Racers Ready For 70th OVC Men's Golf Championship

The 70^th playing of the Ohio Valley Conference Men's Championship begins Sunday at the Shoals Golf Club in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and it finds the Murray State Racers taking four players who have been there before and one freshman. The Racers hope to put together a complete three days of play and win their first OVC title since 2010.

Since the win in 2010, the Racers have produced finishes of second (2015), third (2011 & 2012), fifth (2013, 2016 & 2017), eighth (2014) and 10^th a year ago.

The 54-hole test (April 21-23) is staged on the Fighting Joe course at The Shoals for the sixth consecutive year.

Coach Eddie Hunt takes the Racers to Alabama with thoughts of making a run at the title.

Murray State Lineup
Austin Knight, Jr., Hopkinsville, Ky.: Knight is fifth in the OVC with a stroke average of 72.2 and has 12 under-par rounds this season and a low round of 67 when he won medalist honors last fall at the UTM Skyhawk Classic. He placed 13^th in this event a year ago on scores of 72-74-75=221. Knight had MSU's last hole-in-one in this event in 2017.

Gabe Wheeler, Sr., Sikeston, Mo.: Appearing in 29 rounds in the 2018-19 season, Wheeler has a low round of 68 in February at the Loyola Intercollegiate and is 10^th in the OVC with a scoring average of 72.6. He'll be competing in his final OVC Championship.

Avery Edwards, Jr., Paducah, Ky.: Overcoming an injury that caused him to miss much of the 2017-18 season and the fall of 2018, Edwards is back on the course after posting a season-low round of 66 last week at the TSU Big Blue Intercollegiate. Edwards has a stroke average of 74.1 and placed 11^th in the OVC Championship in 2017 on scores of 74-73-72=219.

Connor Coombs, So., Central City, Ky.: Coombs leads the Racers with 31 rounds played and has a scoring average of 74.5. His low round was a 67 at the Rex Chaney Classic last fall. Coombs finished 48^th last year in his first try at the Fighting Joe Course.

Dalton Bagwell, Fr., Paducah, Ky.: Bagwell has impressed in his first season with the Racers as the freshman has appeared in 28 rounds with a scoring average of 74.3. His low round of the season came at the when he shot a 69 at the Rex Chaney Classic.

2018-19 OVC Team Scoring Averages
SIUE, 290.4
Jacksonville State, 290.5
UT Martin, 291.8
Tennessee Tech, 292.1
Morehead State, 292.4
Eastern Kentucky, 292.4
Murray State, 292.5
Belmont, 292.9
Austin Peay, 293.1
Tennessee State, 293.2
Eastern Illinois, 311.4

Total OVC Championships
Eastern Kentucky 12
Austin Peay 8
Jacksonville State 6
Morehead State 5
Murray State 4 (1971, 1987, 1991, 2010)
Tennessee Tech 4

Murray State – OVC Championship Runner Up
1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1975, 1983, 2001, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2015

Murray State - OVC Tournament Individual Medalist
1962 Bill Graham
1963 Bill Graham
1965 Ron Acree
1971 Chris Pigott
1977 Kevin Klier
1987 Chris Carlson
1996 Adam Grogan
2001 Brandon Henson
2008 Nick Newcomb
2010 Nick Newcomb
2013 Patrick Newcomb

Murray State - OVC All-Tournament Team
(Started in 1999)
2001 Brandon Henson
2002 Matt Stark
2003 Will Cox
2004 Kyle Shirley
2005 Jamie Frazier
2008 Nick Newcomb, Cameron Carrico
2009 Jared Wolfe
2010 Nick Newcomb, Jared Wolfe, Chris Griffin
2011 Cameron Carrico
2012 Patrick Newcomb
2013 Patrick Newcomb

Racer OVC Tournament Facts & Records
First Appearance: 1959 (First year of Golf at MSU, OVC first season was 1949)
Championships: 4 (1971, 1987, 1991, 2010)
First Championship: 1971
Last Championship: 2010 Medalist Winners: 11 among nine players
First Medalist: Bill Graham (1962) Last Medalist: Patrick Newcomb (2013)
Low Team Single Round (Since 1978): 284 (2010, 2015)
High Team Single Round (Since 1978): 325 (1988)
*Low Individual Single Round: 66, Cameron Carrico (2011, finished fourth)
*Since 1978

Tournament Notes
The Racers will play their practice round on Sunday beginning at 1:20 p.m.

All players will begin from the first tee in all three days of the competition. The first group off each day will be at 8 a.m. In Sunday's opening round, the Racers will be paired with Eastern Illinois. Freshman Dalton Bagwell will hit the first shot of the event for the Racers.

2019 marks the 70th OVC men's golf championship since the first in 1950. There are some years since 1950 that the event wasn't played.

The annual awards banquet will be held following the first round of play on Sunday. The banquet will honor the 10-member All-OVC team as well as the All-Newcomer Team, Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year. The All-Tournament and Tournament MVP awards will be presented at the conclusion of the championship.

About the Shoals
The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at The Shoals is home to two 18-hole championship courses and lies between the Wheeler and Wilson dams on the Tennessee River. Wheeler Dam is named in honor of General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler - the only Confederate General to attain the same rank later in the United States Army.

The OVC Men's Championship has been held at The Shoals six times previously (2009, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018). The 2019 event will be the sixth straight year at the Fighting Joe.

For the OVC Men's Championship, the Fighting Joe course will be par 72 with a yardage of 7,258.

The tree-lined Schoolmaster Course (named for President Woodrow Wilson) hosted the OVC women's championship last week.

Murray State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Dalton Bagwell

Cameron Carrico

Connor Coombs

Avery Edwards

Austin Knight

Patrick Newcomb

Gabe Wheeler

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