Men’s golf team places last in OVC tournament

Bob Reynolds, Sports Editor

The Eastern men’s golf team placed 11th out of 11 teams in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament over the weekend at the par-72 Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at the Shoals in Muscle Shoals, Ala.

Sophomore Marcus Dahlin, who had a career-high in his three rounds, led the Panthers. Dahlin shot a 74 the first day and then followed up the next two days with a 75 and a 76, for a total of 225. Dahlin came in 31st place as an individualist.

In round one, Dahlin shot 3-under after birdieing holes No. 12, 14 and 17. Hole 12 and 17 were par 5’s.

Dahlin was able to shoot even par on the front nine in round three and the back nine in round two.

As a team, the Panthers had a team total of 921 for the tournament, with their best round coming in the final day. Eastern shot a 302 Sunday.

Senior Brady Welsh finished +13 for the tournament after struggling coming out of the gate.

Welsh did shoot 1-over on the front nine in day one of the tournament but took two three double bogeys and two bogeys on the back nine. He shot 8-over on the back nine.

Senior Oscar Borda, the Panthers’ leading golfer, placed 48th in the tournament, shooting 17-over par.

Out of the six sets of nine holes, Borda shot a 38 three times.  He was only able to birdie one hole in the tournament.

Fellow teammates Daniel Hughes and James Jansen finished 52nd and 53rd, respectively.

Eastern Kentucky was able to win the tournament after shooting a team total of 280 and a 293 in the second and third rounds of the tournament.

The Colonels were led by freshman Jared Brown, who after taking a seven on a par-3 in round one, came back and shot a 68 in round two.

Brown shot even par for the tournament and tied for seventh individually.

Teammate Taylor Riggs shot 1-over for the tournament and placed eighth, individually. He was able to be consistent throughout the tournament, not shooting more that 2-over par per nine holes.

His lowest rounds came in the first two, when he shot a 71 for each round played.

Tennessee Tech, Belmont, and Murray State all tied for second place. The three schools shot a team total of 873, finishing five strokes behind Eastern Kentucky.

Individually, Tennessee-Martin senior Brendon Caballero won the title shooting a total score of 5-under par, 211.

Caballero shot a 70 in round one of the tournament and shot a 68 on day two. He finished the tournament with a 73.

Caballero birdied 13 holes in the tournament, while only bogeying six. He also had one double bogey.

Jacksonville State senior Tomasz Anderson finished the tournament shooting a 212. He shot a tournament-low 66 on day two of the tournament.

Anderson had nine birdies in the tournament, and five of them came in the second round.

Bob Reynolds can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].