APSU Sports Information
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University men’s golf got a big weekend from past and future Governors last week, with a trio of alumni and an incoming freshman posting impressive displays on their respective tours.
Grant Leaver, a 2016 Austin Peay Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, destroyed the field at the second SwingThought National Tour major of 2017 at nearby Greystone Golf Club in Dickson, Tennessee. Thanks to an opening-round 64, Leaver took the wire-to-wire win by five shots, shooting an incredible -25 (64-66-67-66-263) to take the title.
The victory was Leaver’s fifth career win on the SwingThought National Tour, and continues an impressive run of success for the Centerville, Tennessee native. In his last six starts on the SwingThought Tour, Leaver has five top-three finishes and two victories. He leads the SwingThought Points Player of the Year race (14,140) and is the tour leader in money earned, while sitting third in the SwingThought’s Q-School points race, which will reward the top-44 qualifying players with money towards Web.com Tour Q-School at the end of the season.
Another Austin Peay alum, Chris Baker, earned a tie for sixth with a 13-under 275, posting four rounds in the 60s of his own (69-68-69-69).
Another former Governor had a big weekend on the other side of the pond. Marco Iten, who won the 2014 NCAA Auburn Regional by four strokes, placed ninth at the SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge on the European Challenge Tour with an eight-under 276 (75-63-68-70), highlighted by his second-round 63 that was the low day for the tournament and included nine birdies and a 29 on the front-nine at Macdonald Spey Valley Golf Course.
The finish moved Iten up 58 spots on the Challenge Tour’s Road to Oman rankings; he now sits at 77th with just three competitions under his belt. The top-15 finishers will earn their European Tour cards for the 2018 season, while 16-45 will gain occasional exemptions into European Tour events.
Closer to home, incoming freshman Garrett Whitfield won the East Tennessee Amateur, winning a one-hole playoff against Lucas Armstrong after shooting three-under on the final five holes to force the playoff. He shot a 206 (70-70-66), including a final-round 66, to take the title.