After a lengthy three-month intermission, No. 4 Texas men’s golf returned to the course and kicked off its spring season at the Arizona National Invitational Tournament on Monday.
Although the Longhorns have not competed as a team since October, several players stayed busy over the winter break, competing in prestigious tournaments all over the world.
“It’s kind of a gift when you have a really good team, they get incredible opportunities,” head coach John Fields said.
The Longhorns’ ace, No. 2-ranked amateur senior Christiaan Maas, received an exemption to join the highly competitive field at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, a DP World Tour event.
Maas opened the tournament with rounds of 2-under 70 and 1-under 71 to make the cut, before finishing the weekend at 6-under par to place tied for 10th, claiming low amateur honors.
While the performance marked a milestone in his young career, Maas is unable to join his teammates in Tucson, Arizona, as Texas opens the spring left without its top player.
“Those are distractions for sure and our guys will have to deal with that to a certain extent,” Fields said. “It creates opportunities for other players to play when maybe they wouldn’t get that opportunity, so that’s a positive. In the meantime, it is a distraction and a little bit of a disruption, but the team will come together probably sometime in March, maybe April. Our goals are pretty lofty, so I know at some point in time we’ll come together.”
With the absence of Maas, All-American senior Tommy Morrison takes over as the Longhorns’ No. 1 golfer in Tucson. Following Morrison, senior Luke Potter and sophomore Daniel Bennett round off the Longhorns’ top three, while graduate Matt Comegys and junior Jack Gilbert complete the five-man group.
The Arizona N.I.T. is being hosted at the Omni Tucson National Resort, a par-72, 7,200-yard course. The tournament is filled with an esteemed 13-team field, including No. 25 and defending tournament champions BYU, Arizona, California, Iowa State and several other respected Division I programs.
With a deep field and a championship-style course in Tucson, the Longhorns will be tested from the start of the spring season.
“I think it’s going to be a little bit challenging down there,” Fields said. “It’s not going to be the normal 75 degrees. It’s going to be more in the 50s, but it’ll be really good for our guys to kind of get their feet wet again and get back into it.”
As the top seed, Texas entered the tournament with a target on its back, a reality Fields understands all too well, as every team wants to knock off the favorite.
“It’s like a fighter walking into a ring right now,” Fields said. “It may not be the title fight, but you better put your hands up because that other fighter that you’re about to fight is going to want to take your head off. So you better put your hands up, and it’s time for us to get busy.”
