Murray State University Athletics
MSU Golf Ready For OVC Men's Championship In Alabama
4/27/2009 2:15:00 AM | Men's Golf
The Murray State Men's Golf team is ready to compete in the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Championship at The Shoals GC in Muscle Shoals,
The 54-hole tournament consists of 18 holes of stroke play each day from Monday through Wednesday. All competitors will start from the first tee beginning at 8 a.m..
The winning team takes the OVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
CLICK HERE FOR THE OVC CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL PAGE
In 11 events, the Racers have won five times and have finished out of the top-2 only twice.
MSU Head Coach Eddie Hunt knows his team has had a successful season, but in order for it to be a special season, a win at the OVC is a must.
“I can see this team has more confidence going into the OVC than any team that I've had,” Hunt said. “We have a set of players that can really go low and that is what it's going to take to win the championship. We're going to give it our best shot.”
MSU scored wins at the Sea Trail Intercollegiate, and their own MSU Invitational, plus a third win in the fall last October at the Charleston Southern Invitational. They had two more wins this spring at the Morehead Spring Kickoff and the Samford Intercollegiate.
The Racers are led by a starting five that is so talented, every one of them have at one time this season been the hot golfer of the week.
Nick Newcomb leads the Racers with a 72.9 scoring average, while Cameron Carrico enters the OVC event at 73.1. Mitchell Moore scores at a 73.3 clip, while Jared Wolfe is at 74.0 average. Chris Griffin scores a 74.1. This team has recorded 12 top-5 individual finishes and 53 sub-par rounds in 2008-09.
“We've been in the hunt most times at the OVC but have never been able to get over the hump for whatever reason,” Hunt said. “You can't go wrong with staging our championship at a Jones course. You know it will be in great condition and it will be challenging.”
The Racers finished second last season at the OVC finale at the Country Club of Paducah. MSU's Nick Newcomb had a hole-in-one on his way to taking medalist honors - the first Racer to do so since Brandon Henson in 2001.
This is the second consecutive year that the tournament will be held in Muscle Shoals as the women's championship was played at the Shoals last year. The teams will play on the “Fighting Joe” course. The Shoals lies between the Wheeler and Wilson dams on the
The east championship course at The Shoals is named after General Wheeler. Fighting Joe was the first Trail course to break 8,000 yards, measuring 8,092 yards from the Black tees. According to the some the spectacular 17th hole is the signature hole on the course, but the 18th green overlooking Wilson Lake on the Tennessee River will distract you with its beauty, if not its treachery.
