastern Kentucky finished second at 889, and MSU third with a score of 906.

In 2004 at the CC of Paducah, MSU began the final round six shots behind Jacksonville State and trimmed the lead to four shots but finished second. Kyle Shirley finished fourth for the Racers after carrying the lead into the final 18.

The Racers came close again in 2005 at Burningtree GC in Decatur, Ala., when they carried a one shot lead into the final 18 but lost to Samford by six shots. Jamie Frazier finished second to Samford's Bradley Farmer.

So the history is there and the Racers are well aware of it. “We have missed by an eyelash,” Hunt said. “I've stressed to our players, one stroke per man in three rounds of golf might mean the difference between winning the league and not winning.”

The Racers have five talented players who have all been the team low score during the season that began last fall and continued this spring. MSU has played 11 events and have nine top-5 finishes. Their worst finish this season has been sixth. MSU won its own invitational last October besting a strong squad from Western Illinois by six shots. In MSU's most recent outing at the Billiken Invitational March 6-7, MSU finished third, seven shots behind WIU.

The OVC is one of the most talented leagues in college golf and have several players ranked nationally. Here are the top OVC players ranked among the 1,532 players in D-1 golf by Golf Weekly.

Daniel Willett, Jacksonville State 49

Scott Stallings, Tennessee Tech 138

Chris Barron, Austin Peay 263

Julian Colmenares, Jacksonville St. 282

Yoshio Yamamoto, Austin Peay 293

Kyle Shirley, Murray State 432

Patrico Cozzoli, Jacksonville State 435

Michael Craft, Murray State 438

Justin Moore, Eastern Kentucky 533

Will Cox, Murray State 556

Dustin Sloat, Eastern Illinois 557

Grant Leaver, Austin Peay 576

This OVC event at the Country Club of Paducah will be the fourth time the league has held its championship at what is a tough test of golf. This time around, the course will play 6.872 yards at a par of 72.

“The thing about Paducah it's a great course, but very fair,” Hunt said. “What I've seen, with three rounds there is, you will identify the best team and the best player.”

If the Country Club of Paducah layout follows history, the front nine will play a little tougher than the back and if the wind blows, scores will increase substantially. Holes four and seven on the front play tough. The par-3 12^th hole is similar to the 12^th at Augusta National and is the signature hole of the Paducah course.

“It's hard to make up strokes on this course,” Hunt added. “If you're in trouble, you have to take your medicine and go on.”

Samford is the defending OVC champ after winning in 2005 by four strokes over Austin Peay. In 2004, the last time the event was played at Paducah, Jacksonville State was the winner by four shots over Murray State.

There are 50 players in the field from 10 OVC teams. Sunday's first group tees off at 8 a.m., the first tee time for Monday and Tuesday is 8:30 a.m. All competitors will begin at the first hole each day.

Murray State University Athletics

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