HOCKLEY, Texas — The No. 9 Texas Men’s Golf team split a pair of matches on Monday during the opening day of the 2023 Big 12 Match Play Tournament at the Clubs at Houston Oaks. The Longhorns earned a 5-0 sweep against Cincinnati in the morning in a pool play match, before falling by a 4-1 score to No. 19 Oklahoma during the afternoon session in an exhibition match.
During Monday morning’s pool play session against Cincinnati, Texas claimed victories in all five individual matches. Sophomore Keaton Vo earned a 5&3 win over Rylan Wotherspoon, and sophomore Jacob Sosa added a 4&3 victory against Cole Imig. Graduate Brian Stark posted a 4&3 win over Connor McNeely, and sophomore Christiaan Maas registered a 3&1 victory against Ryan Ford. Graduate Nathan Petronzio finished off the sweep with a 1-up win over William McDonald.
In the afternoon exhibition match against Oklahoma, Petronzio recorded the lone Texas point with a 4&2 victory against Jaxon Dowell. The Texas-Oklahoma match did not count to the team point standings in pool play.
The Longhorns will conclude pool play with a Tuesday morning match against Kansas State beginning at 7:45 a.m. CT. During pool play, teams are awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss.
Texas is the No. 1 seed at the Big 12 Match Play Tournament and is in Pool A along with Kansas State and Cincinnati. Following the conclusion of Monday’s action, both Texas and Cincinnati have three points, while K-State has zero points. The Longhorns need to register a tie in Tuesday’s match against K-State to earn the top spot in Pool A, as Cincinnati has already competed in two pool play matches.
Bracket play at the Big 12 Match Play Tournament is slated for Wednesday, Oct. 11. During the Wednesday morning session, the winner of Pool A is scheduled to face the winner of Pool D, which includes Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, West Virginia and Kansas. The Championship match and final round of the Big 12 Match Play Tournament is set for Wednesday afternoon.
Texas defeats Cincinnati, 5-0
- Sophomore Jacob Sosa earned a 4&3 victory over Cole Imig. Starting on hole 3, Sosa won the opening two holes and held the lead for the remainder of the match. Leading 1-up after the first four holes, Sosa won holes 7, 9 and 10 to build a 4-up cushion through eight holes. He added a win on hole 14 to go 5-up before Imig won hole 16 to move to 4-down with four holes remaining. The two players halved hole 17 as Sosa closed out the 4&3 win.
- Graduate Brian Stark claimed a 4&3 victory against Connor McNeely. Starting on hole 1, Stark won holes 1 and 3 before McNeely claimed holes 4 and 6 to even the match. All square through 10 holes, Stark posted wins on holes 11, 12, 13 and 15 to close out the 4&3 victory.
- Sophomore Keaton Vo clinched the overall team match win with a 5&3 victory over Rylan Wotherspoon. Starting on hole 2, Vo and Wotherspoon traded wins on each of the first four holes. Vo then posted wins on holes 6, 8 and 9 to build a 3-up lead through eight holes. Wotherspoon won hole 11 to move to 2-down after 10 holes, but Vo responded with wins on holes 12, 15 and 16 to finish off the 5&3 victory.
- Sophomore Christiaan Maas used a late rally to earn a 3&1 victory over Ryan Ford. Starting on hole 1, Ford won each of the first two holes before Maas answered with a win on hole 4 to climb to 1-down. Still trailing 1-down through 11 holes, Maas won hole 12 to even the match. All square through 14 holes, Maas won holes 15, 16 and 17 to close out the 3&1 victory.
- Graduate Nathan Petronzio added a 1-up victory over William McDonald. Starting on hole 2, McDonald won hole 11 to take a 1-up lead through 10 holes. Petronzio won hole 15 to even the match after 14 holes, before the two players halved the next three holes to remain all square through 17 holes. Petronzio won the closing hole (hole 1) with a birdie to post the 1-up victory.
Oklahoma defeats Texas, 4-1
- Nathan Petronzio registered the lone Texas win in the afternoon session with a 4&2 victory over Jaxon Dowell. Starting on hole 16, the match remained even through the first six holes. Petronzio won holes 4, 5 and 6 to build a 3-up lead through nine holes. Dowell won hole 10 to move to 2-down through 13 holes, but Petronzio answered with wins on holes 12 and 13 to close out the 4&2 victory.
- Keaton Vo dropped a 5&4 decision to Luke Kluver, while Jacob Sosa fell by a 5&3 margin to Stephen Campbell Jr.
- Christiaan Maas dropped a 3&1 decision to Drew Goodman, and Brian Stark fell by a score of 3&1 to Ryder Cowan.
