Led by top-five finishes from Sean Meehan and Michael Rome on Tuesday, the UTSA men’s golf team secured the top seed for the Air Force Reserve Conference USA Championship match play semifinal round.
The semifinals will be held Wednesday at Texarkana Country Club (par 72/6,935 yards).
Roadrunners maintain 4-shot lead
The Roadrunners entered the final round of stroke play armed with a four-shot lead in the 13-team field after posting a 1-under-par 575 (292-283) on Monday. UTSA fired a 1-over 289 on Tuesday and concluded 54 holes of stroke play at the top of the leaderboard at even-par 864.
“We did have high expectations, we were the No. 2 seed coming into the tournament,” said UTSA coach John Kanuer. “I felt like we have played solid all year to earn that seed. Our conference is pretty deep with a lot of great players on a lot of teams.
“I’m really proud of what we did. I’ve got a couple of sophomores and a freshman, so we’re pretty young. You just never know what to expect when the big lights (postseason) come on. I’m cautiously optimistic going into the match play. I think we proved we have the deepest team. We didn’t have that occasional blow up type score. Match play is a scary beast.”
UTSA finished four shots ahead of defending champion Middle Tennessee (868), five better than Charlotte (869) and seven in front of UAB (871), which locked up the fourth and final spot for match play.
UTSA will face UAB in the match play semifinal round, which is slated to begin at 8 a.m. Wednesday. The other semifinal matchup will pit Middle Tennessee against Charlotte. The two advancing teams will square off for the conference title Wednesday afternoon.
UTSA has two all-tournament selections
Meanwhile, Meehan and Rome each finished in the top five to earn their way onto the All-Tournament Team. Meehan finished in a three-way tie for second place, and Rome ended up with sole possession of fifth.
Meehan flirted with individual medalist honors while playing in the final threesome Tuesday. The senior entered the final round two shots off the lead after carding a 4-under 69-71—140 on Monday. The San Antonio Johnson High School product made up ground with a 34 on the front nine. A couple of bogeys down the stretch left him at even-par 72.
Meehan, who has two career wins under his belt, ended up with a 4-under 212, just one shot behind Rice’s Jake Benson, who won the title with a 211 (70-68-73). Meehan’s tie for runner-up honors marks the top conference finish by a Roadrunner since John Elizondo won the 2006 Southland Conference crown.
Rome turned in UTSA’s low round of the day and matched the team’s top scorecard of the tournament with a 3-under 69 on Tuesday.
Be the first to comment