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MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. – Eastern Kentucky will begin defense of its Ohio Valley Conference championship when the 2009 title chase begins at 9 a.m., on Monday. This year’s OVC championship is being hosted by Jacksonville State University at The Shoals in Muscle Shoals, Ala.
The championship will be contested on the on the “Fighting Joe” course. The Colonels will begin teeing off at 10:40 a.m. The participating teams include Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Murray State, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee-Martin.
Last year, Eastern Kentucky claimed its 11th OVC title by 19 shots over second place Murray State.
In 2008-09, the Colonels have won two tournaments and have placed in the top five in eight of 10 events. Eastern finished first at the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational and the Xavier Invitational. In its last outing, the team posted a second place finish at the Hoosier Invitational.
Senior
Trey Bowling leads the team with a 72.1 stroke average, second best in the OVC. Bowling has nine top-20 finishes, six top-10 performances and has shot under par in 11 of the 30 rounds in which he has played. The Manchester, Ky., native won the U of L Cardinal Intercollegiate.
Senior
Jesse Massie is second on the team, and third in the OVC, with a 72.8 stroke average. Massie has seven top-20 efforts and has finished in the top-10 five times. He captures individual medalist honors at the Yestingsmeier Invitational.
Seniors
Shaun McConnell and
Brandon Berry, and freshman
Brian Fister have combined for 10 top-20 performances this season.
The Shoals lies between the Wheeler and Wilson dams on the Tennessee River. Wheeler Dam is named in honor of General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler - the only Confederate General to attain the same rank later in the United States Army. General Wheeler's intense desire to show that Southerners could be counted on as citizens of the U.S. prompted him to volunteer, at age 62, for service in the Spanish-American War.
