SAN ANTONIO — The UTSA men's golf team is in Texarkana, Arkansas, for the Conference USA Championship, which will be held Monday-Thursday, April 24-27, at Texarkana Country Club (par 72/6,969 yards).
The Roadrunners will travel a lineup of Hunter Bott, Christian Fanfelle, David Harrison, Jack Wehman and Brayden Bare with Patrick Kahanek serving as the alternate.
UTSA will line up against Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Rice, UAB, UTEP and WKU.
Up first for the 10-team field is 54 holes of stroke play with each of the three rounds teeing off at 8 a.m. on Monday through Wednesday. The top four teams in the standings will advance to the match play semifinals at 8 a.m. Thursday with the two advancing squads facing off for the league title that afternoon.
UTSA was the conference runner-up a year ago, dropping a narrow 3-2 decision to Charlotte in the championship match. The Roadrunners finished third in the stroke-play portion behind top-five finishes from Michael Rome, who placed third with a 4-under 212 (69-71-72), and Bott, who finished fourth with a 213 (69-72-72), as both players were named to the C-USA All-Tournament Team. UTSA dispatched Southern Miss by a 4-1 count in the semifinals to advance to the title match.
In its conference tournament history — which dates back to the 1987 Trans America Athletic Conference (now Atlantic Sun) Tournament — UTSA has placed in the top five 19 times, including six runner-up finishes. The Roadrunners also advanced to the C-USA Championship Match in 2019, when they fell to Middle Tennessee, 3-2, in a sudden-death playoff.
Two Roadrunners have claimed individual league titles. Magnus Dohlvik recorded a 70-72-77—219 in 1997 to win the Southland crown, while John Elizondo was the Southland's medalist in 2006 after carding a 67-71-75—213.
UTSA has registered seven top-10 team finishes in 2022-23, including a sixth-place showing at The Clerico last October in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Individually, Bott leads the Roadrunners with a 73.35 stroke average this season. The senior from Montgomery was named C-USA Men's Golfer of the Week after carding a 3-under-par 213 (74-68-71) to tie for 10th place and lead UTSA to 13th at The Aggie Invitational earlier this month in Bryan, Texas. That marked his third top-15 finish of the season, as he tied for 13th at The Clerico and 15th at the Louisiana Classics.
Fanfelle is close behind Bott with a 73.55 scoring average in his super senior campaign. The San Antonio native has placed in the top 20 three times, including fifth at the Trinity Forest Invitational last October after firing a 9-under 207 (68-70-69).
Harrison ranks third on the squad with a 74.07 stroke average to go with a pair of top 20s, including a tie for 13th at the Trinity Forest Invitational after carding a 5-under 211 (72-71-68).
Wehman stands fourth on the team with a 74.21 mark during a sophomore season that was headlined by a tie for 12th at the Saint Mary's Invitational last fall when he posted a 2-over 215 (71-70-74) and was named C-USA Golfer of the Week.
Bare owns a 76.24 stroke average and a top finish of 12th at the John Bohmann Memorial Invitational last September, while Kahanek has a 75.42 scoring average and a best showing of fourth at the San Antonio Shootout in February.
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