The Eastern men’s golf team will contend for the Ohio Valley Conference Championship April 25-28, bringing its 2011-12 season to a close.

Nashville will be the site of the tournament where the men will be competing on the Greystone Golf Course, greens which they say they know like the back of their hands.

The Panthers are coming off a sixth place finish last week at the Tennessee State Invitational, also in Nashville, where they competed against five other OVC teams.

Head Coach Mike Moncel said if his team can get the same production as last week, they will be poised for success.

“We did get production out of our four and five spots last week,” Moncel said. “If our one, two and three spots can do their job and we get those four and five spots to do so, we should do really well.”

After an eighth place finish, out of nine total teams last year, the Panthers are determined to improve that result this season. Senior David Lawrence said that the team is clicking at the right time and it is time for all the hard work to pay off.

“We are putting the pieces together at the right time,” Lawrence said. “We all need to go out and play well to give ourselves a chance to win, and I think we will do just that. We’ve put in the time all year working towards this. Now is the time to trust it. We’re spending this week tightening everything up and trying to get our short games in the best possible shape.”

However, Coach Moncel knows that will not come easy. He said the field is very competitive and each team in the tournament is very strong, it’s just a matter of how you play.

“It’s a tough field, the difference between top and bottom is very minute,” Moncel said. “Murray State won [the Tennessee State Invitational] last week, and we beat them three times this year. The entire field is very competitive and if you play bad you’re going to get ran over but if you play good you have a really good chance.”

The Panthers will look to do just that, with hopes of placing higher than seventh for the first time since 2007.

Last season, Jacksonville State won the championship by 18 strokes, also receiving awards for Coach of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Tennessee-Martin took home second place honors, while Murray State rounded out the top three with a third place finish and Player of the Year honors.

Anthony Catezone can be reached at 581-7942 or at accatezone@eiu.edu.