Golden Eagle men top UT Martin in match play semis, fall to Little Rock in title bout
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Tennessee Tech dazzled in its match play semifinal against UT Martin on Wednesday at the Ohio Valley Conference Men’s Golf Championship at Birck Boilermaker Golf Club, but as the day wore on and the winds picked up, the Golden Eagles saw Little Rock take advantage on the back nine to take the tournament championship. The afternoon saw sustained winds at 15 to 20 miles per hour and gusts from 30 to 35 miles per hours, but despite the conditions, the Golden Eagles kept fighting. All of the pairings were within reach, but, at the end, the Trojans prevailed to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA event.
By Thomas Corhern, TTU Athletics Media Relations
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Tennessee Tech dazzled in its match play semifinal against UT Martin on Wednesday at the Ohio Valley Conference Men's Golf Championship at Birck Boilermaker Golf Club, but as the day wore on and the winds picked up, the Golden Eagles saw Little Rock take advantage on the back nine to take the tournament championship.
The afternoon saw sustained winds at 15 to 20 miles per hour and gusts from 30 to 35 miles per hours, but despite the conditions, the Golden Eagles kept fighting. All of the pairings were within reach, but, at the end, the Trojans prevailed to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA postseason.
In the championship tilt, Nick Etherton saw Little Rock's Ed Featherstone claim the first hole with a par to Etherton's bogey, but the Tech golfer knotted the score with a birdie on No. 2, then extended his lead to 2-up with a Featherstone bogey on No. 8. The lead held to No. 11 as Featherstone birdied 12 and Etherton bogeyed 13 to even things once more. Featherstone took the lead on No. 15 and held on to completion for the 1-up victory.
Cooper Gettler took an early lead, controlling the first six holes, but Elliott Simonsen birdied four out of the next five to take a 2-up advantage, then went 3-up on No. 11 with a Tech bogey. Gettler made a comeback, cutting it down to a one-hole advantage with a birdie on 16. However, the Trojan golfer claimed the pairing on No. 17 as a bogey put Simonsen up 2&1.
In the third pairing between Alex Broyles and Rhett South, Broyles led for 10 of the first 11 holes, but a South birdie on No. 12 squared the score, then a bogey at No. 14 saw South take a 1-up lead. Broyles eagled No. 16 to even the match once more, but South putted in on two on the par-3 No. 17 to claim the win.
Between Bryson White and Viggo Talasmaki, it was a slim margin for the front nine with the advantage going to the Trojan, but double-bogeys on No. 10 and No. 14 were enough to put Talasmaki at 3-up until White birdied No. 16 for the 2-up result in favor of Little Rock.
Haden Maxwell closed out his pairing with an eagle on No. 16 to go 1-up as the match concluded. Maxwell took the first two holes as Little Rock's Mark Stockdale bogeyed No. 1, then tied the Tech standout on No. 3. The score remained tied for eight of the next nine until Stockdale birdied No. 12 and stayed at 1-up for him until he bogeyed No. 15 before Maxwell drained the shot on No. 16
The day started with the Golden Eagles taking the 5-0 victory over UT Martin.
Starting from No. 10, Alex Broyles rushed off to an early lead with three birdies in the first four holes and taking advantage of a John-Gregory Wilson bogey on No. 12. Slight miscues with bogeys on No. 15 and No. 1 allowed Wilson to come back within two, but Broyles surged on the front, collecting four straight birdies from No. 2 to No. 5 to finish his pairing at 5&4.
Nick Etherton had two birdies on the first three holes to overcome a bogey on No. 12 to retain a slim lead, then saw his 2-up lead chipped away to a tied score at No. 1 that held until UTM's Grant Phillips hit par on No. 5 with Etherton's bogey giving the Skyhawk golfer a 1-up lead through No. 5.
But Etherton held on, hitting par on Nos. 6 through 9 as Phillips bogeyed No. 6 to even the score, then again on No. 9 to put the Tech senior on top.
Gettler fell behind on the first hole as UTM's Drew Williams birdied No. 10, but it was just a minor speed bump as the score was squared again on the next hole following a Williams bogey. He bogeyed again on No. 13 to put Gettler back on top, then conceded No. 14 after Gettler putted in on four to give the Tech golfer a 2-up lead.
Gettler countered a bogey on No. 18 with a birdie on No. 2 to retain the 2-up lead, then Williams hit back-to-back birdies on Nos. 3 and 4 to even the match. Williams' hot streak stopped shortly on No. 5 with a bogey to put Gettler back on top and both golfers hit identical scores on Nos. 6-8. Gettler came through with a big birdie on No. 9 to clinch the 2-up result.
White led Bryce Harmon 3-up with three to play when the match was clinched, while Maxwell was 1-up on No. 14 against Luke Caldwell when play was stopped to claim the points for the Golden Eagles.
Photo | Ryne Rickman, UTM Athletics
