RICHMOND, Ky.--In the final tournament of the 1998 spring season, the Eastern Kentucky University men's golf team had a good showing as it finished second in the 10- team Ohio Valley Conference Championship field. It was Middle Tennessee who came out on top though as the Blue Raiders won their fourth title in five years by finishing six strokes ahead of the Colonels score of 863.

The three-day, 54-hole tournament was held in Nashville at the Springhouse Golf Club. The top individual scorers for the Colonels were seniors Kris O'Donnell and Mike Whitson as they both shot 214 to place them in a third place tie to gain all-conference status. Whitson was aided greatly in his tournament scoring by firing an OVC record score of 64 in the middle round of the championship.

Eric Willenbrink cracked the top ten for the maroon-and-white by shooting a 215 and finishing in a sixth place tie. Andrew Games and Brent Marcum also helped guide EKU to a second place finish as they shot 222 and 226, respectively.

"We didn't play great golf all year, but I was pleased with our play in the OVC tournament," said Pat Stephens as he wrapped up his first year at the helm.

The spring season was kicked off at the Fripp Island Intercollegiate in early March as the Colonels captured a ninth place finish in the 20-team field. After that tournament the team came home to the friendly surroundings of Arlington and had a great showing as EKU finished in a runner-up position at the EKU Spring Intercollegiate.

It was then up Interstate 75 north to the Johnny Owens Invitational in Lexington where the team finished in ninth place and had to play in rainy, windy, and blustery conditions.

The only team victory of the year followed the Johnny Owens as the Colonels captured the Wright State Ohio Classic in Dayton, OH. The victory was short-lived though as EKU went out and had a disappointing seventeenth place showing the next weekend in Huntington, WV at the Guyan Golf and Country Club at the Marshall Invitational. Eastern rebounded after that and propelled their way to a fifth place finish at the Eagle Golf Invitational held in Morehead. Following the tournament in Morehead, the team traveled to Nashville for the OVC Championship where EKU took home the runner-up trophy.

"I thought we had a real up and down year. We lose three seniors that were great for our program but we have a bunch of players back and if they all work on their game this summer, we should do very well next year," said Stephens.

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