By Dylan Vazzano, TTU Sports Information
OLD HICKORY, Tenn. – "Personally, this is the biggest thrill of my life."
What could have prompted the legendary and TTU Sports Hall of Famer, coach Bobby Nichols, a name synonymous with Golden Eagle golf, to speak such a statement?
"I'm as proud as can be."
Similarly, what could have caused fellow Hall of Famer, former Tennessee Tech president Angelo Volpe, to express such a sentiment?
To answer these questions we must take a trip down I-40, with a stop in Music City, for a look back at two of the most impactful days in the records of Golden Eagle athletics.
Simply put, the stakes could not have been any higher heading into the 1990 Ohio Valley Conference Men's Golf Championship for Tennessee Tech. In fact, given what was up for grabs for the golf program, the Golden Eagle Athletic Department and even the University as a whole, a legitimate claim could be made that the two-day event in nearby Nashville had as much on the line as just about any other competition in TTU athletics history.
From a team perspective, the Golden Eagles entered play at the Old Hickory County Club eyeing a chance at the program's first OVC golf crown since 1955. Having secured first-place finishes in two of the last three events behind wins in the Tennessee Intercollegiate Championship right in Cookeville and the Springbrook Classic in Niota, Tenn., the prospects of breaking a 35-year drought seemed well within reach for those clad in purple and gold.
Three and a half decades without a title, and yet, if possible, the Golden Eagles were gunning for something even greater as they stared at 54 holes in the forecast. The opportunity for an athletic department first was there for the taking. History tempting, if not taunting, Tennessee Tech.
Enter the OVC's Men's All-Sport Trophy.
Introduced in the 1962-63 school year as a symbol of overall athletic excellence within the conference, the yearly honor was bestowed upon the institution with the most overall points, calculated based on finishes in the championships of each of the men's OVC-sponsored sports. The Golden Eagle athletic department did seize the Women's All-Sport Trophy in 1986-87, an accolade introduced just before the 1980-81 school year, but the Men's All-Sport Trophy had alluded the purple and gold since its debut 27 years prior.
However, in mid-May of 1990, Tennessee Tech found itself on the precipice of prestige after claiming the OVC's men's tennis title earlier in the spring to go along with a second-place finish in men's basketball, a third-place ending in baseball, a tie for third in football and a sixth-place finish in cross-country.
Tech entered the OVC Golf Championship, the final event in the race for the trophy, needing to write its own comeback story as the Golden Eagles trailed perennial power Eastern Kentucky for conference supremacy. The Colonels, who had captured at least a share of the Men's All-Sport Trophy in five of the last six years, had the upper hand on Tech after winning that year's cross-country championship, in addition to second-place finishes in football, men's basketball and baseball. To further complicate the issue for the purple and gold, its long-standing bitter rival, Middle Tennessee, was right in the thick of things as well after taking both the conference's football and baseball title, and marched into the OVC Golf Championship as the team to beat with the best overall average in the league at 76.1 strokes per round.
Needing a spark to help separate itself from the pack, Tech turned to another future Hall of Famer, who embraced the uniqueness of the situation with a perspective that would prove to be invaluable in helping lead his club's charge toward the top.
"We wanted to win the golf championship, but when we learned that we could also win the All-Sports championship, I think it lifted everybody to a higher level."
That was the straightforward sentiment of senior Tom Pack, a 2008 inductee into the TTU Sports Hall of Fame who saved the best for last during his playing days as a Golden Eagle. After finishing in first place thanks in large part to a season-low round of 66 in the Springbrook Classic just two weeks prior to the OVC Championship, Pack carried that momentum into his final event as collegiate golfer.
With the lights brightest and the stage grandest, Pack help set the tempo for Tech with a first-round 67, the lowest score of any player in the three-round event. Combined with fellow senior Bobby Hudson's first-round 70, tied for the second lowest first-round mark in the entire field, the Golden Eagles found themselves at the top of the leaderboard after 18 holes with a four-stroke lead over Austin Peay, while Tech maintained an eight-stroke cushion over Middle Tennessee and a 19-stroke advantage over Eastern Kentucky.
With no rest for the weary and another 18 holes on deck to conclude the first day of the championship, Pack and Hudson again proved to be too much for the rest of the competition, with both seniors firing off identical scores of 69 to keep the Golden Eagles on top after two rounds of action. Furthermore, with 36 of the 54 holes in the books, Pack and Hudson sat first and second respectively on the individual side of the equation.
Middle Tennessee, with a second-round 289, four strokes lower than Tech's 293, whirled past Austin Peay for second place heading into the final round, a mere four back of the Golden Eagles in what would now turn into a winner-take-all, last day for the OVC title and All-Sports Trophy. Eastern Kentucky essentially played its way out of contention for the esteemed award with a second-round 301 to head into the final 18 in sixth place.
Saving his best for last, Hudson's 70 outpaced Pack's 72, while a surge out of freshman Jay Underwood and his final-round 73 helped the Golden Eagles clinch the championship with an overall 869. Despite a slightly better showing in the closing 18 with a one-stroke advantage over Tech, Middle Tennessee would end up falling three strokes short of glory.
Pack captured the individual OVC crown with a final overall score of 208, besting Hudson by just one stroke in the tandem's swan-song event.
More importantly, the pair's stellar play led Tennessee Tech to history. The Golden Eagles had officially secured the Men's All-Sport Trophy with 66 total points to edge past Middle Tennessee and Murray State, who tied for second with 62 points each. Eastern Kentucky, the leader heading into the golf tournament, slipped to fourth.
Coach Nichols had it right. What a thrill indeed.
