Texas edges Pepperdine by a shot in Western Intercollegiate as the postseason beckons

    With The Golf Channel’s cameras rolling on the classic Alister MacKenzie layout at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif., two of the heavyweights of Division I men’s college golf went toe to toe in a spirited 75^th edition of the Western Intercollegiate, which wrapped up Wednesday.

   In the end, it was Big 12 power Texas claiming a one-shot victory over reigning national champion Pepperdine. It was the second straight tournament victory for the Longhorns, who finished atop the leaderboard in the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational, presented by Valspar, and held earlier this month at Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Ga.

   Teams were comprised of six players with five scoring, always helpful with the postseason approaching as coaches try to narrow their choices for the first five that will represent them in the NCAA regionals. For colleges at the level of Texas and Pepperdine, those decisions can make the difference in winning a national championship – or not.

   With four finishers inside the top 10, Texas closed with a 3-under-par 347 over the challenging 6,615-yard, par-70 Pasatiempo layout that gave the Longhorns a 25-over 1,075 total that was one-shot better than the 26-over 1,076 total posted by the Waves, out of the West Coast Conference.

   The first two days were played in decidedly un-California-like conditions, which were reflected in the scores. Texas opened with a 21-over 371 that left it a shot behind Pepperdine’s 20-over 370 first round.

   The Longhorns, No. 9 in the latest Golfstat rankings, took a narrow three-shot advantage into Wednesday’s final round as they registered a 7-over 357 in Tuesday’s second round while No. 8 Pepperdine carded an 11-over 361.

   The Waves, behind individual champion Dylan Menante, a junior from Carlsbad, Calif., came on strong in the final round with a 5-under 345, but couldn’t quite catch Texas.

   It was Menante’s second straight individual title in the prestigious Western Intercollegiate, presented by Topgolf and Titleist. He hung tough in the difficult conditions of the first two rounds, carding a 2-over 72 in Tuesday’s second round after matching par with a solid 70 in the opening round as he trailed Colorado State’s Rasmus Hjelm, a sophomore from Sweden, by three shots heading into Wednesday’s final round.

   Menante then offset a double bogey at the 10^th hole in the final round with five birdies as he closed with a sparkling 3-under 67 for a 1-under 209 total that gave him a three-shot victory.

   Pac-12 power Washington, ranked sixth, was 15 shots behind Pepperdine in third place with a 41-over 1,091 total as the Huskies closed with the best team round of the week, an 8-under 342. Washington had struggled in the difficult conditions of the first two days, opening with a 23-over 373 before adding a 376 in Tuesday’s second round.

   No. 56 San Diego State, out of the Mountain West Conference, finished a shot behind Washington in fourth place with a 42-over 1,092 total. The Aztecs, who advanced to last spring’s NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. with a third-place finish in the Kingston Springs Regional, bounced back from an opening-round 370 at Pasatiempo with a 365 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a solid 2-under 348.

   It was another five shots back to No. 54 Brigham Young, one of Pepperdine’s WCC rivals, in fifth place as the Cougars finished up with a 1,097 total. BYU shaved 18 shots off its opening-round 386 with a 368 in Tuesday’s second round before closing a solid 7-under 343.

   No. 35 Oregon was another four shots behind BYU in sixth place in the 14-team field with a 1,101 total. The Ducks, another Pac-12 entry, added a 372 in Tuesday’s second round to their opening-round 381 before finishing up with a 2-under 348.

   Texas was led by Pierceson Coody, a senior from Plano, Texas and No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

   The Longhorns struggled at times in the middle of the season when Pierceson Coody and twin brother Parker Coody, No. 89 in the WAGR, were missing from the lineup after both broke the same bone in their hand/wrist area in an off-course training session that, obviously, went awry.

   The twin grandsons of 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody seemed to be taking the twin thing to extremes.

   But they’re fully recovered and Pierceson Coody matched par in the opening round with a 70, added a 73 in Tuesday’s second round and closed with a 1-under 69 that left him in a three-way tie for second place along with Colorado State’s Hjelm and Brigham Young’s Carson Lundell, a senior from Alpine, Utah, at 2-over 212, three shots behind Menante, the individual champion.

   Backing up Pierceson Coody for Texas was a talented trio of Houstonians who finished among a group of six players tied for seventh place at 4-over 214.

   Heading that group was senior Cole Hammer, who is No. 9 in the WAGR. Hammer and Pierceson Coody were part of a strong U.S. team that claimed a 14-12 victory over Great Britain & Ireland in a Walker Cup Match staged at the iconic Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla. last spring.

   A couple of weeks earlier, Hammer had claimed the individual crown in an epic edition of the Big 12 Championship at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan.

   Hammer matched par in Tuesday’s second round with a 70 at Pasatiempo after opening with a 73 and finished up with a 71 to get his share of seventh place.

   Junior Travis Vick, who is No. 28 in the WAGR, carded back-to-back 73s in the first two rounds before earning low-Longhorn honors in the final round with a 2-under 68 to join the group at 214.

   Junior Mason Nome was the third Houstonian for Texas at 4-over as he posted the best round of the week for Texas, a 4-under 66, in Tuesday’s second round. Nome had opened with a 78 and he matched par in the final round with a 70.

   Parker Coody finished among the group tied for 36^th place for Texas as he added a 75 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 77 before closing with a 72 that left him with a 14-over 224 total.

   Rounding out the Texas lineup was Alejandro Gonzalez, a freshman from Mexico who struggled in the first two rounds, adding a 79 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 82 before delivering a critical 1-under 69 in Wednesday’s final round that went a long way toward enabling the Longhorns to pull out the team crown. Gonzalez finished in the group tied for 67^th place with a 230 total.

   It seems like forever ago that Hammer and the Coody twins, as freshmen, took Texas all the way to the Final Match in the 2019 NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. before the Longhorns fell, 3-2, to a veteran Stanford squad.

   Texas won the team crown in the Noblesville Regional last spring, but never really fired in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk while Big 12 rivals Oklahoma State and Oklahoma reached the semifinals, the Sooners falling to Pepperdine in the Final Match.

   If figures to be a fascinating renewal of the Big 12 Championship when it tees off in a little over a week at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas. A year ago at Prairie Dunes, Oklahoma State edged Oklahoma by a shot with Texas a shot behind the Cowboys in third place.

   Oklahoma is No. 1 in the latest Golfstat rankings, Oklahoma State is No. 2. You want to see some fireworks on the golf course beginning April 25, look no further than Whispering Pines.

   Colorado State’s Hjolm took a three-shot lead in the individual chase into the final round after adding a 1-under 69 in Tuesday’s second round to the even-par 70 he opened with, terrific playing in tough conditions on a tough golf course. A final-round 73 left him with a share of runnerup honors with Texas’ Pierceson Coody and BYU’s Lundell at 2-over 212.

    Lundell had the best round of the week, a sizzling 5-under 65, in the final round to surge up the leaderboard into the trio tied for second place. Lundell’s flawless final round featured five birdies in a six-hole stretch from the seventh through the 12^th holes and 13 pars. Lundell had opened with a 77 before matching par in Tuesday’s second round with a 70.

   San Diego State’s Justin Hastings, a freshman from the Caymen Islands, and Arizona’s Chase Sienkiewicz, a junior from Sacramento, Calif., finished in a tie for fifth place, each landing on 3-over 213.

   Hastings and Sienkiewicz had identical splits, each adding a 1-over 71 in Tuesday’s second round to an opening-round 72 before matching par in the final round with a 70.

   Joining the Texas trio in the group tied for seventh place at 4-over 214 were Oregon’s Greyson Leach, a freshman from Palos Verdes, Calif., Pepperdine’s Derek Hitchner, a senior from Minneapolis, Minn., and Washington’s R.J. Manke, a senior from Lakewood, Wash. and No. 11 in the WAGR.

   Leach struggled in the tough conditions in the first two rounds, adding a 2-over 72 to his opening-round 75, but he finished strong with a 3-under 67. Hitchner also closed with a 3-under 67 after adding a 74 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening round of 3-over 73.

   Manke transferred to Washington from Pepperdine. He was a key contributor for the Waves during the wraparound 2020-2021 season, but was not in the lineup in their march to the NCAA championship at Grayhawk. After adding a 2-over 72 in Tuesday’s second round at Pasatiempo to his opening-round 73, Manke closed with a solid 1-under 69.