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HomeSportsAustin Peay Governors Golf picked to finish third in OVC preseason poll

Austin Peay Governors Golf picked to finish third in OVC preseason poll

APSU Sports: Austin Peay Men’s Golf

Austin Peay State University GovernorsClarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University men’s golf team was picked to finish third at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships a preseason vote of the league’s head coaches, the conference office announced, Thursday.

The Govs were awarded 52 points and one of nine available first-place votes. Jacksonville State (63 points/seven first-place) were picked to win the league, followed by Eastern Kentucky (56/1 first-place) and Austin Peay. UT Martin (38), Tennessee Tech (32), Morehead State (29), Eastern Illinois (22), Murray State (20) and Tennessee State (11) make up the rest of the predicted field.

Austin Peay Men's Golf. (Courtesy: Austin Peay Sports Information)
Austin Peay Men's Golf. (Courtesy: Austin Peay Sports Information)

Returning for Austin Peay are three 2011 All-OVC in junior Dustin Korte along with sophomores Anthony Bradley and Marco Iten. Also in place is sophomore Trey Tarpley – who was twice named OVC Golfer of the Week during the fall and recorded three top-10 finishes. Freshman Tucker Wallace came on strong toward the fall’s end, posting three under-par rounds (one in the 60s) in three tournaments.

 

Dustin KorteAside from going 15-0 against the eight other OVC schools in head-to-head action, Austin Peay capped an impressive fall season with back-to-back tournament wins. First at Cincinnati’s Bearcat Invitational and finally at the F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate, both wins were significant for different reasons.

“This poll came across as good motivation for our team,” head coach Kirk Kayden said. “We didn’t see a lot of OVC schools during our fall schedule, but we did finish with a good record against them when we did. We hope to be able to surprise some folks this year.”

Anthony BradleyThe Bearcat Invitational happened to be the second tournament in which the Govs found themselves in a final pairing with Kentucky and Dayton. The trio first played a final round together nearly a month prior at Kentucky’s UK Bluegrass Fall Invite – the Govs then dropping to a fifth-place finish. In the second pairing, however, APSU used a final-round 290 to ease by Kentucky for its season’s first win.

Momentum carried over for head coach Kirk Kayden’s Govs at their fall season finale and lone home event. This time, Austin Peay got out to an early lead and held on throughout. It was the individual race between Bradley and Iten that made things interesting.

It wasn’t until the final hole when Iten surpassed Bradley and forced a playoff for medalist honors with Samford’s Drew Aimone. Iten’s 40-foot birdie putt for the playoff win wrapped the first multi-win season for the Govs since 2008-09.

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