Dominant performances by Texas men’s golf junior duo Christiaan Maas and Luke Potter during the final round of Wednesday evening’s NB3 matchplay fell short of victory as the No. 11 Longhorns came in second place in their final tournament of the fall.
Despite thrashing No. 22 Stanford, 4.5-0.5 in the final round of the two-day tournament, the Longhorns would lose the top spot, ending half a point away from overcoming the champion New Mexico State.
Although they came in as the runner-up in the men’s bracket, both Texas men’s and women’s golf teams were competent, winning all three rounds, finishing the tournament with 21.5 points to take the combined university championship.
Texas men’s golf ended the two-day tournament scoring 10 points. Texas’ best day by far came during day two of the final round. Four out of the five Longhorns won their matches for their highest point total of the tournament.
Maas returned to his prolific form that has made him ranked as the 14th best amateur in the world. He was the only Longhorn across both the men’s and women’s teams to remain undefeated, winning all three rounds against his competitors.
The star junior jumped out to a quick start in the first round, hitting three birdies on the front nine to beat New Mexico State senior Aidan Thomas by a score of two up. Two bogeys by New Mexico’s junior Mesa Falleur in the front nine gave Maas a dominant three up advantage to start the second round’s back nine.
A birdie on the 12th hole brought Maas to a four up lead, but momentum began to shift when Falleur won three straight holes, hitting a coveted eagle to narrow the deficit down to one. On the final hole of round two, Maas would survive the surge as Falleur shot a critical bogey to give him the two up win.
After struggling on the front nine to begin round three, Maas would dominate on the back nine, shooting four consecutive birdies to give him a commanding four up lead over Stanford freshman Jay Leng. Maas claimed his third and final victory after Leng shot a bogey on hole 16, ending the match two holes early to give Maas a 4&2 victory.
Dropping his first two matches to New Mexico State and New Mexico, Potter had his best performance of the year during round three. Having a pair of birdies on back-to-back holes on the front nine set Potter up with a three up lead to kick off the back nine.
Potter secured his only victory of the tournament, shooting three birdies on his last four holes. The match ended three holes early after Kim shot a bogey on hole 15 to give Potter a dominant 4&3 finish.
Texas junior Tommy Morrison and freshman Daniel Bennett ended the tournament with identical records, winning two of their matches and surrendering one.
Sophomore Jack Gilbert had a competitive first round, winning the match by a 2&1 margin. Gilbert finished the tournament with a record of 1-0-2, tying in his final two rounds.
Texas men’s golf will return to the course on Jan. 27 for the Southwestern Invitational at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, California to begin its spring season.
