Texas men’s golf finished in fifteenth place at the Amer Ari Invitational after an effort to post 19-under-par during Saturday’s final round. Sophomore Christiaan Maas led the Longhorns on day three, firing eight birdies and 10 pars to claim a new 18-hole collegiate personal best, scoring 8-under-par with a 64.
The 54-hole invitational, hosted by Mauna Lani Resort Golf Club, featured 20 collegiate teams, including No. 1 Auburn, No. 2 North Carolina and No. 5 Washington, resulting in a competitive weekend that ultimately challenged Texas’ capabilities.
In the opening round of team play, Texas carded a 7-under-par combined score of 281, with sophomore Tommy Morrison claiming 4-under-par at 68, and senior Nathan Petronzio posting a 2-under-par with a 70. Even pars from sophomores Christiaan Maas and Keaton Vo placed the Longhorns in the back half of the team standings, standing at 15th heading into Friday’s second round.
Maas, Petronzio and Morrison bounced back with impressive performances during the final 18-hole round on Saturday, recording weekend bests of 64, 67 and 68, respectively. Maas’ performance included eight birdies and 10 pars, which helped him surpass his previous collegiate personal best of 64 during the Fighting Illini Invitational in 2023. These results bumped the team two spots higher on the leaderboard to finish 15th as a program, just behind No. 18 Oregon.
The Longhorns ended their weekend individually with Morrison finishing at T36th, Petronzio at T50th, Maas at T63rd, Stark at T78th and sophomores Jacob Sosa and Keaton Vo at T94th.
North Carolina celebrated their fourth title win of the season, finishing the invitational with a combined 68-under total at 796, five strokes ahead of second-place Arizona State. The Tar Heels led each tournament round over the Sun Devils, with junior David Ford finishing T4th, fifth-year Dylan Menante in seventh and senior Peter Fountain T8th.
Arizona State freshman Wenyi Ding earned individual title honors, firing a score of 27-under-par at 189 (63-64-62) and becoming the first collegiate athlete to golf under 190 in a 54-hole event. Ding recorded 26 birdies on the weekend, with his lowest round finishing at 62.
The 2022 U.S. Junior Amateur Champion Ding shot only one bogey throughout the three-day tournament during his second collegiate start at the Invitational.
San Jose State junior Carl Corpus (67-67-64) and Washington freshman Finn Koelle (66-64-68) tied for second, posting an 18-under score of 198, while Auburn freshman Jackson Koivun and Texas Tech sophomore Matthew Comegys tied with North Carolina’s David Ford for fourth, recording a 17-under, 199 result.
Texas will return to the course from Feb. 25-27 for the Southern Highlands Collegiate tournament hosted in Las Vegas, Nevada.
