The men's golf program at Shawnee State rolled its excellent efforts right over into the Mid-South Conference's Fall Preview, with BJ Knox, Elijah McCarty and Jordan Hughes all placing inside the top-20 overall to help Shawnee State collect a third place showing following the first of the two-day Mid-South Conference Fall Preview at the Bowling Green Country Club in Bowling Green, Ky. Monday afternoon.
Shawnee State, who shot a 12-over 300 as a unit, trails team leading Cumberland, Tenn. by just seven strokes (five-over 293) for the tournament lead and is also a scant five strokes back of Lindsey Wilson, who sits in second with a seven-over 295. SSU holds a two-stroke edge over Cumberlands, Ky., who shot a 14-over 302 as a group, for third.
Big three show up in big way
A model of consistency throughout the last year-and-a-half, the play of BJ Knox, Elijah McCarty, and Jordan Hughes each proved to be strong throughout Monday's 18-hole round.
Knox, who shot a one-under 71 over the first 18 holes of competition, was especially stout. The Maysville, Ky. product was one of only nine players in the 54-person field to shoot at or under par Monday, and joined tournament leader Kyle Alexander of Thomas More (two-under 70) along with Bethel, Tenn.'s Trey Register and Thomas More's Dakota Finn in shooting a round under par on Day One. In doing so, Knox extended his string of consecutive rounds in the 70s or low to 30 straight -- a SSU record that's ongoing.
McCarty, who shot a two-over 74 Monday afternoon, posted his 35th career round in the 70s of the 40 rounds he's played during his own SSU career. The tally put the junior from West Union in a comfortable top-20 position, with McCarty sitting in a tie with Georgetown (Ky.)'s Jake Damron for 13th on the individual leaderboard.
Hughes, one week removed from his second top-five finish of the season at the Roger Merb Invitational, continued his own consistent play at the MSC Fall Preview, notching a four-over 76 to tie for 20th alongside Cumberland (Tenn.)'s Reece Gaddes, Cumberlands (Ky.)'s Braxton Caldwell and Martin Methodist (Tenn.)'s Justin Johns. Hughes' brother, Logan, competed at the same venue three weeks ago as part of the KHSAA State Championship.
Zimmerman finds way to fourth and final scoring slot; England, Graham round out contributors
Steven Zimmerman, who had shot inside the 70s in eight of his first nine rounds to begin the 2020-21 season, continued that streak by making it nine of 10 to begin the campaign. The Piketon, Ohio native's seven-over 79 placed the senior in a tie for 33rd place.
Fellow senior golfers Patrick England (10-over 82, t-40th) and DJ Graham (11-over 83, t-44th) rounded out the contributors in the field for the Bears.
Additional Notes
Shawnee State begins its final day of competition at the MSC Fall Preview Tuesday, Oct. 27 as the Bears look to claim their fourth tournament victory of the fall in the six tournaments that SSU has participated in as a unit.
For more information on SSU Bears Athletics, visit www.ssubears.com or visit the Twitter and Facebook pages at https://twitter.com/SSUBears and https://www.facebook.com/SSUBears. For more information on how to join the SSU Bear Club or for sponsorship of specific SSU players or events, visit https://givetossu.com/bear-club and https://givetossu.com/sponsorthebears.
