The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
NCAA South Central Regional Championship
No. 3 Men's Golf advances to NCAA Championship for seventh-consecutive season
05.18.2013 | Men's Golf
May 18, 2013
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- The No. 3 Texas Men's Golf team punched its ticket to a seventh-straight NCAA Championship appearance Saturday afternoon with a third place finish at the Fayetteville Regional. The Longhorns (285-298-297) finished the 54-hole championship at 16-over 880, two strokes ahead of fourth-place Oklahoma State (286-304-292=882) and 12 ahead of fifth-place Kent State (288-303-301=892).
Texas - one of five squads in the 14-team field at Blessings Golf Club to earn a berth to the 30-team national championship - will begin its title defense at the NCAA Championship at Capital City Club (Crabapple Course) in Atlanta on May 28.
Senior Cody Gribble (70-74-75) led the Longhorn contingent in a tie for 10th place at 3-over 219. Sophomore Kramer Hickok (74-74-73) and junior Toni Hakula (69-76-76) finished at 5-over 221 and tied for 18th place, and freshman Brandon Stone (72-74-79=225) rounded out the squad in a tie for 26th.
Senior Julio Vegas fired Texas' low final-round score of 1-over 73, just one day after being disqualified from the second round for a breach of Rule 15-1. A double bogey on the second hole quickly erased Vegas' opening birdie, and he climbed to +3 with bogeys on Nos. 5 and 8. Back-to-back birdies on the next two holes dropped him back to +1, and he found a fourth birdie on the par-3 15th to get back to even. He signed for a 73 following a bogey on the closing hole.
Illinois (282-292-289=863) edged host Arkansas (290-283-293=866) for the Regional crown. SMU's Mario Clemens (70-70-73) won medalist honors at 3-under 213.
NCAA Fayetteville Regional
Blessing Golf Club (par 72 - 7,251 yards)
Final Team Leaderboard
1. Illinois - 282-292-289=863 (-1)
2. Arkansas - 290-283-293=866 (+2)
3. TEXAS - 285-298-297=880 (+16)
4. Oklahoma State - 286-304-292=882 (+18)
5. Kent State - 288-303-301=892 (+28)
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6. SMU - 297-298-300=895 (+31)
7. Tulsa - 303-292-313=908 (+44)
8. Colorado - 292-310-309=911 (+47)
9. UNCW - 300-301-315=916 (+52)
10. Kentucky - 304-309-304=917 (+53)
11. Liberty - 303-313-303=919 (+55)
12. UMKC - 303-318-303=924 (+60)
13. Indiana - 307-306-319=932 (+68)
14. Alabama State - 313-327-329=969 (+105)
Final Player Leaderboard
1. Mario Clemens, SMU - 70-70-73=213 (-3)
T2. Brian Campbell, Illinois - 77-67-70=214 (-2)
T2. Austin Cook, Arkansas - 72-68-74=214 (-2)
T2. Thomas Detry, Illinois - 68-74-72=214 (-2)
T5. Charlie Danielson, Illinois - 65-78-73=216 (E)
T5. Kevin Dougherty, Oklahoma State - 73-73-70=216 (E)
7. Corey Conners, Kent State - 67-75-75=217 (+1)
T8. Chris Gilbert, Kansas* - 73-72-73=218 (+2)
T8. Taylor Moore, Arkansas - 72-72-74=218 (+2)
T10. Cody Gribble, TEXAS - 70-74-75=219 (+3)
T10. Three additional players at 3-over 219
* - denotes competing as an individual
Additional Texas Players
T18. Kramer Hickok - 74-74-73=221 (+5)
T18. Toni Hakula - 69-76-76=221 (+5)
T26. Brandon Stone - 72-74-79=225 (+9)
--. Julio Vegas - 78-DQ-74
Post-tournament Quotes
Texas Head Coach John Fields
On Texas' performance in the NCAA Fayetteville Regional: Seven straight is nice. For us, it's been an entire year of curveballs. Getting through here was really important. We had three guys that played on the National Championship team, and there was a little bit of extra pressure on them. Regionals are always tough. We had a freshman and a sophomore on the team that had never played in one. We had a mixed bag, and I thought the guys did a good job this week.
