• 2022-23 All-OVC Men's Golf Teams and Award Winners (PDF) | Photo Gallery
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – On Sunday the Ohio Valley Conference announced the winners of the All-OVC and OVC All-Newcomer awards for the 2022-23 men's golf season.
In additional voting, Little Rock senior
Jansen Smith was named the OVC Player of the Year while his coach,
Jake Harrington, was named OVC Coach of the Year. This season marked the first for the Trojans as members of the OVC. SIUE’s
Brady Kaufmann was named OVC Freshman of the Year.
The awards were announced at a banquet following the first round of play at the 2023 OVC Championship which is being held at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Play continues on Monday.
Smith entered the postseason with the highest individual GolfStat National Raking of all OVC golfers (107). He was the only Little Rock golfer to compete in all 30 rounds this year, averaging 71.9 strokes per round. He was the runner-up at both the Windon Memorial (where he shot his low score of the year, 65, during the first round) and the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate. And also had Top 10 finishes at the USF Intercollegiate, the Trinity Forest Invitational and the Purdue Fall Invitational.
Harrington guided the Trojans to a Top 30 national ranking during the season, as the team entered the OVC Championship ranked No. 51 by GolfStat. Competing against a tough schedule, Little Rock won a trio of tournaments (the USF Intercollegiate, the Trinity Forest Invitational and the Lake Las Vegas Invitational) and three other runner-up finishes. Only once did the team finish outside the Top 10 of an event this year.
Kaufmann had the top GolfStat National Ranking among freshmen (No. 1018) in his inaugural season with the Cougars. His top finish of the year was ninth at SIUE’s Derek Dolenc Invitational; a week later he placed 10th at the Big O Classic. Kaufmann fired a team-low round of 66 during the ODU/OBX Invitational in October. He is the second SIUE individual to win this award, joining Luke Long from 2017.
The 10-member All-OVC team was comprised of four seniors, one junior, four sophomores and one freshman. The only repeat selection was Tennessee Tech sophomore
Jackson Skeen. The team also included his teammate, freshman
Anders Larson. Little Rock had five selections including the Player of the Year Smith, as well as fifth year player
Anton Albers, senior
Magnus Lomholt and sophomores
Matteo Cristoni and
Archie Smith. Also on the team was Morehead State sophomore
Nolan Piazza, Southern Indiana senior
Zach Williams and SIUE junior
Anthony Ruthey.
Kaufmann, the OVC Freshman of the Year, Larson and Cristoni also made the OVC All-Newcomer Team and were joined by SIUE sophomore transfer
Alex Eickhoff and UT Martin freshman
Dax Isbell.
The 2023 OVC Men’s Golf Championship continues with 18 holes on Monday and Tuesday. The team champion will be decided with Match Play semifinals and final action on Wednesday. Live scoring can be accessed through links at OVCSports.com.
2022-23 OVC Men’s Golf Award Winners
OVC Player of the Year: Jansen Smith, Little Rock
OVC Freshman of the Year: Brady Kaufmann, SIUE
OVC Coach of the Year: Jake Harrington, Little Rock
2022-23 All-OVC Men’s Golf Team
Jansen Smith, Little Rock
Jackson Skeen, Tennessee Tech
Matteo Cristoni, Little Rock
Anton Albers, Little Rock
Nolan Piazza, Morehead State
Zach Williams, Southern Indiana
Magnus Lomholt, Little Rock
Archie Smith, Little Rock
Anthony Ruthey, SIUE
Anders Larson, Tennessee Tech
2022-23 OVC All-Newcomer Team
Matteo Cristoni, Little Rock
Brady Kaufmann, SIUE
Anders Larson, Tennessee Tech
Alex Eickhoff, SIUE
Dax Isbell, UT Martin