Call Him Mr. 60 – Knight Cards Dream Round

Austin Knight, MSU Golf Team. Photo - Dave Winder, Murray State Athletics
Austin Knight, MSU Golf Team. Photo – Dave Winder, Murray State Athletics

Golfers of any skill level from all over the world imagine every time they tee it up, today might be the day for magic. That is to play the best round of a lifetime.

On an ordinary hot and humid afternoon in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Murray State men’s golf student-athlete Austin Knight had one of those days. The kind of days he can tell his grandchildren about.
Knight, an incoming freshman, shot an 11-under-par 60 at his home course at Hopkinsville Country Club.
The friendly foursome on the par-71 layout was completed in the afternoon as Knight played with friends T.J. Janes, Cole Taylor and Tadd Switzer.
Knight’s round started with a pair of pars before he made four-straight birdies on the front nine. He finished with a 5-under-par 30 when he birdied the par-4 ninth hole. When he started the back-nine with three-straight birdies, everyone in the foursome knew something special could be happening.
“Actually T.J. thought it could be special when I was 2-under through four and I was hitting it close,” Knight said. “He said we’ve got a course record watch going and I told him no way. Tadd brought it up again after I birdied six. But when I started birdie-birdie-birdie on the back side, I knew if I got two more (birdies) I’d tie the course record. I just kept going from there and didn’t let up any.”
The round ended with Knight making birdie at the 14th, 16th and 17th holes.
Knight’s 11 birdies and seven pars wasn’t without a ‘would’ve or could’ve’ moment as he pondered the possibility of shooting a 59 or better. He missed a short birdie try at the eighth hole and again at the 18th. After a wayward approach to the 15th hole, he got up and down for par from a bunker.
Should we call him Mr. 60 from now on?
“Probably not,” Knight laughed. “This was a once in a lifetime thing that I got to do. And I’ll definitely tell my grandkids about it someday. I think it would be awesome then to bring them back to the clubhouse and show them the trophy case where I still have the course record. But if someone beats it and shoots 59, I’d shake their hand and say congratulations.”
Darren Wittenburg has served as the teaching professional at Hopkinsville Country Club since 2005 and noted Knight’s round of 60 bested the club record by two shots.
“It’s a very rare event for sure,” Wittenburg said. “There aren’t many people that can shoot 60 in a lifetime. The course at Hopkinsville Country Club has been around for 100 years. The previous course record was 62 and that had been done three times.”
“Austin has worked for me last few years here at the golf shop,” Wittenburg added. “It’s pretty cool watching him grow up here. He’s improved a lot.”
A lifetime achievement golf score of 60 is accompanied by large odds. The United States Golf Association (USGA) calculates the odds of a player (with a zero to five handicap like Knight) shooting a score of 10-under-par to be one in 125,000. Knight did that one better with a score of 11-under-par this week.
The Murray State men’s golf program is no stranger to rare golf events. Recent memory recalls Nick Newcomb’s 2008 run to the Ohio Valley Conference Championship that included a hole-in-one on the par-3 second hole at the Country Club of Paducah. In 2011, Racer student-athletes Hunter York and Brock Simmons each made a hole-in-one 24 hours apart at Murray Country Club’s par-3 11th hole during team qualifying.
The 2016-17 season for the Racers begins with the team hosting the MSU Invitational (Sept. 12-13), at Miller Memorial Golf Course.