HOCKLEY, Texas – The Oklahoma men’s golf team split its pair of matches Wednesday to conclude the Big 12 Match Play Championship with a third-place finish.The top-three placement marks the second consecutive season that Ryan Hybl’s squad finished with the bronze at the annual Big 12 fall championship. After falling to Texas Tech in a tightly-contested semifinal match, the No. 1 Sooners rebounded with a convincing 5-1 Bedlam win in the third-place match over No. 2 Oklahoma State in the afternoon session. “Everyone had their moment this week,” Hybl said. “I’m excited about what we learned from our guys and the work we’ll be able to put in after a week like this. Anytime we can win a Bedlam match, that’s something for us to continue to build from and the guys got after it this afternoon.”In the morning session, the Sooners were dispatched by eventual runner-up Texas Tech, 3-1-2, but three of the matches were either halved or decided by one hole. OU’s lone point of the match came from Logan McAllister who scored early and often leading to a 7&6 win over Garrett Martin. Gotterup and Campbell Jr. both fell in their matches, but OU battled down the stretch. Jaxon Dowell and Patrick Welch fought for a point each, halving their matches, but Drew Goodman was knocked off by Andy Lopez on the 18th hole; 1-up, giving the match to the Red Raiders.The Bedlam match started off on the right foot for the Sooners, who got on the board early with a 4&3 win from Chris Gotterup and never looked back. Redshirt freshman Jaxon Dowell delivered a victory over Aman Gupta and Patrick Welch added a 4&3 decision over Dillon Stewart to guarantee the Sooners at least a point. But Hybl’s side would continue to pour it on down the stretch as Stephen Campbell Jr. secured a convincing 3&2 win over senior Leo Oyo and true freshman Drew Goodman posted the fifth and final point with a 2&1 result over Brian Stark to hand the Cowboys their only loss of the week. The Sooners went 3-1-1 on the week with wins over No. 2 Oklahoma State, West Virginia and Kansas State. The team’s +38 hole differential was second best among the field as multiple Sooner golfers poured on dominating wins in different contests.Individually, Gotterup and Campbell Jr. led the way across the five matches as both posted 4-1 records. Logan McAllister improved to 13-4-1 all-time in match play with a 3-1-1 record at the par-71, 7,007-yard Club at Houston Oaks, while redshirt freshman Jaxon Dowell notched three victories in his first collegiate match-play event. All four of those Sooners finished +8-or-better in hole differential on the week, with Gotterup leading the team at +15.The Sooners return to Norman to get back to work before they close their fall at the prestigious East Lake Cup in Atlanta, slated for Oct. 25-27. OU punched its ticket to the four-team event by advancing to the national final last season.
For more information on Oklahoma men’s golf, follow the Sooners on Twitter (@OU_MGolf) or like Oklahoma Men’s Golf on Facebook.
Source link