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MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. – For the third time in four years Mother Nature played a factor in the final round of Ohio Valley Conference Men’s Golf Championship, as the final 18 holes were not able to be completed on Sunday at The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at The Shoals in Muscle Shoals, Ala. That left Jacksonville State, the leader from the beginning of the event, as the 2014 OVC Champions.
The round started under calm playing conditions but the round was stopped at 12:02 for lightning which led to a 1-hour, 34-minute weather delay. The teams were able to play again for another hour and 13 minutes before more lightning delayed play until for good at 2:49 p.m. There were four groups who were not through nine holes, which reverted the final standings back to the 36-hole total at the end of Saturday’s play.
The OVC Championship in each 2011, 2013 and 2014 have been reduced to 36 holes because of bad weather.
Overall it marked the fifth OVC Championship for the Gamecocks who have now won titles in 2004, 2007, 2011, 2012 and 2014.
With the victory, Jacksonville State earned the OVC's automatic bid into the NCAA Championship. The 2014 field will be announced on Monday, May 5 on the Golf Channels' Morning Drive program that airs from 9-10 a.m. CT. The NCAA Regionals will be held May 15-17 and take place at six sites - Auburn, Ala., Raleigh, N.C., Columbia, Mo., San Antonio, Texas, Eugene, Ore. and Sugar Grove, Ill. Following the Regionals the National Championship will be held May 23-28 at the Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan.
JSU finished with a 36-hole total of 567 (-9), which was six shots better than Eastern Kentucky and Austin Peay (573, -3). UT Martin finished fourth (575, -1) and was followed by Belmont (584, +8), SIUE (598, +22), Eastern Illinois (604, +28), Murray State and Tennessee Tech (606, +30), Morehead State (627, +51) and Tennessee State (629, +53).
Austin Peay senior
Marco Iten finished as the medalist, carding a two round score of 136 (-8) after identical rounds of 68; he topped Jacksonville State’s
Camilo Aguado by a stroke. With the victory Iten earns the OVC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. He is the seventh APSU golfer to earn OVC medalist honors and first since 2012 (Anthony Bradley).
Iten was also named OVC Player of the Year in a vote of league head coaches following the final round. He is the seventh Austin Peay player to win that award and first since Erik Barnes in 2009. An All-OVC selection the senior netted his sixth top five finish in 12 events this season. Iten currently carries a 72.5 stroke average
The All-Tournament Team, which is comprised of the top five finishers, included Iten and Aguado, JSU’s
Tomasz Anderson, Belmont’s
Ted Moon and Austin Peay’s
Anthony Bradley.
UT Martin head coach
Jerry Carpenter was named OVC Coach of the Year in a vote of league head coaches after the final round. It marks the first time a Skyhawk coach has been awarded that honor.
For the week the course played 7,187 yards and was a par 72.
OVC All-Tournament Team
Marco Iten, Austin Peay (MVP)
Camilo Aguado, Jacksonville State
Tomasz Anderson, Jacksonville State
Ted Moon, Belmont
Anthony Bradley, Austin Peay
OVC Player of the Year: Marco Iten, Austin Peay
OVC Coach of the Year: Jerry Carpenter, UT Martin
OVC Freshman of the Year: Austin Swafford, UT Martin