Men?s golf opens spring ranked 65th
2/8/2015 9:23:00 AM | Men's Golf
The Sam Houston State men's golf team, sporting a No. 65 ranking by Golfstat, will get the spring started at the UTSA Oak Hills Invitational Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 9-10, at the Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio.
The strong field of 15 will feature two top-25 teams, No. 5 Baylor and No. 20 Oklahoma, as well as Denver, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana Tech, North Texas, Northern Colorado, Rice, Texas State, Tulsa, UTSA and Wichita State. There are also two Southland opponents, Central Arkansas and Houston Baptist.
“We're excited to kick off the spring and we've got a really good ranking right now that would put us in contention for postseason play,” Bearkat head coach Brandt Kieschnick said. “We just want to improve on that ranking and we have a goal to win early. As we get closer to conference, we want to shore up our postseason ranking and go defend our championship.”
Sam Houston had a strong fall with two team tournament wins and a runner-up finish. The Bearkats won the Wisconsin Badger Invitational, before coming home to win the SHSU Harold Funston Intercollegiate at Raven Nest. Zach Cabra claimed individual medalist honors for the second straight season at the Funston Intercollegiate.
Cabra also earned Southland Golfer of the Month honors for October. He capped off a great fall with three top-5 finishes in Oct. He started the month with Funston title by shooting a three-round total of 210 (69-72-69).
He followed up his lone win of the month with a fifth-place finish at the SHSU/Rice Miramont Invitational. Cabra ended his fall campaign tied for fourth at the New Mexico State Herb Wimberly Invitational, guiding Sam Houston to a second-place team finish.
JT Taylor made his return to the Bearkat golf team after missing the 2013-14 season. He had a pair of top-10 finishes in the fall, placing seventh at Southern Mississippi and tied for sixth at Sam Houston's home event.
Sophomore Klein Klotz has turned in some strong performances this season after having a great freshman campaign. He finished 11th at Southern Miss., ninth at Wisconsin and tied for fourth at the Harold Funston Intercollegiate.
Newcomer Andrew Ertel has been a solid addition to the Bearkat squad after transferring from Houston. He has a pair of top-10 finishes this season, at Wisconsin and New Mexico State.
Senior Logan Boatner also has a finished in the top-10 twice this season. He finished tied for fifth at Wisconsin and was tied for 10th at the Bearkats' home event.
“Our first four spring events are very strong. We'll see Baylor, Houston, Oklahoma, UCLA and USC. We're going to be playing against the top programs. We feel very confident and feel that we can play right with them. We're excited,” said Kieschnick.
After UTSA the Bearkats will play in four other tournaments this spring – the Houston/Rice Bayou City Intercollegiate (Feb. 20-22), the Pepperdine Jones Invitational (Feb. 23-24), the Border Olympics (Mar 13-14) and the Texas State Jim West Intercollegiate (Apr. 6-7). The Southland Conference Championship will be played at Stonebridge Country Club April 20-22.
