BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — The Little Rock men's golf team has been picked to win the Ohio Valley Conference, as voted by the league's coaches in the preseason poll announced Wednesday.
Defending OVC champion Little Rock received 11 first-place votes and a league-best 98 points. UT Martin finished second with 85 points and earned the remaining two first-place votes.
"It's nice to be voted No. 1, but that doesn't matter until April," Little Rock head coach
Austin Eoff said. "It's just a list, and we have to go out this spring and continue to build on what we began last fall while continuing to improve.
"We have a lot of golf to play between now and the conference tournament, and our focus is on that. We'll turn our attention to the OVC Tournament when April gets here."
The Trojans enter the spring ranked No. 44 in the latest national poll. During the fall season, Little Rock captured the Everett Buick GMC Invitational, the program's home tournament at Chenal Country Club.
Sophomore
Ed Featherstone was named the OVC "Player to Watch" after a standout fall campaign. Featherstone closed the season by earning OVC Male Golfer of the Week honors, finishing 13-under par and placing second—just one shot behind UAB's Minas Manias—at the final tournament of the fall.
A model of consistency, Featherstone recorded top-20 finishes in all but one event during the fall. He placed 12th at the Fighting Irish Invitational at Notre Dame's Warren Golf Club, a field that included several of the nation's top collegiate golfers, and finished sixth at the Bearcat Invitational.
Little Rock opens its spring season Feb. 16 at The Prestige in La Quinta, Calif.
2025-26 OVC Men's Golf Predicted Order of Finish
1. Little Rock (8) - 98 points
2. UT Martin (2) - 85
3. Tennessee Tech - 81
4. SIUE (1) - 77
5. Morehead State - 68
6. Lindenwood - 55
7. Southern Indiana - 44
8. Bryant - 32
9. Eastern Illinois - 29
10. Tennessee State - 19
11. Western Illinois - 16
2025-26 OVC Men's Players to Watch
Bryant -
Dylan Gallagher (Sr.)
Eastern Illinois -
Luke Watson (Fr.)
Lindenwood -
Francisco Gavilan (Fr.)
Little Rock -
Ed Featherstone (So.)
Morehead State -
Seamus Bogan (So.)
SIUE -
Brady Kaufmann (Sr.)
Southern Indiana -
Carter Goebel (Sr.)
Tennessee State -
Jackson Pieratt (Fr.)
Tennessee Tech -
Haden Maxwell (Sr.)
UT Martin -
Luke Caldwell (Sr.)
Western Illinois -
Owen Howe (So.)
