Murray State’s Jay Nimmo emerged as the individual champion at the Hoosier Collegiate golf tournament on Sunday, hosted by Indiana University at the PFAU Course in Bloomington. Nimmo’s stellar performance came on the heels of a second-place finish at the Bellarmine event in Louisville last week.
Nimmo outshone an impressive field of 78 players, conquering the PFAU Course with rounds of 70-72-69, totaling 211. His victory was secured by a narrow 1-shot margin over Indiana’s Thomas Hursey, who scored 71-72-69, totaling 212.
This victory marks the first individual championship for the Racers since Austin Knight’s triumph at the TSU Big Blue Invitational in 2021 at The Hermitage in Nashville, Tennessee. With this win, Nimmo also becomes Murray State’s second all-time winner of an event hosted by a Power-5 conference team. The first was Bruce Douglass, who recorded scores of 69-66-72, totaling 207, to win the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge in 1974.
Fueled by Nimmo’s victory, the Racers secured a fifth-place finish in Bloomington, with rounds of 300-301-298, totaling 899. Murray State fared well against the three other Missouri Valley Conference teams in the event, finishing just behind Valparaiso (889) in third place and Illinois State (896) in fourth, while outperforming Southern Illinois (913), who placed 11th. The Racers will soon make their debut at the MVC Championship, which takes place in Coal Valley, Illinois (April 23-25) at Oakwood Country Club.
Murray State’s Walker Beck contributed to the team’s performance with a 19th place finish, scoring rounds of 74-74-76, totaling 224.
The Racers have one more event scheduled before the Valley championship: the Wright State Invitational (April 16-17) at Heatherwoode Golf Club in Springboro, Ohio. With momentum on their side, the Racers are poised to make a strong showing as they approach the championship tournament.
