After posting three top-10 finishes across three events during October, Morehead State men's golfer Cooper Collins has been named OVC Golfer of the Month. The accolade marks the first Golfer of the Month honor for Collins to go with his three career OVC Golfer of the Week awards.
In addition to his three top-10 finishes, Collins also posted a stroke average of 70.2 across nine rounds of play. Also, in those nine rounds, he fired seven of them at or below par-71 for all three events. On the season, Collins owns a 70.5 stroke average, averaging even par for the year while also fashioning 10 total rounds at or below par.
"This award is a result of Cooper's consistency over our last three events," said head coach Matthew Martin. "He propelled us to record scores at the Hummingbird Intercollegiate and kept us afloat at the Elon Phoenix Invitational and the Xavier Musketeers Classic that were played on some tougher golf courses."
Collins opened the month pacing Morehead State with a seventh-place finish, helping the Eagles to establish a pair of program records at the Hummingbird Intercollegiate in Sapphire, N.C. The Eagles established school bests for lowest 18-hole total (271) and lowest 54-hole total (835). Collins posted marks of 71-70-66-207 (-6) during the event, shooting the program's lowest round (66) since 2014.
In his second event of the month, Collins continued his hot start, wrapping the Elon Phoenix Invitational in Burlington, N.C. with another seventh place finish. During the event, Collins fired all three rounds at or below par, making up a majority of the team's five such rounds during the event. He wrote down scores of 70-68-71-209 (-4) as his second round 68 marked the lowest round for an Eagle during the event while marking Collins' fourth sub-70 round of the year.
Collins concluded the month with his highest finish of October, placing sixth at the Musketeers Classic in Cincinnati, Ohio. He fashioned scores of 72-73-71-216 (+3), finishing the event with his final round at par. Collins once again paced the Eagles' lineup, posting the lowest round for Morehead State at the event with his final round 71.
Martin added, "Exciting for me as a coach is the fact Cooper very easily could have posted even better numbers during these nine rounds. I look forward to seeing him build on his success in the spring."
Collins and Morehead State set out to build on the fall season's success beginning in mid-February at the Atlantic 10 Match Play Championships in Weston, Fla. The two-day event tees off from the Weston Hills Country Club on Feb. 18.