By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
MARTIN, Tenn. – A veteran University of Tennessee at Martin golf team makes its 2023-24 season debut on Monday, Sept. 4 when the Skyhawks are one of a dozen teams to take part in the Golfweek Collegiate Kickoff hosted by Missouri.
UT Martin will be very familiar with the surroundings as the two-day tournament will be held at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo., the site of the last two Ohio Valley Conference Championships. Six Skyhawks boast experience at Dalhousie as UT Martin has played seven rounds there over the past 17 months (including a victory in the 2022 OVC Championship event).
Six of the nine Skyhawks are upperclassmen as UT Martin head coach Austin Swafford returns eight players and welcomes in one freshman. Five Skyhawks have captured OVC postseason awards in their careers while a sixth returner won an OVC Golfer of the Week award in 2022-23.
The two most experienced UT Martin returners are graduates Jacob Uehlein (five career top-10 finishes, 15 career top-20’s) and Bryson Morrell (three career top-5 finishes, four career top-10’s). Those two have combined for 173 rounds of stroke play during their collegiate careers and have been part of two OVC title squads.
Garrett Chumley (11th in the OVC with a 73.5 stroke average in 10 rounds last season), Ethan Ray (14th in the OVC with a 74.1 scoring average in 2022-23), Jonathan Xoinis (four top-20 finishes as a primary starter in two seasons) and Jackson Twerdahl (17 career rounds, career-low round of 71) comprise the Skyhawks’ junior class.
Reigning OVC All-Newcomer Dax Isbell is back for his sophomore campaign after posting a 74.9 scoring average in 2022-23. He is joined by sophomore Luke Caldwell (11 countable scores in 13 chances in the UT Martin lineup a year ago) as returners on this year’s squad.
The team’s lone newcomer is Garrett Phillips, who joins the Skyhawk program after a spectacular prep career at Marietta High School in Georgia.
The Golfweek Conference Challenge is the first of 12 tournaments on UT Martin’s docket as the Skyhawks will visit 10 different states (Missouri, Tennessee, Illinois, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Alabama) in 2023-24. Home events include the 17th annual Grover Page Classic in Jackson, Tenn. on Sept. 18-19 and will also co-host the Carpenter/Chaney Classic in Paducah, Ky. on April 1-2. The 2024 OVC Championships are set to return to Florence, Ala. as the event takes place at The Shoals at RTJ for the first time since 2021.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information
