SAN ANTONIO — Coming off a record-setting performance at the Golden Nugget Invitational two weeks ago, UTSA will travel to Tucson for the Arizona Thunderbirds Intercollegiate, which will be contested Monday-Tuesday, March 16-17, at Tucson Country Club.
The Roadrunners will bring a lineup consisting of Joshua Hong, Brayden Bare, Sam Acharya, Francisco Solorza and Logan Vargas.
UTSA will face a field that includes five nationally ranked teams, going up against No. 22 Arizona, No. 5 Arizona State, Colorado, Grand Canyon, Hawai’i, No. 32 Long Beach State, No. 18 New Mexico, New Mexico State, No. 14 Oklahoma, Oral Roberts, Pacific, UTEP and Wyoming.
There are 36 holes scheduled for Monday and the final round is slated for Tuesday. Live scoring will be provided at scoreboard.clippd.com.
The Arizona Thunderbirds Intercollegiate will mark the first of back-to-back tournaments in the Grand Canyon State, as the Roadrunners are scheduled to compete in the Bell Bank “Pay It Forward” Collegiate on March 23-24 in Litchfield Park near Phoenix.
The Roadrunners are riding the momentum of three consecutive top-three team finishes this spring season. UTSA opened the slate with a third-place showing at the Compadres Collegiate in late January before capturing the Military City Collegiate team crown on Feb. 23-24 at TPC San Antonio. The Roadrunners then earned runner-up honors at the Golden Nugget Invitational on March 2-3, shattering the school record for best 54-hole team score with a 38-under-par 826.
Individually, Hong leads UTSA with a 71.33 stroke average through 21 rounds this season. The freshman from Mexico has logged three consecutive and four overall top-10 finishes highlighted by his first collegiate victory at the Military City Collegiate. In his last outing, he fired a 13-under 203 that included a school record-tying 8-under 64 in the opening round en route to a third-place showing at the Golden Nugget Invitational.
Acharya stands second on the squad with a 73.11 scoring average in three tournaments. The freshman from Nepal boasts four par-or-better rounds including a pair of sub-70 scorecards. He carded a 10-under 206 that featured a 6-under 66 in the first round en route to a fourth-place effort at the Golden Nugget Invitational.
Vargas ranks third among Roadrunners with a 73.33 stroke average through 18 rounds this season. The senior out of Lubbock has turned in nine par-or-better scorecards and he registered his top 54-hole total with a 2-under 214 (72-72-70) to tie for 30th at the Golden Nugget Invitational.
Bare totes a 73.76 scoring average and nine par-or-better rounds, including a collegiate-best 5-under 67 in the second round of the Golden Nugget Invitational, as the redshirt junior from Waco tied for fifth with a 9-under 207 in his last event.
Solorza carries a 74.61 scoring average this season and a 73.22 mark over the three spring tournaments. The redshirt freshman from Mexico has finished in the top 20 in his last three competitions, including a tie for eighth at the Military City Collegiate. He posted a 4-under 212 (70-70-72) to grab a share of 19th at the Golden Nugget Invitational two weeks ago.
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