Andrea Jameson
Contributing Writer
The Murray State’s men’s golf team placed first in the Alabama State University Spring Classic. The event kicked off at the Robert Trent Jones golf trail at Capitol Hill in Prattsville, Alabama, on Sunday, Feb. 21.
The tournament was the first competition the team has participated in since last spring. Head Coach Eddie Hunt said he was excited to start his 20th season with the Racers with his 36th all-time team win.
“It’s always good to start the year out with a win,” Hunt said. “I was looking forward to some warm weather, but the only problem when we got there was it was windy and there were no trees whatsoever so the course was harder. We played well through it though.”
Senior Connor Coombs placed second with scores of 80-73-75=228 and Senior Austin Knight came in third with scores of 73-84-73=230. Senior Avery Edwards placed ninth, shooting 75-76-82=233 and Quinn Eaton also placed in the top 10, coming in seventh with a line of 79-77-76=232.
Sophomore Walker Beck shot a line of 87-79-76=242, coming in 16th overall.
“I’ve got three solid Senior players that stood out during this tournament: Connor Coombs, Austin Knight and Avery Edwards that are OVC type players,” Hunt said.
Coombs shot an 80 in the first round and turned around and shot 73 in the second round, ending with 75 strokes in the third round.
“The team turned the tournament around especially with the difficult type of course they were playing on and the weather conditions that day,” Hunt said. “The overall performance is a sign of a good player and a good team that we like to see.”
Freshman Tyler Powell competed individually and placed 10th with scores of 80-78-76=234. This was Powell’s first tournament in his Murray State career.
“For his first college tournament [he] played really well,” Hunt said. “He birdied the first hole of his career and on the last holes of the course he birdied 16, 17 and 18 which is very difficult to do. Overall he is going to be a really great player for Murray State for the next four years of his career.”
The Murray State men’s golf team started on a winning streak with team scores of 307-305-300=912, taking home the gold after the first event of the season.
The Murray State men’s golf team will be aiming for another win against Nicholls State in Diamondhead, Mississippi, on Monday, March 1, for the Gulf Coast Collegiate tournament.
