The Little Rock men’s and women's teams have been picked as the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference golf favorites in a vote of league head coaches released on Friday.
On the men's side, Little Rock picked up nine of 11 first-place votes and 99 points in being picked first for the third year in a row. SIUE picked up the other two first-place votes and 92 points in being predicted second. UT Martin was tabbed third (79) and followed by Morehead State (72), Southern Indiana (60), Lindenwood (55), Tennessee Tech (45), Bryant (39), Western Illinois (28), Eastern Illinois (18) and Tennessee State (18).
The women’s vote saw defending champion Little Rock pick up eight of nine first-place votes and 64 points in being picked first. Morehead State picked up the other first-place vote and 56 points in being picked second while Tennessee Tech was third with 51 points. The poll was rounded out by Western Illinois (41), Lindenwood (36), Southern Indiana (30), Bryant (19), Eastern Illinois (16) and Tennessee State (11).
This year marks the first for Bryant as an affiliate member for men's and women's golf with the OVC.
The OVC Women’s Golf Championship will be contested April 13-15 on the Fighting Joe Course at RTJ at The Shoals in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The men's championship will be held at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau from April 20-23.
Both reclassifying teams, Lindenwood and Southern Indiana, are eligible to compete and win the OVC Golf Championship. Should a transitioning school win an OVC Championship, the AQ shall be awarded to the tournament runner-up (or next highest finisher if the runner-up is also a reclassifying team). For men’s golf, which uses match play to determine its champion, if the winner and runner-up are both reclassifying teams, the representative would be the next highest seed going into match play.
In addition to the preseason poll, each league head coach selected one player from their team to be included as a "Player to Watch" heading into the spring season.
2024-25 Men’s Predicted Order of Finish
1. Little Rock (9 first-place votes) – 99 points
2. SIUE (2) - 92
3. UT Martin - 79
4. Morehead State - 72
5. Southern Indiana - 60
6. Lindenwood - 55
7. Tennessee Tech - 45
8. Bryant - 39
9. Western Illinois - 28
10. Eastern Illinois - 18
Tennessee State - 18
2024-25 Men's Players to Watch
Bryant -
Tyler Dupuis (Grad.)
Eastern Illinois -
Cole Jaworski (Jr.)
Lindenwood -
Santiago Juesas Benet (Fr.)
Little Rock -
Matteo Cristoni (Sr.)
Morehead State -
Nolan Piazza (Sr.)
SIUE -
Brady Kaufmann (Jr.)
Southern Indiana -
Jason Bannister (Sr.)
Tennessee State -
Bryar Moss (Fr.)
Tennessee Tech -
Haden Maxwell (Jr.)
UT Martin -
Jackson Twerdahl (R-Sr.)
Western Illinois -
Baptiste Labeyrie (Sr.)
2024-25 Women’s Predicted Order of Finish
1. Little Rock (8 first-place) - 64 points
2. Morehead State (1) - 56
3. Tennessee Tech - 51
4. Western Illinois - 41
5. Lindenwood - 36
6. Southern Indiana - 30
7. Bryant - 19
8. Eastern Illinois - 16
9. Tennessee State - 11
2024-25 Women's Players to Watch
Bryant -
Jenelle Valera (Jr.)
Eastern Illinois -
Meera Upadhyay (So.)
Lindenwood -
Paula Mariana Sanchez (Jr.)
Little Rock -
Eleonore Aernouts (So.)
Morehead State -
Tavia Burgess (Fr.)
Southern Indiana -
Brianna Kirsch (Fr.)
Tennessee State -
Lorien Sweet (Fr.)
Tennessee Tech -
Chloe Griffith (So.)
Western Illinois -
Olivia Kerr (5th Year)