April 19, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford men's golf team will compete in the Ohio Valley Conference Men's Golf Championships beginning Sunday, April 20. The Bulldogs will try to better their 2007 finish of fifth place in the three-round tournament held at the Country Club of Paducah.

The 54-hole tournament will be hosted by Tennessee Tech University and concludes with the championship ceremony on Tuesday, April 22.

Jacksonville State looks to defend its 2007 title, while Austin Peay will try to claim its first OVC title since the Govs won three straight title from 2001-03. Samford has not won the Conference title since 2005, when the Bulldogs hosted the Championship at Burningtree Country Club in Decatur, Ala.

The Bulldogs have posted three Top 5 finishes this season. Junior Ian Cutting led the team in scoring average this season (76.3). Freshman Martin Bunt had a second place performance at the WCU Intercollegiate in November when he shot a three-under par score.

The OVC Men's Championship tournament features 10 teams - Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Morehead State, Murray State, Samford, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and UT Martin. Student-athletes will begin with a practice round Saturday before the first round tees off on Sunday at 8:00 a.m. Monday and Tuesday tee times are slated for 8:30 a.m.

The Country Club of Paducah will play host to the OVC men's Golf Championships for the sixth time in the last seven year in 2008 (the 2005 event was held in Decatur, Ala.). The course features 6,195 years of golf from the longest tees fro a par of 72. The course was designed by Robert Trent Jones and opened in 1965.

This year marks the 60th time the OVC Men's Golf Championships has been held; Western Kentucky won the first championship in 1949.

Hole-by-hole live scoring for each round of the Championship can be accessed through links at OVCSports.com or at www.golfstat.com. A full recap and results will be available on www.samfordsports.com at the end of each round