The Texas men’s golf team concluded its fall season with a third-place finish at the East Lake Cup Tournament in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Longhorns met Oklahoma, Pepperdine and Texas Tech for the esteemed three-day tournament that concluded Wednesday. The East Lake Cup, which hosts the top-four performing teams each year, consists of an opening day of stroke play followed by two days of match play competition.
Pouring rain and a mushy course didn’t stop Texas freshman Travis Vick from sinking the tournament winning putt in the championship round of the East Lake Cup last year. This season, the now sophomore claimed the best round of the Longhorns’ opening day with five birdies, shooting a 2-under 70 and tying for fourth place on the individual leaderboard.
Junior Pierceson Coody followed Vick and tied for seventh with a 1-under 70. Junior Parker Coody shot an even-par 72 and tied for 11th in his opening round. Fellow junior Cole Hammer and senior Christoffer Bring tied for 19th with 3-over par to close out the first and only round of stroke play.
Texas matched up against Oklahoma in the first round of match play on Tuesday, where the Longhorns fell to the Sooners for the second time this season. Oklahoma defeated Texas with a 3-2-0 victory in the match play semifinals.
Hammer and Pierceson golfed a pair of 5-and-4 wins to give Texas a 2-0 advantage. After nine holes, Hammer created a three-up lead and picked up two more holes to close out his win in round one of match play. Pierceson cushioned himself in a comfortable lead on the opening hole with a three-up on the tenth to secure the win.
Parker put on his rally cap and came back from a three-down deficit but was beat on the 19th hole. Vick also struggled and lost a back-and-forth match through 19 holes, giving the team a score at 2-2. Bring went head-to-head in an exciting contest with Oklahoma’s Quade Cummins but ultimately surrendered to the Sooners.
East Lake Cup’s consolation round called the Longhorns’ name as they faced Texas Tech on Wednesday, teeing off in the early part of the morning on the Golf Channel. In their final round of the fall season, the men swept the Red Raiders with a 5-0-0 victory.
Texas teed off on the 10th tee against Texas Tech, where four matches did not make it to the 18th hole.
Bring secured the biggest win of the final day in the anchor match as he finished with a 6-and-5 victory. Parker picked up a 4-and-3 win, and Pierceson victoriously recorded a 2-and-1 win. With a 4-and-2 win, Hammer defeated Texas Tech’s JP Roller. Vick was the only player to reach the 18th hole, and he conquered the ninth hole with a par, defeating Texas Tech senior Andy Lopez one-up.
The men hang up their hats and bid farewell to 2020 after a quick fall season. Head coach John Fields and the team will return to the course in the new year to compete in their spring season.
