SHSU attempts to replicate success in Humble
2/18/2016 5:35:00 PM | Men's Golf
After a week away from competition, the Sam Houston men's golf program will take part in its second tournament of the spring season, making the short trek to the Golf Club of Houston in Humble for the three-day, 54-hole All-American Intercollegiate beginning Friday.
The 16-team field features six teams in Golfstat's top 50 including No. 24 South Carolina, No. 34 Charleston Southern, No. 35 Arkansas, No. 38 Houston, No. 40 SMU and No. 44 Baylor, while marking the second straight tournament with formidable competition.
“We're very fortunate to play against some of the best in the country,” fourth-year head coach Brandt Kieschnick said. “These are great programs and we can see where we're at. The other side of the coin is when you play well and beat very good programs it improves your rankings. They are well coached and we've got to bring our best game.”
In the opener, the Bearkats secured ninth overall at 44-over, 896, while freshman Mason Weld shot a 7-over, 220, in 14th, his highest collegiate finish at the UTSA Oak Hills Invitational in San Antonio. Sam Houston hung around in the first round but could not recover from its mistakes.
“I think he saw he had a good chance to win,” Kieschnick said. “I think he knows if he can minimize mistakes that his good will be as good as anyone here. I think he's confident and knows how to build off last week.”
Junior Andrew Ertel (77-72-76 – 225), who had moved up 21 spots following a difficult opening round, finished in a six-way tie for 37th. He was followed by redshirt freshman Jesse Massenagle (74-77-75 – 226) who landed in a three-way tie for 43rd.
A season ago, departing senior Zach Cabra brought home his fifth career individual title while the Bearkats went runner-up behind the lowest third-round score (277) at the then Bayou City Collegiate Championship.
“The guys know the course,” Kieschnick said. “We had really good success last year. We talked about our game plan last year. This year we are doing the same game plan. The guys believe in it. They will play the course the right way and see how we do.”
At the event, Ertel (73-74-71 – 218) finished 23rd and Jake McCrory (77-70-72 – 219) went tied for 29th. The duo helped the Kat finish ahead of ranked opponents No. 10 Baylor, No. 31 Houston and No. 38 Arkansas.
“Jake and Andrew both played really well here last year,” Kieschnick said. “They are talking about the young guys about where the pins are and how to be successful. I am really looking forward to how they do. They are really good mentally.”
Massengale tees off at 9:45 a.m. followed by Camden DeBonis at 9:54 a.m., Ertel at 10:03 a.m., McCrory at 10:12 a.m. and Weld at 10:21 a.m. Live results are available at birdiefire.com and complete results can be viewed at the end of each round on GoBearkats.com.
