• Complete 2019 OVC Men's Golf Results (PDF) | Complete 2018-19 OVC Men's Golf Award Winners (PDF) | Awards Photo Gallery

MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. – After trailing early in the final round, Jacksonville State rebounded to top the field by 11 strokes and capture the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference Men’s Golf Championship at The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at The Shoals.

It marks the third-straight and eighth overall Championship for Jacksonville State, who has now won titles in 2004, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019.The Gamecocks are the first OVC team to win three-straight titles since 2001-03 (Austin Peay).

Jacksonville State trailed by two shots after round one but entered the final round with a five-shot lead. The Gamecocks fell behind Belmont early in Tuesday’s round before ultimately winning by double-digits.

With the victory, JSU earned the OVC's automatic bid into the NCAA Championship. The 2019 field will be announced on the Golf Channel’s Golf Central program from 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday, May 1.

The NCAA Regionals will be held May 13-15 and take place at six sites – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Athens, Georgia; Simpsonville, Kentucky; Stanford, California; Austin, Texas and Pullman, Washington. Following the Regionals the National Championship will be held May 24-29 at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The margin of victory was the most in an OVC Championship since 2011, when JSU topped UT Martin by 18 shots. The Gamecocks 54-hole total of 836 (-28) established a new OVC Men’s Golf Championship record, breaking the previous mark by 21 shots (857 by MTSU in 1998). Belmont (-17) was second and Murray State (-4) also finished under par. Austin Peay (even) was fourth while a trio of teams tied for fifth in Eastern Kentucky (+4), Tennessee Tech (+4) and SIUE (+4). The teams were rounded out by Morehead State (+7), UT Martin (+24), Tennessee State (+49) and Eastern Illinois (+61).

Jacksonville State sophomore Jesus Montenegro claimed medalist honors, the first Gamecock to do so since 2017 (Bo Hayes). Montenegro carded rounds of 67-68-69 to finish at 204 (-12) and top his teammate Quim Vidal Mora by three strokes. It marked the first career medalist honors for Montenegro (last year’s OVC Freshman of the Year).

The All-Tournament Team, which is comprised of the top five finishers and ties, included Montenegro and Vidal Mora, along with Belmont’s Noah Trenkler, Eastern Kentucky’s Billy Basham, Austin Peay’s Chase Korte, Murray State’s Avery Edwards and JSU’s Maximo Portais.

JSU’s 54-hole total of 836 was the third-lowest in school history. In addition to the team’s three All-Tournament picks, Benedikt Thalmayr finished tied for 10th (214, -2).

Belmont finished second, its highest finish since tying for second in 2015. The Bruins were led by Trenkler (208, -8), who had a final round 66 (-6), which matched the low round for the tournament. Evan Davis finished with a 54-hole total of 213 (-3) to finish tied for eighth.

Murray State jumped one spot in the final standings to finish third overall with a three-day total of 860. Edwards finished in a tie for fifth place to pace the Racers. He spent a majority of the day near the top of the leaderboard before a triple bogey on 17 took him out of contention. Austin Knight finished the Championship with a round of 72 to finish in a tie for 14th at 215 (-1). The team total of 860 was the lowest for head coach Eddie Hunt in his 18 years as head coach.

Austin Peay recorded its first Top 5 OVC team finish since 2015. The Govs were paced by Korte’s score of 211 (-5) which put him in a tie for fifth while Michael Busse and Austin Lancaster tied for 10th (214, -2).

Basham’s fourth place finish was tops for Eastern Kentucky. The junior was the leader after day one’s round of 66 and he finished the Championship with rounds of 73 and 71 to finish at 210 (-6). OVC Player of the Year Erik Lindwall had his best round of the event with a score of 70 (-2) on Tuesday to finish at 214 (-2), which placed him 10th.

Bracton Womack shot the low round of the tournament for Tennessee Tech on Tuesday, carding a 5-under 67, which included four birdies on the back nine. He finished the Championship with a total of 216 (even), which tied with teammate Will Brooks for 16th place.

SIUE’s Conor Dore finished in a tie for eighth after his final round 73 gave him a 54-hole total of 213 (-3).

Ryan Gillium had a final round 72 to finish at 216 (even par) for the Championship. He tied with teammate Zac Viminitz for 16th place overall.

Tate Chumley finished as the top golfer for UT Martin, carding a three-day total of 216 (even par) to finish 16th. Ross Redmont and Nick Wolf each had final round tallies of 70 (-2) to finish at 218 (+2) and tie for 24th place.

Tennessee State saved its best round for Tuesday, carding a team total of 300. Drew Owens finished the tournament with a three-day total of 222 (+6) to tie for 31st.

Romeo Perez ended up as the top finisher for Eastern Illinois, carding a three-day total of 222 (+6) to tie for 31st place.

This year marked the first use of the NCAA Substitution Rule at conference championships. Five teams used the rule on Tuesday and substituted a player into their lineup.

For the week the course played 7,214 yards and was a par 72.

OVC All-Tournament Team
Jesus Montenegro, Jacksonville State (MVP)
Quim Vidal Mora, Jacksonville State
Noah Trenkler, Belmont
Billy Basham, Eastern Kentucky
Chase Korte, Austin Peay
Avery Edwards, Murray State
Maximo Portais, Jacksonville State

OVC Player of the Year: Erik Lindwall, Eastern Kentucky
OVC Coach of the Year: Derrick Brown, SIUE
OVC Freshman of the Year: Micah Knisley, Austin Peay