MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. – Plenty of red scores dotted the University of Tennessee at Martin scorecards today as the Skyhawks generated the second-best round of the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Championships so far at the Fighting Joe Course at The Shoals on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.
After producing seven birdies as a team during yesterday’s opening round, UT Martin produced a whopping 21 red tallies today. Coupled with only 19 bogeys and zero double bogeys or worse, the Skyhawks whittled 18 strokes off their Round 1 score. UT Martin’s 283 (-5) today trails only Little Rock’s Round 2 tally of 279 (-9) for the best score out of any team in this year’s tournament.
As a result of their successful day, the Skyhawks jumped one spot in the overall standings and are now sitting in third place with a 36-hole total of 584 (+8). That trails only Little Rock (570, -6) and Tennessee Tech (577, +1) going into tomorrow’s final round of stroke play. The top four teams in the standings advance to the match play stage on Wednesday.
Dax Isbell was in a zone today as the sophomore All-OVC honoree carded a 67 with six birdies and one bogey. The Cumming, Ga. native produced five birdies in the first eight holes alone before shooting even-par for the remainder of the round. His 67 trails only Tennessee Tech’s Haden Maxwell (66 today) for the best individual score of the tournament up to this point.
Jacob Uehlein compiled four birdies today on the way to a 70 (-2), which included a 3-under par performance over his final 12 holes. Jonathan Xoinis shot 3-under on the back-nine with four birdies overall as part of an even-par 72 today. Grant Phillips’ 74 (four birdies) barely edged out Luke Caldwell’s 75 (three birdies – all in the span of five holes on the back-nine) for the final countable score in the high-powered UT Martin lineup.
Overall, Isbell ranks second in the field of 58 players with a 142 (-2), which is four shots behind leader Archie Smith from Little Rock (138, -6). Uehlein’s 146 (+2) ranks eighth while Xoinis’ 147 (+3) ranks just outside of the top-10. Phillips is 20th in the individual standings with a 149 (+5) while Caldwell’s 151 (+7) is 25th in the field.
Through 36 holes, the Skyhawks are second in the field in both par-3 scoring average (3.15, +6) and birdies (28) while ranking third in par-4 scoring average (4.04, +4). Isbell ranks in the top-10 in the tournament in birdies (9, first), par-3 scoring average (3.00, second), par-5 scoring average (4.88, fifth) and par-4 scoring average (3.95, seventh). Xoinis is tied for the team lead in par-5 scoring average (4.88, -1) while Uehlein’s 24 pars are the most on the squad.
UT Martin will be paired with Little Rock and Tennessee Tech today on Hole No. 1. Caldwell will tee off at 10:26 a.m. and will be followed by Phillips (10:37), Xoinis (10:48), Uehlein (10:59) and Isbell (11:10).
