Monday, April 25
Dickson, Tenn.
Jacksonville State University
at
Ohio Valley Conference Championship
2011 OVC Men's Golf Champions - Jacksonville State University
JSU Men's Golf Wins 2011 OVC Championship
4/27/2011 8:08:43 AM | Men's Golf
DICKSON, Tenn. - After Mother Nature did not allow any golf to be played on the third and final day of the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Golf Championship at GreyStone Golf Club, Jacksonville State was declared the champion, the third time the Gamecocks have won the OVC men's golf crown.
Jacksonville State, who also won OVC Championships in 2004 and 2007, had a commanding 18-stroke lead after round two of the Championship. The Gamecocks had already established OVC Championship records for team single round (280, -8) and team two round scores (561, -15) when play was halted.
It marks the fourth time in the last five years that the team championship had been decided by more than 10 strokes. It also marks the fourth different school to win the OVC Men's Golf Championship over the last four seasons.
Heavy rains and severe weather moved into the Dickson and middle Tennessee area late on Tuesday night which left the course water-logged and with more rain and storms predicted throughout the day, the tournament committee decided early on Wednesday to cancel the final 18 holes.
By completing just 36 holes it marked the first time since the 2000 Championship that the event had not gone the scheduled 54-hole distance (it also went 36 holes in that year when Middle Tennessee claimed the crown).
The Gamecocks (-15) paced the field by 18 shots over UT Martin (+3), who equaled its highest finish at the OVC Championship with a second place overall finish (tying its mark also achieved in 1995). Defending champion Murray State finished third (+4) and was followed by Eastern Kentucky (+6), Austin Peay (+9), Tennessee Tech (+18), Tennessee State (+18), Eastern Illinois (+20) and Morehead State (+23).
Jacksonville State's James Hobbs was voted OVC Coach of the Year, marking the third time he has won the award. Murray State senior Cameron Carrico, who had the top stroke average and GolfStat National Ranking in the league during the season, was voted OVC Player of the Year by the league head coaches; Carrico finished one shot back of the individual medalist race. He is the seventh different Racer to win the award (a total of eight times) and second in as many years (Nick Newcomb won a year ago).
With the victory, Jacksonville State earned the OVC's automatic bid into the NCAA Championship. The 2011 field will be announced on Monday, May 9 at 5 p.m. CT on NCAA.com. The NCAA Regionals will be held May 19-21 and take place in Ocala, Fla., Blacksburg, Va., Zionsville, Ind., Erie, Colo., San Diego, Calif. and Tucson, Ariz.
The individual medalist race ended in a three-way tie, the first time that has happened in Conference history dating back to 1949 (there had previously been a two-way tie in each 1995 and 2004). Eastern Kentucky sophomore Johan Eriksson, Jacksonville State sophomore Andres Schonbaum and his teammate Matthew Wallace (the 2011 OVC Freshman of the Year) each finished at 5-under for the 36 holes. As part of the winning team Schonbaum and Wallace automatically advance to NCAA Championship play, and as a result Eriksson will be the OVC medalist designee to receive an automatic bid to compete and an individual in the NCAA Championship.
Schonbaum and Wallace are the fifth and sixth different Gamecocks to win medalist honors, joining Nick Mackay and Matias Anselmo (who shared the honors in 2004), Daniel Willett (2007) and Gonzalo Berlin (2009).
The All-Tournament Team, which is comprised of the top five finishers (with ties), included Eriksson, Schonbaum, Wallace, Carrico, UT Martin's John Michael Sisinni and Jacksonville State's Gonzalo Berlin.
Jacksonville State won the Championship with a balanced team attack that saw the Gamecocks place three players in the top five and four in the top seven. It marked the second team in as many years (and fourth in the last five years) that a team finished with three players in the Top 5 overall. Schonbaum and Wallace finished in the tie for first (-5) while Berlin, who was the 2009 OVC Medalist, finished fifth with a score of 3-under. Tom Robson rounded out the team's counted scores with a seventh place finish (-2).
OVC All-Tournament Team
Johan Eriksson, Eastern Kentucky (Tri-MVP)
Andres Schonbaum, Jacksonville State (Tri-MVP)
Matthew Wallace, Jacksonville State (Tri-MVP)
Cameron Carrico, Murray State
John Michael Sisinni, UT Martin
Gonzalo Berlin, Jacksonville State
OVC Player of the Year: Cameron Carrico, Murray State
OVC Coach of the Year: James Hobbs, Jacksonville State
OVC Freshman of the Year: Matthew Wallace, Jacksonville State
Jacksonville State, who also won OVC Championships in 2004 and 2007, had a commanding 18-stroke lead after round two of the Championship. The Gamecocks had already established OVC Championship records for team single round (280, -8) and team two round scores (561, -15) when play was halted.
It marks the fourth time in the last five years that the team championship had been decided by more than 10 strokes. It also marks the fourth different school to win the OVC Men's Golf Championship over the last four seasons.
Heavy rains and severe weather moved into the Dickson and middle Tennessee area late on Tuesday night which left the course water-logged and with more rain and storms predicted throughout the day, the tournament committee decided early on Wednesday to cancel the final 18 holes.
By completing just 36 holes it marked the first time since the 2000 Championship that the event had not gone the scheduled 54-hole distance (it also went 36 holes in that year when Middle Tennessee claimed the crown).
The Gamecocks (-15) paced the field by 18 shots over UT Martin (+3), who equaled its highest finish at the OVC Championship with a second place overall finish (tying its mark also achieved in 1995). Defending champion Murray State finished third (+4) and was followed by Eastern Kentucky (+6), Austin Peay (+9), Tennessee Tech (+18), Tennessee State (+18), Eastern Illinois (+20) and Morehead State (+23).
Jacksonville State's James Hobbs was voted OVC Coach of the Year, marking the third time he has won the award. Murray State senior Cameron Carrico, who had the top stroke average and GolfStat National Ranking in the league during the season, was voted OVC Player of the Year by the league head coaches; Carrico finished one shot back of the individual medalist race. He is the seventh different Racer to win the award (a total of eight times) and second in as many years (Nick Newcomb won a year ago).
With the victory, Jacksonville State earned the OVC's automatic bid into the NCAA Championship. The 2011 field will be announced on Monday, May 9 at 5 p.m. CT on NCAA.com. The NCAA Regionals will be held May 19-21 and take place in Ocala, Fla., Blacksburg, Va., Zionsville, Ind., Erie, Colo., San Diego, Calif. and Tucson, Ariz.
The individual medalist race ended in a three-way tie, the first time that has happened in Conference history dating back to 1949 (there had previously been a two-way tie in each 1995 and 2004). Eastern Kentucky sophomore Johan Eriksson, Jacksonville State sophomore Andres Schonbaum and his teammate Matthew Wallace (the 2011 OVC Freshman of the Year) each finished at 5-under for the 36 holes. As part of the winning team Schonbaum and Wallace automatically advance to NCAA Championship play, and as a result Eriksson will be the OVC medalist designee to receive an automatic bid to compete and an individual in the NCAA Championship.
Schonbaum and Wallace are the fifth and sixth different Gamecocks to win medalist honors, joining Nick Mackay and Matias Anselmo (who shared the honors in 2004), Daniel Willett (2007) and Gonzalo Berlin (2009).
The All-Tournament Team, which is comprised of the top five finishers (with ties), included Eriksson, Schonbaum, Wallace, Carrico, UT Martin's John Michael Sisinni and Jacksonville State's Gonzalo Berlin.
Jacksonville State won the Championship with a balanced team attack that saw the Gamecocks place three players in the top five and four in the top seven. It marked the second team in as many years (and fourth in the last five years) that a team finished with three players in the Top 5 overall. Schonbaum and Wallace finished in the tie for first (-5) while Berlin, who was the 2009 OVC Medalist, finished fifth with a score of 3-under. Tom Robson rounded out the team's counted scores with a seventh place finish (-2).
OVC All-Tournament Team
Johan Eriksson, Eastern Kentucky (Tri-MVP)
Andres Schonbaum, Jacksonville State (Tri-MVP)
Matthew Wallace, Jacksonville State (Tri-MVP)
Cameron Carrico, Murray State
John Michael Sisinni, UT Martin
Gonzalo Berlin, Jacksonville State
OVC Player of the Year: Cameron Carrico, Murray State
OVC Coach of the Year: James Hobbs, Jacksonville State
OVC Freshman of the Year: Matthew Wallace, Jacksonville State
Sunday, May 17
Saturday, May 16
Wednesday, May 13
Sunday, May 10
