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HomeSportsAPSU heads to Alabama for OVC Men's Golf Championships

APSU heads to Alabama for OVC Men’s Golf Championships

APSU Sports Information

APSU Men's GolfClarksville, TN – After putting together some of its best team performances of the season in recent weeks, Austin Peay State University men’s golf has plenty of confidence heading into this week’s 2017 Ohio Valley Conference Men’s Golf Championships.

Austin Peay Men's Golf goes into OVC Championships coming off it's best performances of the season. (APSU Sports Information)
Austin Peay Men’s Golf goes into OVC Championships coming off it’s best performances of the season. (APSU Sports Information)

The Govs come into the championships with top-five finishes in each of the last three tournaments, averaging 293.1 strokes per round during that time.

Senior Erik Hedberg, junior Hunter Tidwell and freshman Alex Vegh have each picked up top-10 finishes punctuated by final-rounds in the 60s during that stretch, with only Hedberg going over par only once in his last six rounds.

So there’s lots for the Governors to be hopeful about heading into the 11-team OVC Men’s Golf Championships at The Fighting Joe at the Shoals, a Robert Trent Jones course in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

A links-style course that was Travel + Leisure Golf’s top new course of 2004, the Fighting Joe features an iconic 18th green overlooking the Tennessee River.

The par-72, 7,258-yard course has hosted the last three OVC Men’s Golf Championships—this will be its fifth overall—with UT Martin claiming its first OVC Tournament Championship title a year ago.

Hedberg will begin his final OVC Championship appearance playing as the Governors No. 1. He comes into the tournament off perhaps the best showing of his career two weeks ago at the Tiger Invitational, earning runner-up honors at The Club at Old Hawthorne.

One of the best new faces in the league this season, Hunter Tidwell will slot in as the No. 2 this week; he has earned at least a top-20 finish in six of eight tournaments since the beginning of October, including fourth-place showing at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate near the Alcoa native’s home. Tidwell leads the Govs in stroke average (73.9/round) for the season.

Sophomore Sean Butscher has counted 15 of 16 rounds he’s played this spring, emerging as a steadying influence in the middle of the Govs lineup. A pair of freshmen—Alex Vegh and Austin Lancaster—round out the APSU lineup, with Vegh, who has posted two top-10 finishes during the spring season, looming as a darkhorse candidate to spend the next three days near the top of the leaderboard at the Fighting Joe.

Live scoring will be available at OVCSports.com’s Tournament Central page, with the top-five finishers slated to earn all-tournament honors. LetsGoPeay.com will have a complete recap each day, while Austin Peay’s men’s golf twitter (@AustinPeayMGO) will have updates throughout the round.

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