Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Greystone GC
Racers Post 18-Shot Win At OVC Men's Golf Championship
4/28/2010 4:08:00 PM | Men's Golf
The Murray State Racers won their fourth Ohio Valley Conference Men's Golf Championship with an 18-shot victory at GreyStone GC in Dickson, Tenn., marking their first league title since 1991.
MSU did it with three solid days in which they fired rounds of 286-295-284=865 to outdistance second place Morehead State who carded scores of 301-293-289=883, while Jacksonville State was third with scores of 295-299-292=886.
"I am very pleased with this group of ours because they were focused from the start and were not going to let up until we had the OVC Championship," MSU Head Coach Eddie Hunt said, who received his first OVC title in nine seasons as coach and his second OVC Coach of the Year award. "We played a tough schedule this year and it showed in this event because we were battle tested."
The Racers won the event with all five of their players putting together excellent rounds as the senior trio of Nick Newcomb, Jared Wolfe and Chris Griffin finished one-two-three.
Newcomb was the individual medalist for the second time in three seasons with scores of 73-69-73=215 and a one-shot win over teammate Wolfe who had scores of 73-72-71=216. Griffin placed third with scores of 71-75-71=217, sharing it with Austin Peay's Erik Barnes.
Cameron Carrico placed eighth after rounds of 70-79-70=219, while freshman Patrick Newcomb placed 20th with scores of 72-79-72=223.
"Nick has played great all season," Hunt said. "Our team all knows when we tee it up we can count on a score from him. He's been the rock that has held us together."
Hunt spoke of winning his first OVC Championship, a goal of his nine years ago when he took the MSU job.
"It's been a long road to get to win a title," Hunt said. "I felt we had chances in past seasons, but everything has to fall into place, championships are not easy to win."
After the Racers' win, Nick Newcomb was named the OVC Player of the Year and OVC Tournament MVP.
MSU's Jared Wolfe and Chris Griffin were also named to the all-tournament team, while Eddie Hunt was named OVC Coach of the Year.
MSU now advances to the NCAA D-I Men's Golf Tournament and play at one of six regional sites May 20-22. Selections for will be announced May 10.
The GreyStone GC played to a par of 72 and 6,858 yards.
NOTES
The Racers' won both the men's and women's OVC titles marking only the second time in league history that a school has won both in the same season. Jacksonville State was the first to accomplish the feat in 2007.
MSU won the 1971 title with a four-round 1101 and a six-shot win over Tennessee Tech, won the 1987 championship with a 54-hole total of 902, an eight-shot win over Eastern Kentucky. MSU won the 1991 title at Bluegrass CC in Lexington, Ky., with a 907 good for a three-shot win over Austin Peay.
Buddy Hewitt coached the Racers program for 41 seasons and said this week that he has been following the Racers all season. "I am so happy for Eddie and the MSU team, Congratulations to all of them for such an outstanding three days of great golf," Hewitt said.
Hewitt coached the team to their previous three titles.
Nick Newcomb's OVC Medalist win was his second in three seasons after he won it as a sophomore in 2008 when the event was played at the CC of Paducah. His winning score there was 216. Newcomb joins Billy Graham as the only two-time winners at MSU and he's one of only eight multiple winners in league history.
Newcomb's title is the 10th in program history following: Billy Graham (1962, 1963), Ron Acre (1965), Chris Pigott (1965), Kevin Kleir (1977), Chris Carlson (1987), Adam Grogan (1996) and Brandon Henson (2001).
MSU Coach Eddie Hunt gets his first OVC Championship in his ninth season with the program. He also coach of the year last season when the Racers took second place.
Having won the league title, the Racers now advance into the pool of teams in the NCAA D-I Men's Golf Championships and there are six possible regional sites they could be assigned to. The announcement will come May 10.
Here are the regional sites for May 20-22: Capital City Club, Alpharetta, Ga., Warren GC, Notre Dame, Ind., Carlton Oaks GC, San Diego, Calif., Traditions Club, College Station, Texas, Gold Mountain GC, Bremerton, Wash., Yale University GC, New Haven, Conn.
The finals are June 1-6 at The Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tenn.
