HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. -- The fifth-seeded University of Texas men's golf team advanced to the second round of the Collegiate Match Play Championship after defeating 12th-seeded Pepperdine, 3-1-1, on Sunday, Nov. 14. The ninth-seeded women's team fell to the consolation bracket after being beaten by eighth-seeded Furman, 4-1. Both team's second round matches were suspended due to darkness with the men leading in three of the five matches versus 13th-seeded Clemson and the women leading in three matches against 16th-seeded UNLV. Both matches will resume on Monday, Nov. 15 at 8 a.m.
"We got off to a great start today in beating a tough Pepperdine team," said Texas men's head coach John Fields. "We are very pleased with the play of Jace Moore along with Matthew Mills and Farren Keenan. Jeff Bell did a nice job fighting back to halve his match and Matthew Rosenfeld just ran into a buzz saw in Pepperdine's Michael Putnam. We've done a nice job so far against Clemson, but we'll need to continue to play well if we want to advance."
In the men's match against Pepperdine, victories by junior Matthew Mills (London, England), sophomore Farren Keenan (Middlesex, England) and freshman Jace Moore (Southlake, Texas) guaranteed that UT would advance to the second round. Mills took his match with Alex Coe, 3 and 2, while Keenan defeated Brian O'Flaherty, 3 and 1, and Moore downed Michael Baird, 4 and 2.
Junior Jeff Bell (Plano, Texas) was behind after nine holes, but fought back to halve his match with Colin Wilcox. Junior Matthew Rosenfeld (Plano, Texas) was defeated 7 and 6 by Michael Putnam.
Rosenfeld bounced back from his first-round performance and is currently 3-up over Clemson's Brian Duncan. Mills and Keenan were also leading before play was halted with Mills 2-up in his match with Brent Delahoussaye and Keenan 1-up over Stephen Poole. Bell is 2-down and Moore is one-down in their second round matches. Perry Swenson Senior Perry Swenson
The women's team got a victory from senior Perry Swenson (Charlotte, N.C.), who defeated Furman's Haley Gildea 1-up, but they were unable to secure any more wins. Junior Devan Andersen (Guadalajara, Mexico) ended up 1-down to Monique Gesualdi while sophomore Julia Best (Bulverde, Texas) was beaten by Theresa Paik, 5 and 4. Freshmen Brittany Givilancz (Weslaco, Texas) and Jordan Craig (Connellsville, Pa.) were both defeated in their first collegiate match play rounds. Givilancz fell to Connor Atkinson, 6 and 4, while Craig dropped her match against Jenny Suh, 5 and 3.
"We didn't play real well in the first round, but Furman did an excellent job today," explained Texas women's head coach Susan Watkins. "It is important that we finish off UNLV tomorrow and continue on in the consolation bracket in order to take something positive from this tournament. We will also be able to get some valuable experience for our younger players who haven't competed in match play at this level."
The Longhorns currently lead in three of their matches against UNLV. Craig is 2-up after 10 holes in her match with Hwanhee Lee while Andersen and Swenson are both leading 1-up. Givilancz is trailing 1-down after nine holes and Best is 3-down after 10 holes.
Play in both the men's and women's brackets will continue on Monday, Nov. 15 at 8 a.m.
|
|
 |
