The UT Martin Golf team has done it again. They’re back-to-back champions in the Ohio Valley Conference. The conference tournament took place in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, held on April 24-27. The participating teams were Austin Peay, Belmont, Eastern Illinois, Morehead State, Murray State, SIUE, Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State. Out of the eight other teams, UT Martin came up on top for the second year in a row.
Jacob Uehlein, a junior from Tullahoma, Tennessee, contributed to the win in a big way with a 4&3 margin defeat over his opponent. Uehlein stated, “The mindset I kept, and I believe the whole team had, was to never give up and always fight until the end,” and indeed that is what the team did. Being in second place after the first day did not matter to the team. They encouraged each other and, “picked each other up in between the semi finals and finals match,” in order to keep that mindset.
Winning the OVC conference now means the team will move on to the NCAA Regionals tournament. The Regionals tournament is a whole different golf swing. Bryson Morrell, a junior from Knoxville, Tennessee, another big contributor for their win, says with confidence to the team, “Let’s play green, and let’s have some fun.” A truly huge accomplishment, the NCAA Regionals tournament is a once in a lifetime experience and with the attitude that Morrell shares, it will be a great one.
Immediately after the winning moment in Cape Girardeau, the team felt a stream of emotions. Morrell told, “The second Tate and Nick shook hands on 18, I just started hugging everyone on the team. I remember running back to my dad and hugging him and trying to hold back tears of relief,” and it is a moment he will remember forever. Uehlein, ironically, said, “it didn’t really set in until the ride home,” having the polar opposite reaction to his fellow teammate.
Head Coach Austin Swafford, a graduate of UT Martin in 2017 and once a player for the UT Martin Skyhawks, said to the team during the tournament, according to Morrell and Uehlein, “Play simple and stay out of your own ways,” and, “keep fighting and never give up until the end. Play free and confident.” A proud coach of a back-to-back OVC champion team, his words of encouragement will continue into the NCAA Regionals tournament.
The team will be traveling to Oklahoma for the first round in the NCAA Regionals tournament. Good luck UT Martin golf, and play green.
