UT Martin Golf’s Jackson Twerdahl Named OVC Player to Watch

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BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – With the start of the spring golf season right around the corner, the Ohio Valley Conference released its predicted order of finish today. The University of Tennessee at Martin squad was selected third in the poll while Skyhawk redshirt senior Jackson Twerdahl was tabbed as an OVC Player to Watch.

A Nolensville, Tenn. native, Twerdahl ranked ninth in the OVC with a 72.5 stroke average in the fall – the best of any active UT Martin golfer. He posted a trio of top-25 finishes, including a sixth-place effort (213, -3) in the fall finale at the LaTour Intercollegiate on Oct. 21-22. Six of his team-high 14 rounds were played at par or better, equaling a career-best with a 69 in the opening round of the Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate on Sept. 30-Oct. 1.

In the preseason rankings compiled by the league’s head coaches, the Skyhawks accumulated 79 points – trailing just Little Rock (99 points, nine first-place votes) and SIUE (92 points, two first-place votes). Trailing UT Martin was Morehead State (72 points), Southern Indiana (60), Lindenwood (55), Tennessee Tech (45), Bryant (39), Western Illinois (28), Eastern Illinois (18) and Tennessee State (18).

The Skyhawks ranked third in the OVC in scoring average (291.0) in the fall, earning back-to-back top-five finishes (fourth at the Pinetree Intercollegiate on Oct. 14-15, fifth at the LaTour Intercollegiate on Oct. 21-22) in their last two tournament appearances. UT Martin also shot under-par in two other events, carding such scores at the Grover Page Classic (-2) on Sept. 16-17 and Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate (-1) on Sept. 30-Oct. 1.

Individually, the Skyhawks nabbed two OVC Golfer of the Week awards in the fall – including Twerdahl claiming that honor for the first time in his career on Oct. 24. Twerdahl (team-best 48 birdies) and Xoinis (73.6 scoring average) each took part in all 14 rounds while freshman Jaden Morrell (73.9 stroke average) competed in 11 rounds. The trio of John-Gregory Wilson (72.6), Ethan Ray (72.9) and Garrett Chumley (73.0) each boasted scoring averages of 73.0 or lower while Drew Williams (73.8), Luke Beadles (74.0), Grant Phillips (74.6) and Luke Caldwell (74.9) completed a formidable attack this fall for UT Martin.

Eight tournaments dot the Skyhawks’ spring schedule, including the newly-added Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate which runs tomorrow and Sunday. Twerdahl, Williams, Ray and Caldwell will travel to the tournament held in Statesboro, Ga. to take part in an individuals-only field.

The first team tournament of the spring is set for Feb. 16-18 as UT Martin heads to Goodyear, Ariz. for the Loyola Intercollegiate. The Skyhawks will make stops at the Gulf Coast Collegiate (Feb. 24-25 in New Orleans, La.), People’s Golf Championship (March 13-15 in St. Simons Island, Ga.), Memphis Intercollegiate (March 31-April 1 in Cordova, Tenn.), TSU Big Blue Intercollegiate (April 7-8 in Old Hickory, Tenn.) and Carpenter/Chaney Classic (April 14 in Paducah, Ky.) before the 2025 OVC Championships will be held on April 20-23 at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

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