The No.19 Texas men’s golf team finished fourth at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup at Seminole Golf Club this week in Juno Beach, Florida.

The tournament consisted of 14 teams, with seven comprising the team competition. Six teams in the field were ranked in the Bushnell/Golfweek Division I Coaches Poll, including No. 3 Stanford, which Texas went head-to-head with Wednesday. The format for the event consisted of a 54-hole, three-round stroke play Monday and Tuesday, with the top four teams after two days competing in match play Wednesday.

On day one, Texas sat tied for fourth with one-to-three holes remaining in the second round at 13-under par before play was suspended due to darkness. Arkansas and Stanford also didn’t finish.

Standout freshman Christiaan Maas continued his strong first season by leading the team with a 6-under par with eight total birdies before his day was cut short by the setting sun. The score was good enough for a tie for fourth in the individual rankings. Senior Travis Vick also had a strong performance, posting a 3-under par and 11 total birdies.

Freshman Keaton Vo displayed his steady improvement as he tied for 20th at even par. Senior Mason Nome finished the day at 3-over par, placing him in a tie for 24th. Freshman Jacob Sosa almost completed his round, recording a 5-over par and tied for 30th with one hole remaining.

Vick had the strongest performance on the team on day two, climbing up to ninth place with a 3-under-par round three. His five birdies in the third round lifted his total score to 210. Maas cooled off a little bit in the last round as he finished with a 212 total, enough for twelfth place. 

After struggling in the second round, Nome rallied off six birdies Tuesday to finish at 218. Vo and Sosa ended their days shooting 221 and 226, respectively. With a total team score of 856, the Longhorns did just enough to sneak into match play against No. 3 Stanford for a chance to capture third place in the tournament.  

Vo opened up the first match Wednesday, losing by two to fifth-year Ethan Ng after dropping the 17th and 18th holes. In the second match, Nome earned a 2 and 1 victory over senior Barclay Brown after a dominating back-nine performance. Maas couldn’t complete a comeback to win his match, losing to junior Karl Vilips. Sosa lost a heartbreaker to sixth-year Nate Menon by one stroke on the 18th hole. Vick rounded out the tournament with a 1-up win against fellow top amateur Michael Thorbjornsen.

Nonetheless, the Longhorns lost to the Cardinal 3-2, settling for a fourth-place finish at the annual collegiate golf tournament.

After a slow start to the season, the fourth-place finish against highly ranked competition could serve as a boost of momentum as the No. 19 Longhorns turn their focus to the Big 12 Match Play Tournament next week, set to take place in Hockley.