The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Big 12 Conference Championship
No. 18 Men’s Golf preview: Big 12 Championship
04.24.2014 | Men's Golf
The Longhorns head to Whispering Pines to defend their 2013 Big 12 Championship crown.
UP NEXT: Texas (No. 18 Golfweek/Sagarin) travels to Trinity, Texas, for 72-hole Big 12 Championship.
WHERE: Whispering Pines Golf Club (par 72, 5,021 yards)
WHEN: Friday, April 25 – Sunday, April 27
TEE TIMES: UT earned the No. 3 seed and is paired alongside No. 1-seed Oklahoma State and second-seeded Oklahoma in Friday's opening round beginning at 8 a.m. CT off the first tee. No. 4 Baylor, No. 5 Texas Tech and No. 6 Iowa State will follow at 8:50 a.m. Seventh-seeded TCU will be paired with No. 8 Kansas and No. 9 Kansas State and will begin play on the 10th hole starting at 8 a.m.
The pairings for the second round of the first day will remain the same, but will switch starting tees. The second round is scheduled to begin 5 1/2 hours after the first-round tee times. Golfers will play 18 holes on Saturday and 18 more on Sunday to conclude the championship.
THE TOURNAMENT FIELD (Golfweek/Sagarin rankings as of April 23): No. 26 Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, No. 47 Iowa State, No. 15 Oklahoma, No. 4 Oklahoma State, No. 18 TEXAS, No. 52 TCU, No. 39 Texas Tech.
LAST TIME OUT: Texas freshman Beau Hossler recorded the first top-five finish of his collegiate career with a team-best tie for third place at the 68th Annual Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club. Hossler carded a 54-hole total of 4-under-par 206 (66-73-67) and anchored the Longhorns (351-362-360=1,073, +23) to an eighth-place team finish in their last regular season tournament.
LAST TIME AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP: The top-seeded Texas Men's Golf team fought off the Oklahoma State Cowboys over the final nine holes at Prairie Dunes Country Club to claim the 2013 Big 12 Men's Golf Championship. Brandon Stone (70-67-73=210, E) became Texas' fourth conference medalist and first in seven years as he finished the weather-shortened tournament three strokes ahead of the Oklahoma State's Talor Gooch (70-69-74=213).
LIVE SCORING: Big 12 Championship
TEXAS LINEUP
No. 1 – Toni Hakula
- No. 52 Men's Collegiate Individual per Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings
- Leads the Longhorns with a 71.80 scoring average through 30 rounds this season
- Registered a season-best runner-up finish at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters for his fourth top-10 finish of the season
- Recorded a tie for fourth place at the 3M Augusta Invitational, his third top-5 finish this year
- 2014 The Ben Hogan Award Watch List
- 2013 British Am runner-up
- Finished at 1-under 215 (73-71-71) at the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational, making him one of just two Longhorns to finish a tournament at par or better during the fall season
No. 2 – Kramer Hickok
- No. 80 Men's Collegiate Individual per Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings
- Finished tied for second place in his second tournament of the season after missing the fall season due to a right wrist injury sustained during the summer
- Ranks second on the squad with a scoring average of 71.94 through 18 rounds this season
- Shot a career-low 66 in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Championship
- Appeared in the Texas lineup 10 times last season, where 24-of-30 (.800) competitive rounds counted towards the final team score
No. 3 – Beau Hossler
- No. 60 Men's Collegiate Individual per Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings
- Recorded a career-best tie for third place at the 68th annual Western Intercollegiate.
- Making his 11th appearance in the Texas lineup
No. 4 – Gavin Hall
- No. 109 Men's Collegiate Individual per Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings
- Four Top 25 finishes in his first seven events as a Longhorn
- Recorded a season-best tied for fifth place finish at the Bayou City Intercollegiate Championship
- Finished at even-par 210 (76-71-73) at the Jerry Pate, making him one of just two Longhorns to finish a tournament at par or better during the fall season
No. 5 – Brax McCarthy
- Finished T-46 (75-75-70=220) at the Bayou City Intercollegiate Championship
- Making his ninth appearance in the Texas lineup this year
PAST BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP INDIVIDUAL RESULTS:
Toni Hakula
2013: 74-72-83=229 (+19), T-33rd
2012: 81-76-77-73=307 (+19), T-33rd
2011: 72-74-72-71=289 (+9), T-7th
Kramer Hickok
2013: 74-72-72=218 (+8), T-10th
TEXAS' ALL-TIME BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM RESULTS:
(Four-time champions - 2002, 2003, 2004, 2013)
2013 – 1st
2012 – 2nd *
2011 - 3rd
2010 – 3rd *
2009 - 8th
2008 – 2nd *
2007 - 4th
2006 - 2nd
2005 - 4th *
2004 - 1st
2003 - 1st
2002 - 1st
2001 - T-2nd
2000 - 4th
1999 - 3rd
1998 - 2nd
1997 - 2nd
* - Big 12 Championship played at Whispering Pines