Brentwood, TN – The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) named ten Austin Peay State University (APSU) men’s golf greats to its 75th Anniversary Men’s Golf Team, Wednesday.
To celebrate the league’s accomplishments, a committee working with current and former schools captured the “best-of-the-best” in each sport and marked the top athletes in league history with 75th Anniversary Teams across all OVC sports. The OVC compiled a similar listing during the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the league.
Austin Peay State University Athletic Hall of Fame members Erik Barnes, Anthony Bradley, Marco Iten, Craig Rudolph, and Jimmy Smith were among the 37 golfers recognized by the OVC. Matt Gallant and Dustin Korte also earned recognition on the league’s 75th Anniversary Team.
Erik Barnes | 2007-10
Known for his driving ability and explosive swing, Barnes arrived at Austin Peay State University and made an immediate impact, earning OVC Freshman Golfer of the Year, Second Team All-OVC, and All-Newcomer Team honors in his freshman season while posting a 72.6 stroke average.
Barnes hit his stride during his junior campaign, which saw him set or tie the APSU records for low 18, 36, and 54-hole scores. It started with a career-best 64 at the Xavier Invitational to tie the APSU 18-hole record (since broken) before smashing a pair of long-held school records at Austin Peay State University’s F&M Bank Intercollegiate.
Barnes fired back-to-back 66s to set the 54-hole record at 132 before carding a 67 to set the 54-hole record at 199 – the first sub-200 tournament in program history. Barnes also won the F&M Bank Intercollegiate by six strokes for his first collegiate win and carried that momentum into the spring where he used a final-round 67 to surpass 10 golfers on the final day of the UK Bluegrass Invitational and earn individual medalist honors again.
Barnes closed his junior season by winning OVC Individual Medalist and Player of the Year, earning a First Team All-OVC selection, and helping the Govs win the 2009 OVC Championship. Barnes closed his junior season with a 34th-place finish at the NCAA Men’s Golf Regional at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
In his final season at Austin Peay State University, Barnes was once again a First Team All-OVC selection and placed third in the OVC Tournament. Barnes turned professional at the end of his collegiate career and earned his PGA Tour Card for the 2022-23 season. Barnes’ has a pair of professional wins and qualified to play in the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. Barnes was inducted into the APSU Hall of Fame in 2018.
Anthony Bradley | 2011-14
An Ivybridge, England native, Bradley came to Austin Peay State University and posted counting scores in 26 of the 27 rounds he played in his freshman season en route to earning Second Team All-OVC and OVC All-Newcomer Team honors. Bradley earned Second Team All-OVC honors again as a sophomore in 2012 and won OVC Individual Medalist honors after shooting a career-best 66 in the opening round of the OVC Championship before holding on with scores of 71 and 73 in the final two rounds to post a winning score of six-under 210.
As the OVC Champion, Brady qualified for the NCAA Men’s Golf Regional at The Club at Olde Stone in Bowling Green, where he shot a 232 and finished tied for 56th. Bradley won a pair of tournaments during his junior season before earning First Team All-OVC honors and helping the Governors capture a rain-shortened OVC Championship at Greystone Golf Club to qualify for the NCAA Regional at Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Arizona.
Bradley closed his APSU career by becoming the first golfer in program history to earn All-OVC honors in four-straight seasons when he earned another first-team selection, he also earned OVC All-Tournament honors for the third-consecutive season and was named the APSU Men’s Legends Award recipient. Bradley was inducted into the Austin Peay Hall of Fame in 2023.
Matt Gallant | 2002-04
In three seasons at Austin Peay State University, Matt Gallant earned All-OVC selections each year from 2002-04. In his first season in Clarksville, Gallant helped the Governors win their second-consecutive OVC title and qualify for the NCAA Central Regional at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Gallant, who was also an OVC All-Tournament Team selection, and the Govs went to another NCAA Regional, this time the West Regional at Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Washington. Gallant’s 54-hole score of 204 is still tied for the fourth-best tournament score in Austin Peay history.
Marco Iten | 2010-14
As a senior in 2014, Iten enjoyed the best season in Austin Peay State University history, winning four tournaments – to finish his career with a school-record five titles – and becoming the first APSU athlete, or team, to win an NCAA Regional. After shooting a pair of 68s to earn OVC Individual Medalist and Player of the Year honors at the conference championship, Iten ran away with the 2014 Auburn Regional by shooting an eight-under 208 (71-70-67) to qualify for the NCAA Golf Championship.
Iten closed his collegiate career by becoming the second Governor to earn a Golf Coaches Association of America Ping All-Region selection. Iten was a three-time All-OVC selection, earning first-team honors twice, during his time at Austin Peay while also helping the Governors win the 2013 OVC Championship and advance to the NCAA Regional at Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Arizona. The Niederglatt, Switzerland native was inducted into the Austin Peay Hall of Fame in 2022.
Dustin Korte | 2009-13
In his first season at Austin Peay State University, Korte helped the Governors win the 2009 OVC Championship and qualify for the NCAA Central Regional when he posted his first-career top-10 finish, shooting a 221 to place ninth at the conference championships. Korte would go on to claim Second Team All-OVC honors in 2011 and First Team All-OVC in 2013 with OVC All-Tournament selections in 2012 and 2013, but it was the way he ended his career that sets him apart.
In his senior season, Korte helped the Governors to another OVC Championship and the team advanced to the NCAA West Regional in Tempe, Arizona. The Governors did not qualify for the NCAA Championships, but Korte fired a six-under 204 to finish eighth at the regional and earn an invitation to the NCAA Championship.
At the Crabapple Golf Club in Alpharetta, Georgia, Korte closed his collegiate career with back-to-back birdies and finished the NCAA Championship with a nine-over 219 (75-72-72). The run to the NCAA Championship helped Korte become the first golfer in program history to earn a Golf Coaches Association of America Ping All-Region selection.
Craig Rudolph | 1985-88
During his three years at Austin Peay State University, Rudolph was a three-time First Team All-OVC selection and captured several regular-season medalist titles, including a 14-stroke win at the Fripp Island and the 1987 Akron Invitational, where he carded a then amateur course record of 66 at the famed Firestone Country Club.
In 1987, Rudolph participate in the NCAA Golf Championships as an individual and later that year he was a member of the Tennessee Cup Team, finished second in the Tennessee State Amateur tournament, and participated in the United States Amateur tournament.
However, Rudolph saved his best collegiate performance for last and fired a 210 (68-68-74) to earn Individual Medalist and Player of the Year honors while winning the 1988 OVC Championship by nine strokes individually while leading the Governors to one of the most dominating performances – for all sports – in OVC history as they won that title by an unheard of 47 strokes. Rudolph turned professional following graduation and earned his PGA card, playing one season on tour.
Jimmy Smith | 1965-68
Smith was a First Team All-American in 1968 after finishing as the runner-up in the NCAA College Division with a 72-hole score of 287 before going on to finish in the top 32 in NCAA University Division play. Smith became one of only three golfers to win the Tennessee Intercollegiate twice (1966, 1968), and he was named to the TIC All-State team during all four years of his career.
In 1967 he set the school nine-hole record with a 31 in the NCAA tournament. Smith was an All-OVC selection in 1966 and led his team to a four-year match record of 43-14-4.
