SAN ANTONIO — Bolstered by top-five showings from Bryce Alley and Brett Hogan, the UTSA men’s golf team finished second at the UTSA Oak Hills Invitational, which concluded Tuesday at Oak Hills Country Club (par 71/6,765 yards).
Alley and Hogan each tied for fifth place to help lead the Roadrunners to their best showing at their home tournament since back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2001-02. It also marked UTSA’s second silver-medal performance in the last three events and its third consecutive top-five effort.
UTSA entered the day in second place after carding a 9-over-par 290-287—577 on Monday, five shots behind No. 5 Baylor (284-288—572). The Roadrunners fired a 289 in the final round to stay in second at 14-over 866 and hold off No 20 Oklahoma, which finished third at 19-over 871 (295-290-286).
“I was really happy to see our kids compete against top-20 competition,” head coach John Knauer said. “When your goals are to make it to NCAA Regional play and advance to nationals, you have to be able to compete with those top teams. I was pleased to see that even in times of struggle, our kids responded well to adversity. Getting second at this tournament is a great way to start our spring season.”
Behind Kyle Jones, who captured his third straight individual title with an 8-under 205 (71-67-67), Baylor turned in a 6-under 278 to finish comfortably in first at 2-under 850. North Texas (876) and Wichita State (877) rounded out the top five in the 15-team field.
Alley carded an even-par 71 that featured a pair of birdies to take his total to 10 for the tournament. The sophomore from Longview finished in a three-way tie for fifth at 1-over 214 (75-68-71), a career-best finish that bettered his previous top showing of 13th at last year’s Rice Intercollegiate.
Hogan recorded three birdies in a final-round 72 to also finish in a tie for fifth at 214 (73-69-72). The junior from Calgary now has posted three straight and four total top-10 finishes this season to give him six for his career.
Zander Lozano registered the Roadrunners’ low round of the day with a 1-under 70 and the freshman from Boerne tied for 17th — a season-best — at 5-over 218 (72-76-70). Garrison Lackey and J.J. Lindsey rounded out the UTSA lineup in 42nd (72-74-78—224) and 45th (73-76-76—225), respectively.
Competing as an individual, Reed Stegall turned in his first career top-10 finish. The senior from San Angelo tied for 10th in the 84-man field at 3-over 216 (72-69-75).
Christian De La Cruz tied for 34th (222) with a trio of 74s and Trace Morrow was 71st (76-80-77—233).
The Roadrunners will return to action on Feb. 20-22 when they compete in the Bayou City Collegiate Championship in Humble.