Looking For Second Consecutive Championship, Men’s Golf Ready for the Battle At Boone

By Ryan Frye, Morehead State Athletic Media Relations

MOREHEAD, Ky. – Coming off the team’s first tournament victory of the season at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate, Morehead State men’s golf looks to make it two in a row at the Battle at Boone at Boone Links Golf Course in Florence, Ky.

With the event, Morehead State steps out of stroke play and into match play for the first time this season and the third time in program history. The 2020-21 season marks the third consecutive season with a match play event as the Eagles as the program owns a 3-3 match record.

The Eagles enter the Battle at Boone after defeating UT Martin in a pair of playoff holes to capture the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate championship, carding scores of 279-288-284-851. All five members of the team’s tournament lineup claimed top-15 finishes, the first time this had occurred since the 2018 Pat Hicks Thunderbird Invitational.

Senior Joe Muschong led all Eagle golfers at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate, firing rounds of 66-71-72-209 to finish third as each member of the tournament lineup combined to fashion nine rounds at or below par, six of which fell under par.

The single-day Battle at Boone tees of Saturday and features a pair of 18-hole matches.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Course: Boone Links Golf Course (Florence, Ky.)
Yardage (Par): 6700 yards (72)
Teams (2): Morehead State and Northern Kentucky

TOURNAMENT LINEUP
1. Cooper Collins (5th; Lexington, Ky.)

2. Joe Muschong (Sr.; Lexington, Ky.)

3. Zac Viminitz (Sr.; Whitby, Ontario)

4. Brody Webb (So.; Georgetown, Ky.)

5. Ryan Gillum (R-Sr.; Grayson, Ky.)

6. Nolan Pierce (Fr.; Whitby, Ontario)

7. Jon Kosier (So.; Mount Sterling, Ky.)

8. Blake Evans (So.; West Liberty, Ky.)

9. Mason McGhee (R-Jr.; Morehead, Ky.)

10. Michael Reed (R-Sr.; Elizabethtown, Ky.)

LAST TIME OUT
Morehead State (279-288-284-851) – t-1st (won in two-hole playoff)
Joe Muschong (66-71-72-209) – 3rd
Zac Viminitz (68-72-76-216) – t-15th
Cooper Collins (74-70-73-217) – t-19th
Brody Webb (72-75-70-217) – t-19th
Ryan Gillum (73-76-69-218) – t-25th

NOTABLE

• Morehead State’s victory at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate marks the third tournament victory under head coach Matthew Martin as the team has captured a tournament championship in two consecutive seasons.
• The 2021 Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate was the first event since the 2018 Pat Hicks Thunderbird Invitational with the entire tournament lineup each claiming top-25 finishes.
• Four Eagles—Ryan Gillum, Joe Muschong, Zac Viminitz, and Brody Webb—carded rounds that either tied for their lowest (Viminitz [68]) or second-lowest (Gillum [69], Muschong [66], and Webb [70]) of their careers.
• Four Eagles finished top-10 in the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate field in Par-3 Scoring, ranking second (Gillum), tied for third (Webb), tied for fifth (Muschong), and tied for ninth (Cooper Collins). Muschong also finished top-10 in the field in Par-4 (t-6th) and Par-5 (t-7th) scoring.
• Muschong and Webb each carded an eagle at the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate, two of the 13 total eagles at the event.
• Gillum and Viminitz finished tied for fourth in the field in birdies, each marking in 13 during the event while Webb (39) and Collins (37) tied for third and ninth, respectively, in the field in pars.