Skyhawks All Set For Ohio Valley Conference Golf Championships At Dalhousie

MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin chases after its fourth Ohio Valley Conference Championship when the league hosts their annual tournament at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo. on April 20-23.

The Skyhawks return to the site of their latest OVC crown as UT Martin won the league title at Dalhousie in 2022. The Skyhawks, who have also captured OVC crowns in 2016 and 2021, rank third in the conference in the newest Clippd rankings and are eagerly awaiting the challenge after finishing in the top-five in half (five of 10) of their tournaments in 2024-25.

The Dalhousie Golf Club is a par-72 course that will play between 6,856 and 7,154 yards for the OVC Championships. A Nicklaus-designed facility, it has been ranked as the No. 1 course in Missouri by Golf Digest on multiple occasions.

Once again this season, the OVC has added an extra day of match play following 54 holes of stroke play to start the tournament. After 18 holes on each of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday rounds, the top four teams in the stroke play standings will advance to match play on Wednesday. The winner of that stage will earn the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Championships.

After Saturday's practice round is projecting for a 42 percent chance of morning showers, the weather forecast looks clear for the remainder of the OVC Championships. Round 1 on Sunday calls for cloudy skies with a high of 82 degrees and a 17 mile-per-hour wind. Monday's Round 2 forecast includes partly cloudy conditions, a high of 72 degrees and 11 mile-per-hour winds. Tuesday's final round of stroke play calls for partly cloudy skies, a high of 79 degrees and eight mile-per-hour wind gusts. Wednesday's match play round is projected for a high of 82 degrees, eight mile-an-hour winds and partly cloudy skies.

UT Martin head coach Austin Swafford has selected Jackson Twerdahl, Jonathan Xoinis, Garrett Chumley, Luke Caldwell and Grant Phillips for his lineup at the 2025 OVC Championships.

Twerdahl ranks seventh in the OVC in stroke average (72.3) as the redshirt senior out of Nolensville, Tenn. will be making his OVC Championship debut. A graduate from Chattanooga, Tenn., Xoinis ranks 13^th in the league with a 73.2 scoring average and will be making his fourth appearance at the OVC Championship (coming off a 12^th-place effort in the 2024 event). A senior, Chumley is tied for 15^th in the OVC with a 73.7 stroke average as the Murfreesboro, Tenn. native will make his second career OVC Championship appearance (also playing in 2022 at Dalhousie). Caldwell ranks just outside the top-20 in the OVC in scoring average as the junior out of Cookeville, Tenn. placed 17^th in the field in his OVC Championship debut last season. Phillips (73.2 stroke average) has been one of the hottest Skyhawks as of late as the sophomore from Marietta, Ga. also finished 17^th in the 2024 OVC Championship.

The trio of Phillips, Caldwell and Xoinis also have additional playing experience at Dalhousie in the 2023-24 season-opening Golfweek Collegiate Kickoff on Sept. 4-5 with Phillips leading the way with a 219 (+3).

UT Martin will join Little Rock and SIUE on the first teebox to kick off the tournament on Sunday. Phillips will get the Skyhawks started at 10:20 a.m. and will be followed by Caldwell (10:30), Chumley (10:40), Xoinis (10:50) and Twerdahl (11:00).

For more information on the tournament, including links for live scoring, visit the OVC Championship Central website at the link above.

Skyhawks All Set For Ohio Valley Conference Golf Championships At Dalhousie

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Players Mentioned

Luke Caldwell

Garrett Chumley

Grant Phillips

Jackson Twerdahl

Jonathan Xoinis