FOUR SKYHAWKS GARNER OVC GOLF POSTSEASON ACCOLADES AS SWAFFORD EARNS OVC COACH OF THE YEAR HONOR
4/24/2021 6:52:00 PM | Golf
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – A total of four University of Tennessee at Martin representatives earned postseason golf recognition by the Ohio Valley Conference today as Austin Swafford won Coach of the Year honors and the trio of Nick Wolf, Tate Chumley and Jack Story received All-OVC accolades.
The awards were announced on the eve of the 2021 OVC Golf Championships, which begin tomorrow and run through Tuesday, April 27. The honorees were recognized following the conclusion of their practice round at The Shoals at Robert Trent Jones Trail in Muscle Shoals, Ala.
The Skyhawks are the only school to place three golfers on the 10-man All-OVC team. This marks only the second time in school history that UT Martin has had three golfers claim All-OVC accolades in the same season, joining the 2020 squad.
Swafford is just the second Skyhawk to collect the OVC Coach of the Year accolade, joining his predecessor Jerry Carpenter (who won in 2014 and 2016). The Gallatin, Tenn. native is only the 23rd different coach to win in the league's 60-year history of the award and the fourth head coach to earn that title in his first season at the helm (first since 1984). Currently the second youngest NCAA Division I head men's golf coach (trailing only Wagner's Nick Drago by 59 days), Swafford oversaw a UT Martin squad that paced the OVC with a 286.7 stroke average – 1.7 strokes better than the second-place team. The Skyhawks won four of their six regular season tournaments and tied for the lowest round of any OVC team in 2020-21 with their 276 (-12) in the opening round of the Murray State Intercollegiate on April 5. Swafford joins Eastern Kentucky's Pat Stephens as the only men to garner both an All-OVC mention as a student-athlete and an OVC Coach of the Year honor.
A junior from Murfreesboro, Tenn., Wolf joins Hunter Richardson (2015-18) and Brendon Caballero (2013-15) as the only players in UT Martin history to be named to the All-OVC squad on three separate occasions. Wolf enters the OVC Championship topping the league in scoring average (70.3). He leads the Skyhawks in eagles (four), birdies (70), par-4 scoring (3.91), par-5 scoring (4.62) and greens in regulation (.729). His career-best score of 63 in the second round of the National Intercollegiate hosted by Mercer on March 29 was the lowest of any OVC golfer this season (by two strokes). He has placed in the top-four in four of UT Martin's six tournaments while finishing no lower than 15th in 2020-21. He posted his first collegiate medalist victory at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate hosted by Tennessee Tech on March 14-16 as his 204 (-12) bested the 77-man field. Two weeks later in the aforementioned National Intercollegiate, he tacked on another win as his 204 (-12) led the field of 75 participants. He was a two-time OVC Golfer of the Week (March 18, April 1) who played 13 of his 17 rounds this season at par or better.
Chumley becomes only the 11th different player in school history to garner All-OVC status (eighth since 2015). His 71.8 scoring average is the third-best mark in the league as he has been remarkably consistent with 16 countable scores in 17 opportunities. He boasts four top-10 finishes this season, tying his career-best with a third-place effort at the season-opening Gulf Coast Collegiate co-hosted by New Orleans and Nicholls on March 1-2. That result directly led to his first career OVC Golfer of the Week nod on March 4. On the season, the junior from Murfreesboro, Tenn. paced the Skyhawks in pars per round (11.59) while carding two eagles and 54 birdies. He played 11 rounds at par or under-par, including a season-best 68 in the third round of the Murray State Invitational on April 6.
A senior from Dickson, Tenn., Story is just the sixth golfer in program history to be named All-OVC in two separate seasons as he followed up his all-league nod from 2019-20. His 72.6 stroke average is tied for ninth in the league as the lefty as pieced together nine rounds of par or better this spring. He drummed up 68 birdies – just two behind Wolf for the team lead – and topped the squad in fairways hit (.732) this season. His 69 in the first round of the Murray State Invitational on April 5 was his best score of the season, which was one of 16 countable rounds he secured out of the 17 he played. His best finish of the season (seventh place) also came in the Murray State Invitational as he notched two top-10 and four top-15 finishes during the course of the abbreviated season.
UT Martin begins its participation in the 2021 OVC Championship tomorrow as the Skyhawks will tee off from Hole No. 1 in 10-minute intervals from 8:40 to 9:20 a.m.
The awards were announced on the eve of the 2021 OVC Golf Championships, which begin tomorrow and run through Tuesday, April 27. The honorees were recognized following the conclusion of their practice round at The Shoals at Robert Trent Jones Trail in Muscle Shoals, Ala.
The Skyhawks are the only school to place three golfers on the 10-man All-OVC team. This marks only the second time in school history that UT Martin has had three golfers claim All-OVC accolades in the same season, joining the 2020 squad.
Swafford is just the second Skyhawk to collect the OVC Coach of the Year accolade, joining his predecessor Jerry Carpenter (who won in 2014 and 2016). The Gallatin, Tenn. native is only the 23rd different coach to win in the league's 60-year history of the award and the fourth head coach to earn that title in his first season at the helm (first since 1984). Currently the second youngest NCAA Division I head men's golf coach (trailing only Wagner's Nick Drago by 59 days), Swafford oversaw a UT Martin squad that paced the OVC with a 286.7 stroke average – 1.7 strokes better than the second-place team. The Skyhawks won four of their six regular season tournaments and tied for the lowest round of any OVC team in 2020-21 with their 276 (-12) in the opening round of the Murray State Intercollegiate on April 5. Swafford joins Eastern Kentucky's Pat Stephens as the only men to garner both an All-OVC mention as a student-athlete and an OVC Coach of the Year honor.
A junior from Murfreesboro, Tenn., Wolf joins Hunter Richardson (2015-18) and Brendon Caballero (2013-15) as the only players in UT Martin history to be named to the All-OVC squad on three separate occasions. Wolf enters the OVC Championship topping the league in scoring average (70.3). He leads the Skyhawks in eagles (four), birdies (70), par-4 scoring (3.91), par-5 scoring (4.62) and greens in regulation (.729). His career-best score of 63 in the second round of the National Intercollegiate hosted by Mercer on March 29 was the lowest of any OVC golfer this season (by two strokes). He has placed in the top-four in four of UT Martin's six tournaments while finishing no lower than 15th in 2020-21. He posted his first collegiate medalist victory at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate hosted by Tennessee Tech on March 14-16 as his 204 (-12) bested the 77-man field. Two weeks later in the aforementioned National Intercollegiate, he tacked on another win as his 204 (-12) led the field of 75 participants. He was a two-time OVC Golfer of the Week (March 18, April 1) who played 13 of his 17 rounds this season at par or better.
Chumley becomes only the 11th different player in school history to garner All-OVC status (eighth since 2015). His 71.8 scoring average is the third-best mark in the league as he has been remarkably consistent with 16 countable scores in 17 opportunities. He boasts four top-10 finishes this season, tying his career-best with a third-place effort at the season-opening Gulf Coast Collegiate co-hosted by New Orleans and Nicholls on March 1-2. That result directly led to his first career OVC Golfer of the Week nod on March 4. On the season, the junior from Murfreesboro, Tenn. paced the Skyhawks in pars per round (11.59) while carding two eagles and 54 birdies. He played 11 rounds at par or under-par, including a season-best 68 in the third round of the Murray State Invitational on April 6.
A senior from Dickson, Tenn., Story is just the sixth golfer in program history to be named All-OVC in two separate seasons as he followed up his all-league nod from 2019-20. His 72.6 stroke average is tied for ninth in the league as the lefty as pieced together nine rounds of par or better this spring. He drummed up 68 birdies – just two behind Wolf for the team lead – and topped the squad in fairways hit (.732) this season. His 69 in the first round of the Murray State Invitational on April 5 was his best score of the season, which was one of 16 countable rounds he secured out of the 17 he played. His best finish of the season (seventh place) also came in the Murray State Invitational as he notched two top-10 and four top-15 finishes during the course of the abbreviated season.
UT Martin begins its participation in the 2021 OVC Championship tomorrow as the Skyhawks will tee off from Hole No. 1 in 10-minute intervals from 8:40 to 9:20 a.m.
Players Mentioned
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