The University’s golf team extended an invitation Monday to UT alumnus Matthew McConaughey, who won the 2014 Academy Award for Best Actor on Sunday evening, to join them in a round of golf. The invitation has not yet received a response from the actor.
The team asked the actor, “hey McConaughey – wanna play a round with us when you get back to Austin?” and posted a picture of McConaughey’s University headshot to the team’s Instagram. According to Ashley Cushman, spokeswoman for the department of intercollegiate athletics at UT, the picture was originally posted by the official University Instagram account, identifying McConaughey as a medalist at the 1993 intramural golf championship.
“[We] used a screenshot of the image inviting the UT alum to play a round with the Texas Longhorns when he’s back in Austin following his Academy Award press circuit,” Cushman said. “It is a valid and standing offer to our fellow Longhorn and the 2014 Academy Award winner.”
If McConaughey accepts the invitation, the team will get NCAA compliance from the University — following the team’s culture of compliance — before they would be able to hit the course. John Fields, head coach of the men’s golf team, said he does not know whether McConaughey will even see the invitation, due to his busy schedule.
“I’ve met him a few times before, and he’s a great guy and a good golfer,” Fields said. “We’re obviously building champions here … One of our past coaches, Harvey Penick, said in [his book], ‘If you want to be a good putter, you should go to dinner with good putters.’… I would imagine winning an Oscar is very similar to winning a national [golf] championship.”
Kalena Preus, economics freshman and member of the University’s golf team, said he believes golfing with McConaughey would be a great opportunity to get the team involved with past alumni, especially with someone of his “stature and savvy.”
“It would be just like any other round of golf,” Preus said. “Except for the fact that he’s an Ocsar winner and all around stud … No doubt, he will get back to us in the near future. There’s nothing better than a round of golf with the UT men’s golf team; I can assure you that.”
