PEARLAND, Texas — Collin Clark earned his first collegiate win to lead the UTSA men's golf team to a runner-up finish at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic, which concluded Tuesday at Golfcrest Country Club (par 72/7,254 yards).
Clark finished atop the individual leaderboard with a 5-under-par 211 to become the second Roadrunner to claim medalist honors this season, joining Lone Star Invitational co-champion Sean Meehan. The junior from Mansfield, Texas, entered the final round in second place and one shot off the pace after posting a 6-under 70-68—138 on Monday. He turned in a 73 that was highlighted by birdies on the par-5 first and par-4 13th holes to hold on for the one-stroke victory ahead of a tie for runner-up honors between Jake Benson of Rice, Zac Owens of Wichita State and Zan Luka Stirn of Arkansas State.
Meanwhile, the Roadrunners moved up one spot on the final day and into sole possession of second place in the 14-team field, marking their fourth straight top-five showing. UTSA carded a 2-under 286 on Tuesday to close out an 868 and finish a pair of shots ahead of Texas State and UT Arlington and just six behind team champion Sam Houston State (862). No. 28 Arkansas State rounded out the top five with an 871.
Christian Fanfelle and Michael Rome each fired a 2-under 70 to lead UTSA in the final round.
Fanfelle wrote down five birdies on Tuesday and ended up in a tie for 12th place at even-par 216. The freshman from San Antonio opened with a 3-under 69 on Monday morning before bouncing back from a 77 in the second round en route to the top finish of his debut campaign.
Rome also posted five birdies in the final round and finished just one shot back of Fanfelle in a tie for 14th at 1-over 217. The sophomore from Austin Westlake High School rallied from an opening-round 76 with a 71 Monday afternoon before turning in a 70 for his 11th par-or-better round of the season.
"I am so proud of how the team fought without our senior captain (Meehan) this week," head coach John Knauer said. "It was great to have a chance to win down the stretch and this performance will help provide momentum as we head into the conference tournament next week.
"Collin's win was huge. It is so hard to win a tournament at this level and I am really proud of his development as a player. All of his hard work is paying dividends now."
Chad Sewell and Adam House closed out the UTSA lineup in 60th (78-77-73—228) and 68th (81-73-77—231), respectively, while Will Adams tied for 55th (77-75-75—227) competing as an individual.
The Roadrunners will return to action next Monday-Thursday, April 22-25, when they travel to Texarkana for the Conference USA Championship.
