By Chandler Harris, Assistant Sports Editor
The golf team began the spring season in the best way possible last week, winning the Dustdevil Open by 20 strokes in Laredo. Morgan Johnson, whose score did not figure into the composite team score because he plays unattached, won the individual title by three strokes over teammate Hilton Funk.
The Wildcats owned the top-three individual performances in the tournament led by Johnson. Johnson shot 70 in each of his first two rounds and fired a 74 in the third and final round for a total score of 214. Funk shot 70-72-75 for a total of 217 and second place overall. Cyril Bouniol followed closely behind in third place with a 219 (71-72-76).
“Those three guys played really well this week, and it was a nice accomplishment, but the main goal was the team winning,” said head coach Mike Campbell. “That is what we strive for each tournament, so that was our biggest accomplishment of the week.”
Michael Andruchek also played unattached from the squad of five and finished in 10th place overall with a 227 (77-76-74). Jose Gutierrez finished 13th after shooting a 229 (80-73-76); Zach Sadau shot a 233 (81-77-75), and Charles Levitte shot a 235 (77-79-79) to place 14th and 16th respectively.
The five-man team shot a total of 894 for first, while the second-place school, Colorado School of Mines, shot a 914. UT-Brownsville brought two teams to compete, and its “A” team finished in third place with a 918. Incarnate Word did not play well in the final round and fell from second to fourth with a final total of 922.
The “B” team for UT-Brownsville shot a 967 for fifth place; host squad Texas A&M-International shot a 972 for sixth; Oklahoma Panhandle State finished in last place with a 987 overall.
“Each time we tee it up, we want to win,” Campbell said. “We know it is a long season and semester, but our eventual goal is to make it to the national tournament. It is a good first step, but we want to improve every week, and hopefully we will build on this first tournament.”
Campbell said the team begins qualifying for the St. Edward’s Spring Invitational on Friday.
“We will just keep doing the things we have been doing,” Campbell said. “We’ll keep working hard on the short game and the range and keep playing.”
