KERRVILLE, TEXAS (March 25-26, 2019) – The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) men's golf team traveled to Kerrville, Texas, to participate in the Big Texan Invitational, which was hosted by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). The tournament took place March 25-26 at the Comanche Trace Golf Course and was littered with tough NCAA and NJCAA competition. OLLU posted a ninth place finish out of 11 teams.
Head Coach Alan Baxter commented, "Zhao Yang Gu played like a baller, shot caller. I am very impressed. This was a tournament loaded with super high quality teams. All of the teams were NCAA DI schools except for us and two junior colleges. Odessa is ranked No. 3 in the nation. Yang played spectacular. To think he is a freshman and this is only his fourth college tournament- WOW. The coaches were wondering where he had come from. He made some noise with great scores and all three rounds under par. He played huge and he has a chance to be super special. Steve is Steve. He didn't have his best stuff, but he grinded it out. He played like the All-American that I think he is. You can count on Steve and he plays with heart. Louis played huge in the second round on day one and he showed why he has the chance to be an All-American. These two seniors don't want this to be ending anytime soon. Unfortunately, while we have quite a few bright spots, we had some negatives. We had flashes and there is a light at the end of the tunnel, but we just need to learn how to finish. It is frustrating because we know how good we can be. It appears we have now put ourselves in a position where we will have to win the combined conference tournament to go to the NAIA National Tournament. That's okay. We plan to work very hard to prepare and keep the faith."
Leading the way for the Saints was newcomer Zhao Yang Gu. He finished in a tie for fourth place after posting a 69-70-67/206. Steve Landry (SR/Cibolo, Texas) earned a 74-76-72/222 and that was good for a tie in 39th place. Kane Ybarra (JR/San Antonio, Texas) finished tied for 45th place and improved on his previous performances early in the year posting a 74-73-77/224. With a 77-72-79/228, Louis Flynn (SR/Surrey, England) finished tied for 53rd place. Raul Gutierrez (FR/San Antonio, Texas) finished in 61st place with an 83-76-77/236.
Winning the tournament was Texas State University who posted a 271-280-280/831 followed by New Mexico State University with a 278-274-287/839, Abilene Christian University who recorded a 285-276-284/845. Big Texan Invitational tournament host, UTRGV posted a 286-276-284/846 with Odessa College not too far off with a 283-278-291/852, University of the Incarnate Word with a 287-285-281/853, University of New Orleans with a 296-290-284/870 and Prairie View A&M with a 286-291-298/875. Rounding out the team scoring was OLLU posting a 294-291-293/878 followed by Missouri Southern State University with a 296-297-303/896 and Western Texas College with a 300-301-305/906.
The Saints will now set their sights on Atlanta. OLLU is set to travel to the Dalton State Invitational hosted by Dalton State University on April 8-9 at the East Lakes Country Club.