Men's Golf preview: NCAA Championship
WHAT: Texas will make its 58th appearance as a team at the NCAA Men's Golf Championship. WHEN: Wednesday, May 28-Saturday, May 31; Texas will tee off Wednesday alongside Middle Tennessee State and Virginia at 7:35 a.m. Central (8:35 a.m. local time) and on Thursday at 12:47 p.m. Central (1:47 p.m. local) WHERE: The Kampen Course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex (par 72, 7,431 yards) - West Lafayette, Ind. (hosted by Purdue University) TEXAS STARTERS WHO: Texas will compete alongside 29 teams and six individuals at the NCAA Men's Golf Championship. (Teams seeded in the following order.) TEXAS' NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY LAST YEAR AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP TEXAS NAVIGATES THROUGH THREE-TEAM PLAYOFF TO QUALIFY FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP Texas, who teed off in the morning in the final round alongside 14 of the 30 participating teams, finished its final round early in the afternoon tied for ninth place alongside Pepperdine and was forced to await the final-round finishes from the other 15 teams to determine whether it would earn one of 10 berths available for participation at the NCAA Championship. Late in the final round, it appeared that Texas and Pepperdine, by way of their tie for ninth place, would earn the final two NCAA Championship berths available. However, San Diego State, who trailed the Longhorns and Waves by as many as five strokes late in the round, gradually made up the deficit. The Aztecs, who started their round at the 10th tee and trailed Texas and Pepperdine by three strokes heading into the final two holes, produced an eagle on the par five ninth hole from Johan Carlsson -- his second eagle of the day -- and a birdie at No. 9 from David Palm to force a three-team playoff for the two remaining NCAA bids between Pepperdine, Texas and San Diego State. In the playoff, which featured each of the teams' five players playing in a shotgun format, Texas sophomore Charlie Holland birdied the 14th hole, and redshirt freshman Bobby Hudson birdied the 15th hole. The Longhorns collected pars at the 16th hole from sophomore Lance Lopez, another at the 17th hole from senior Jace Moore and one more from senior Kevin Schultz at No. 18. Texas' collective score of two-under par was enough to defeat Pepperdine in the playoff, as the Waves finished at even par over their five holes, while San Diego State also registered a two-under par score to advance from the playoff alongside the Longhorns. TEXAS TAKES SECOND AT BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP The Horns shot a 293 in Sunday's final round and took second by shooting nine-over par over 72 holes with 1,161 strokes. Holland shot a five-over 77 in the final round and took sixth overall with a one-over 289. Lopez followed closely behind in a tie for seventh by firing an even-par 72 in the final round to finish with a two-over 290. HUDSON, HORNS FINISH STRONG AT MORRIS WILLIAMS Texas vaulted past 36-hole leader Oklahoma State, whom UT trailed by four strokes heading into the final round, and then-second place UNLV, with a three-over 287 in the final round to win the team championship by six strokes over the sixth-ranked Cowboys. With its 54-hole total of 868 strokes at three-over par, Texas also defeated top-ranked Alabama, who placed seventh overall. The Longhorns registered their 12th title in the event's 42nd edition and in the event's first appearance at The University of Texas Golf Club. Texas captured the Morris Williams individual and team championships for the first time since 2002, when John Klauk took top honors with a six-under 210 at the Austin Country Club and the Longhorns took top team honors with a 19-over 883. Hudson became UT's 12th medalist in the event, as he joined the likes of current and former PGA Tour veterans Ben Crenshaw, Payne Stewart, Fred Couples, Phil Mickelson and Justin Leonard as medalists of the Morris Williams Intercollegiate. Hudson's 65 in the final round matched the previous low 18-hole score turned in at The University of Texas Golf Club by Texas-Ex Jhonattan Vegas last summer. However, the course played at 7,200 yards before the addition of new tee boxes lengthened the course to its new layout of 7,412 yards. Texas claimed its first tournament title since November of 2006, when it claimed the Aloha Purdue Collegiate in Hawaii. Golfweek Magazine lauded Hudson and the Horns for their performances on April 15, naming Hudson as its National Men's Golfer of the Week and Texas as its National Men's Team of the Week. HOLLAND CAPTURES FRESNO STATE LEXUS CLASSIC Holland won the 54-hole event with a nine-under 207 to become Texas' first medalist since the 2006 season, when Matt Rosenfeld won the Big 12 Championship. Holland's fourth top-three finish of the season helped the Longhorns to a tie for second at the 20-team event, as UT finished with a three-day total of 844 strokes to finish at 20-under for the tournament. San Diego State won the event at 23-under par, and California tied for second alongside Texas at 20-under par. Holland has enjoyed a solid sophomore campaign during which he has landed five top-five finishes and an additional top-10 finish. Holland tied for third at the season-opening Texas Cup in Austin and placed third at the Olympia Fields Fighting Illini Invitational. The 2007 Texas State Amateur Champion, Holland also added an eighth-place finish at the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate and placed third at the Puerto Rico Classic in February. Holland took second behind Hudson at UT's annual Morris Williams Intercollegiate.
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