Whitehead garners first career adidas® OVC Male Golfer of the Week honors
What a way to finish the fall season! Tennessee Tech men's golfer Lee Whitehead capped a brilliant closing weekend to the Golden Eagle's fall schedule with his first career adidas® Ohio Valley Conference Male Golfer of the Week honor.
By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – What a way to finish the fall season! Tennessee Tech men's golfer Lee Whitehead capped a brilliant closing weekend to the Golden Eagle's fall schedule with his first career adidas® Ohio Valley Conference Male Golfer of the Week honor.
Whitehead started the weekend on Sunday in Sapphire, N.C., leading Tech to a fourth place finish at the Hummingbird Invitational hosted by Western Carolina. His consistent play kept the Golden Eagles within a few strokes of the lead all weekend at the three-day, 54-hole event.
But that wasn't enough. A junior from Knoxville, he earned all-tournament honors after one the best performances of his Golden Eagle career. Whitehead collected his second career top five finish in the event, tying for third overall with a 73-69-72=214. The third place finish was the lowest finish of his career and his 214 was the third lowest score of his time at Tech.
And that still wasn't enough! Unknown to the wiley veteran, he did not wrap up his impressive performance until Wednesday morning, when he was named adidas® OVC Co-Male Golfer of the Week. It marks the first such honor of his career and the second for head coach Polk Brown's Golden Eagle squad this season. Whitehead currently ranks 11th in the OVC in scoring average with a mark of 72.9.
Sophomore Mitch Thomas became the first Golden Eagle to earn adidas® OVC Male Golfer of the Week since PGA Tour member Scott Stallings won it on Mar. 7, 2007, back on Oct. 9.
Here's a look at the others nominated and the adidas® OVC Female Golfer of the Week:
adidas® Male Co-Golfer of the Week
Ashton Van Horne · So. · Georgetown, Ky. · Belmont
Van Horne earned his second OVC Golfer of the Week honor of the fall season after finishing tied for third (with co-honoree Lee Whitehead) at The Hummingbird Intercollegiate held at the Country Club of Sapphire Valley in Sapphire, N.C. The sophomore carded rounds of 69-72-73 to finish at 214 (+1) and tie for third in a field of 56 competitors; it marked his fourth top 10 finish of the fall. His performance helped Belmont to a third place finish out of 10 teams. Van Horne finished the fall season ranked first in the OVC in stroke average (71.0).
adidas® Male Co-Golfer of the Week
Lee Whitehead · Jr. · Knoxville, Tenn. · Tennessee Tech
Whitehead finished tied for third (with co-honoree Ashton Van Horne) in a field of 56 at The Hummingbird Intercollegiate held at the Country Club of Sapphire Valley in Sapphire, N.C. The junior carded rounds of 73-69-72 to finish the three-round event at 214 (+1). Whitehead's performance helped TTU finish fourth in a field of 10 squads. It marked his second career top five finish.
Others Nominated: Tomasz Anderson, Jacksonville State.
adidas® Female Co-Golfers of the Week
Becky Sharpe · So. · Williamsburg, Ky. · Eastern Kentucky
Sofie Levin · Fr. · Stockholm, Sweden · Eastern Kentucky
Sharpe and Levin tied for seventh-place at the Winthrop Intercollegiate this past weekend in the final event of the fall season. Sharpe carded round of 80-77 and Levin had rounds of 78-79 as each finished at 157 (+13) and help Eastern Kentucky to a third-place team finish in a field of nine teams.
Others Nominated: none
