Trojans Head to Dalhousie for First OVC Championship

2022-23 Little Rock Men's Golf Statistics

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Little Rock is set to compete in their first Ohio Valley Conference Championship Sunday through Wednesday at Dalhousie Golf Club in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
 
Tournament Information
The 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Championship will be held at Dalhousie Golf Club, a par-72 course with yardage ranging between 6,856 and 7,154 yards in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The 54-hole event will be held over three days with tee times beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday and Monday and 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday.  The top four teams will then advance to a match play championship on Wednesday. Live scoring is available for the event at GolfStat.com.
 
Tournament Field
All nine OVC programs will compete in this year's event with Little Rock entering the tournament as the number one overall seed at number 51 in the latest GolfStat rankings. The Trojans are the only OVC team within the GolfStat top-100, with Tennessee Tech as the only other top-200 team at number 176. UT Martin (No. 229), Morehead State (No. 244), Eastern Illinois (No. 286), and Tennessee State (No. 291) are the remaining ranked teams in the OVC.
 
Trojan Lineup
Little Rock head coach Jake Harrington will bring a seasoned field to Cape Girardeau led by senior Jansen Smith, the highest ranked golfer in the Ohio Valley Conference. Anton Albers will also compete as the fifth-year senior looks to continue his record breaking season. Magnus Lomholt, Archie Smith, and Nico Horder will round out the Trojan scorecard.

Out With the Old, In With the New
Little Rock ended their 31-year membership in the Sun Belt Conference in style as the 2022 Sun Belt Champions. Anton Albers tied for second in stroke play and was named the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Golfer of the Year. The Trojans now look to make a name for themselves in their first OVC Championship appearance after entering the year as the preseason favorites, earning eight of the nine first place votes from the leagues coaches.

National Rankings
Heading into this week's OVC Championship, Little Rock is ranked 51st in the latest GolfStat rankings, sitting as the number one ranked team in the conference. Individually, Little Rock has two golfers among the national top-250, led by Jansen Smith at number 105 and Matteo Cristoni at number 119. Only one other OVC golfer ranks among the top-250 with Tennessee Tech's Jackson Skeen coming in at number 196.
 
Record Watch
Heading into the conference championship, several Trojans find themselves narrowing in on program records. Anton Albers has already achieved several school records this season as his 125 career rounds played are the most in program history and his win at Louisiana Classics back in March tied him for most career wins with four. He now has his sights set on the career par-or-better rounds and career scoring average records. Albers' 55 par-or-better rounds is just one round shy of Daniel Fox's school-best 56 and his 72..64 scoring average is currently third, behind teammate Jansen Smith's 74.44 and Daniel Fox's 72.32.

#LittleRocksTeam