No. 19 men’s golf concluded its first conference tournament Wednesday, finishing seventh in the Big 12 Match Play Tournament in Hockley.

The tournament occurred across three days, with each school playing four times in a match-play format before playing a fifth time in a championship round. Texas Tech posted the best record, going 2-0-2 in the regular rounds, and the Red Raiders went on to beat Oklahoma in the championship to win the tournament. 

The Longhorns posted a 1-1-2 record in match-play, beating Iowa State, losing to Kansas State and tying TCU and eventual winner Texas Tech. The tie against Texas Tech may be the highlight of the tournament for the Longhorns because it handed the Red Raiders one of their two ties on the week. 

Sophomore Alejandro Gonzalez, senior Travis Vick and freshman Keaton Vo all won their matchups, forcing a 3-3-0 tie against the Red Raiders. Vo was arguably the Longhorns’ best player this week, going for an individual record of 4-0-1 in the tournament.

Day one started off slow for the Longhorns. They lost to Kansas State by two matches, 4-2-0, and trailed TCU, 3-2-0. Vo was the star, winning both of his matchups. After the first day, Texas was pretty much out of championship contention.

Day two was brighter, only having to play one round and taking down Iowa State by one match, 2-1-3. Vick and freshman Chistiaan Maas came out victorious in their rounds, helping lift the Longhorns to their only win prior to the championship round. 

The final day of the Big 12 Match Play Tournament was bright as well. Texas tied eventual champion Texas Tech and played Baylor for a chance to place seventh. They won comfortably, coming out of the match with a 3-1-2 record. Gonzalez, Vo and Maas won their respective matches. 

Even with an adequate second half performance of the tournament, seventh place was likely not what the No. 19 Longhorns hoped for coming off a national championship last year. 

After concluding their fifth tournament of the year, the Longhorns are yet to break the top three in any event this season. Texas has placed tenth, eighth, fourth twice and now seventh so far. 

The Longhorns will hope to turn it around and gain momentum at the East Lake Cup in Atlanta next week. The tournament will be played across three days from Monday to Wednesday.