Texas men’s golf finishes fifth in NCAA Championships

By Steve Habel, Senior Contributing Writer

STILLWATER, Okla. — The pain of defeat always hurts a little more when one is close to winning, as falling by a close margin is more difficult to swallow than a runaway loss.

That’s the pain being felt by the University of Texas men’s golf team after it lost in heart-breaking fashion to Duke in the NCAA Championship Match Play quarterfinals Tuesday at Karsten Creek Golf Club in the rolling hills outside Stillwater.

The Longhorns, seeded seventh in the match play portion of the event after a heroic comeback during the final round of stroke play, fell, 3-2, to the Blue Devils in the quarterfinals.

Oklahoma State got to celebrate a 2018 Div. I men’s golf national championship on its home course, dominating Alabama in finals match play Wednesday.

With the match tied at 2-2[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)], Duke’s Jake Shuman holed an eagle putt on the 18th hole to post a 1-up victory against Texas senior All-America Doug Ghim that eliminated the Longhorns, leaving them tied for fifth in the nation.

Texas coach John Fields focused on the contributions of his two senior leaders in his post-round comments after Tuesday’s loss.

“Doug (Ghim) and Scottie (Scheffler) have been unbelievable for us,” Fields said. “Their work ethic, their desire, and their belief — that is what stands out. They are talented. The good Lord gave them that talent. That is why this stings so much, because you don’t want it to come to an end. They didn’t want it to come to an end.

“When you have that much desire and you are that competitive, I think they both are blessed with an extra gene of competitiveness. It stings like no other. That’s the way it ought to be. These two guys (Ghim and Scheffler) are going to go on to have some serious success. I’m excited for them.”

In the decisive match, Ghim found himself 4 down through the first six holes. But Ghim, who earlier Tuesday was named a PING first-team All-America selection, began finding the fairway with his driver and forged an inspired comeback by winning the seventh hole to get to three down.

After the turn, Ghim won the 10th and 13th holes to draw within one hole. He then won the 16th hole to even the match. Both players made bogey on the 17th hole, setting up the dramatic finish and Shuman’s victory on 18.

“I’m so blessed and thankful for my coaching staff,” Ghim said. “They have really shown me what being a Longhorn is all about. It’s kind of hard to talk about now, but I’m just really proud to be a Longhorn.”

Duke got on the board first with a 5-and-4 win by Alex Smalley against UT senior Scottie Scheffler. The two players were all-square through the first four holes, and Smalley won holes 5, 7, 9, 10 and 12 before closing out the match by halving hole 14.

Texas evened the score at 1-1 when sophomore Spencer Soosman posted a 4-and-3 win against Chandler Eaton. With the match all square through four holes, Soosman won back-to-back holes at the fifth and sixth to build a 2-up lead. Eaton pulled within 1 down at hole 11, but Soosman won three consecutive holes (12, 13 and 14) and then halved the 15th to close out his victory.

Duke took a 2-1 lead after Adrien Pendaries registered a 4-and-3 win against Texas redshirt freshman Drew Jones. Pendaries won the second and fourth holes to move to 2 up and kept that advantage through the front nine. Pendaries then won the 10th and 14th holes and halved the 15th to seal his win.

UT junior Steven Chervony again tied the match at 2-2 with a 3-and-2 win against Evan Katz. Katz grabbed a 1-up lead on the second hole, but Chervony won holes 3, 5 and 6 to build a 2-up advantage. Katz won the seventh hole, and Chervony maintained a 1-up cushion through the front nine. Chervony won holes 10 and 14 to build a 3 up cushion, before halving holes 15 and 16 to close out the match win.

“It’s time to turn the page,” Fields added. “We have a great team coming next year.”

Ghim’s honor as a first-team All-America marked his fourth accolade in his four years on the 40 Acres. He captured honorable mention honors in his freshman season and second-team kudos in his sophomore and junior campaigns.

Ghim joins three Longhorns all-time who have earned four All-America honors: Jason Hartwick (2001-04), Brad Elder (1995-98) and Justin Leonard (1991-94). He is the 14th player in UT’s rich history to earn first-feam honors and the first since Beau Hossler in 2016.

Ghim closed his senior season with a team-leading 69.66 stroke average and seven finishes among the top eight in 10 events, including three medalist honors. He fired 26 of his 32 rounds at or under par, including 15 rounds in the 60s, earned the 2018 Ben Hogan Award, is a Fred Haskins Award finalist and was named All-Big 12 and to the All-Big 12 Tournament Team.

Ghim and Scheffler, each of whom previously was named to the PING All-Region Team for the fourth time in four years at Texas, both made critical birdie putts on their final hole of the day to lead Texas into a tie for sixth place after the final round of stroke play.

That standing after 72 holes allowing the Longhorns to advance to the NCAA Championship Match Play quarterfinals for the fifth time in the last seven years.

Texas women also enjoy banner year
The Texas women’s golf team capped off one of the most successful seasons in program history on May 22 with a 12th place finish at the 2018 NCAA Championships, which were also held at Karsten Creek Golf Club. It marked the highest NCAA Championship finish for the Longhorns since 2004.

Arizona’s miraculous run through the 2018 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship culminated in a national title May 23. Two days after surviving Baylor in playoff holes to sneak into the eight-team bracket, the eighth-seeded Wildcats defeated No. 2 Alabama 3 and 2 in the final round of play to clinch their fourth national title in program history and first since 2000.

Texas turned in a 40-over-par four-round total of 1,192 (309-300-291-292) to tie for 12th place overall. The top-eight teams in the field following Monday’s fourth round of stroke play have advanced to match play to determine the 2018 NCAA Champion.

The Longhorns, who won the Big 12 Championship for the second consecutive year in 2018, totaled three team victories on the year, marking the most for the program in a single season since 1992-93. Texas also twice earned tournament runner-up honors in 2017-18 and had nine top-five team finishes in 13 events.

It was the third consecutive NCAA Championship appearance for the Longhorns and 27th all-time. The tie for 12th place was the best for Texas since tying for sixth in 2004.

“Overall, it was a great effort on a very demanding golf course,” Texas women’s golf coach Ryan Murphy said. “Even though we did not reach our goal of reaching the top eight, our team had a very nice season – three team titles and three individual titles, and another Big 12 Championship. I’ve very proud of each of our young women for their play this season and how they have represented Texas.”

Senior Sophia Schubert, the program’s first First-Team All-American since Heather Bowie in 1997, completed her decorated career for the Longhorns with a tie for 21st place, her best career NCAA finish. Schubert turned in a two-under-par 70 in Monday’s final round to finish with a four-over-par four-round total of 292 (75-75-72-70). Schubert’s 2017-18 final stroke average of 71.76 breaks her own single-season stroke average record of 72.49 set last season.

Schubert recorded 16 rounds at par or better as a senior, including five rounds in the 60s. She won the 2017 Betsy Rawls Invitational and tied for eighth at the 2018 Big 12 Conference Championship, earning All-Tournament Team honors. She was a two-time Big 12 Golfer of the Month, earning that distinction in October and November 2017.

Schubert has been selected to participate on the 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup Team and the 2018 Curtis Cup Team. She is also on the final watch list for the ANNIKA Award, which recognizes the top player in women’s collegiate golf.

For her impressive three seasons at Texas, Schubert posted two wins, 14 top-five finishes, 19 top-10s and 28 top-20s. As a senior in 2017-18, Schubert finished in the top 25 of all eight tournaments in which she competed, with seven top-10 showings and five top-five finishes.

Freshman Kaitlyn Papp, who in 2017-18 became the first person in program history to be named Big 12 Player of the Year and Big 12 Freshman of the Year in the same season.

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