After finishing the first round of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in eighth place, the Eastern golf team dropped three spots and finished the final round in last place.

Despite the last place finish, the Eastern golf team had a few highlights in the final round at the Robert Trent Jones “Fighting Joe” Golf Trail at The Shoals Course.

Freshman Alvaro Hernandez shot one over par and fellow freshman Charlie Adare had a double eagle on the 17th hole. Both Hernandez and Adare finished in 35th place.

Adare scored a three on the par-5 17th hole. He finished the round with a score of 77.

Hernandez finished Wednesday’s round with a score of 73 for a championship total of 230. He had the two lowest rounds for Eastern after opening the tournament with a 75.

The Panthers had a final-round score of 311 and a tournament total score of 941.

Sophomore Alex Gowin also had a round in the 70’s to close out the OVC tournament. He shot a 79 to make his tournament total 245 and tied for 53rd.

Senior Will Drerup shot an 82 in the final round of the tournament and the final round of his Eastern career but finished with a tournament-total of 241. His final score of 241 put him in 51st.

Freshman Kevin Altenberger also shot an 82 in the final round of the tournament for the Panthers. In his first career OVC tournament, the freshman finished with a final score of 254 in 53rd tied with Gowin.

Tennessee-Martin had a strong final day to win the OVC Championship. Tennessee-Martin beat out Morehead State by just one stroke and Jacksonville State by two strokes.

The Skyhawks had the lead heading into the final day of the tournament after taking over in the second round.

Eastern Kentucky finished in fourth place with a final team score of 883. Belmont finished tied for fifth with Murray State with identical scores of 884.

Tennessee Tech finished the tournament with a score of 894 and Austin Peay came in eighth place with a score of 895. Southern Illinois Edwardsville finished in ninth with a score of 933.

Hunter Richardson of Tennessee-Martin won the individual medalist honors after finishing five under par. Four players finished under par for the tournament.

Will Sallee of Eastern Kentucky finished in second place with a final score of 214 after shooting a 74 in the final round.

Ashton Van Horne from Belmont and Camilo Aguado of Jacksonville State finished with scores of 215. Van Horne shot a 67 in final round and Aguado shot a 72.

Daniel Pico of Jacksonville State finished just one stroke behind Aguado and Van Horne but officially finished in fifth place. Pico fired a 74 in the final round giving him a tournament total of 216.

Eastern’s season over and it ended the way most of its season did with a last place finish. The Panthers have a young team and the young golfers showed some talent in their first OVC tournament.

Sean Hastings can be reached at 581-2821 or smhastings@eiu.edu