By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
JACKSON, Tenn. – The 16th annual Grover Page Classic is officially in the books as the University of Tennessee at Martin golf squad was amongst the leaders in both the team and individual standings at Jackson Country Club.
On the player side, senior Bryson Morrell collected his best career finish – placing second in the field of 96 players with an overall tally of 208 (-8). The Knoxville, Tenn. native found himself in a three-way tie for first place going into the 54th hole of the event but medalist Carter Goodwin from North Alabama (207, -9) birdied in the group ahead of him to claim a narrow one-shot victory.
Morrell ranked in the top-10 in the tournament field in par-3 scoring (2.92, second), eagles (2, third), par-4 scoring (3.97, sixth) and birdies (13, seventh). He now owns a trio of top-five career finishes – all coming at the Grover Page Classic. His previous best finish in a collegiate tournament was third place in the event during his freshman (2019-20) and junior (2021-22) seasons.
“For Bryson to finish second and have a chance to win, I’m super thrilled for him,” Skyhawk head coach Austin Swafford said. “He was comfortable being in that position and that’s going to benefit him so much down the road for the rest of this season. He had a great short game this week, which is one of his strengths. He put himself in position to win the tournament and that’s all that we can ask for.”
North Alabama shot 7-under par today to claim the team championship with an 843 (-21), which was 13 shots better than second-place Bellarmine (856, -8). UT Martin (857, -7) tallied an even-par 288 today to finish in third place and tops amongst the six Ohio Valley Conference schools in the field. Overall, the Skyhawks led the event in par-3 scoring (3.15, +9) and par-5 scoring (4.45, -33).
“We had a very up-and-down day,” Swafford said. “At one point we were in second place after getting off to a pretty decent start and then with about six holes to go, we were in sixth place. The course was set up fair but on the tougher side today but we finished well by making some birdies down the stretch. North Alabama played their tails off – congratulations to Coach Luke Calcatera and his student-athletes.”
Morrell came away with a 70 during today’s round, sinking a total of six birdies. Jacob Uehlein (six birdies) and Ethan Ray (four birdies) each shot even-par 72’s while Jonathan Xoinis’ 74 (four birdies) completed the team scoring. Cayden Chambers was the fifth member of UT Martin’s scoring lineup as he recorded a 77 with a pair of birdies.
Playing as one of five Skyhawk individuals in the tournament, Luke Caldwell stood out with a 72 that included four birdies and the team’s lone eagle on the day. Rocco Zakutney’s scorecard included three birdies on the way to a 73 while Garrett Chumley’s 74 with two birdies didn’t trail too far behind. Dax Isbell and Jackson Twerdahl each sank two birdies for scores of 76 and 77, respectively.
For the tournament, Uehlein came in 13th place with an overall tally of 214 (-2). Chumley was 20th in the field with a 217 (+1) while Ray’s 218 (+2) ranked 29th in the field. Chambers ended with a 220 (+4) with Xoinis (221, +5) following right behind him, ranking fourth in the tournament in par-4 scoring (4.25) in the process.
The freshman trio of Caldwell (222, +6), Zakutney (222, +6) and Isbell (224, +8) were each within three shots of each other while Caldwell placed fifth in the event with 36 pars. Twerdahl wrapped up his tournament with a 229 (+13).
“We’d like to once again thank the great staff at Jackson Country Club for their warm hospitality,” Swafford said. “The course is in fantastic shape and the greens are some of the best we will play on all year. We look forward to continuing our partnership next season.”
UT Martin continues its fall schedule when it travels to the Derek Dolenc Invitational, hosted by SIUE at Gateway National in Madison, Ill. on Sept. 26-27.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information