April 18, 2007
KERRVILLE, Texas -
Complete Tournament results
UT Arlington men's golf coach Jay Rees told his players to continue to grind away.
Although the Mavericks had no chance of catching fourth-ranked Lamar at the 2007 Southland Conference Men's Golf Championship, Rees knew that each hole was one more experience, one more bit of knowledge to store away for next season.
After rounds of 305 and 302, the Mavericks carded a five-under-par 283, tying for the 11th lowest 18-hole score in school history and giving the Mavs a fifth-place finish at the conference tournament.
Wednesday was a microcosm of the entire season - flashes of greatness muddied by poor decisions, lack of concentration and bad luck.
No better example than freshman Bobby Massa's play on the back nine. He followed an eagle on the par-5, 533-yard 13th hole with a double bogey on the short, par-4, 461-yard 14th hole and three putted the following hole - a par-4, 362-yard hole after driving the green on his tee shot.
A chance to walk away from the trio of holes three-under-par ended up even-par.
"This whole year has been a learning experience," said UT Arlington Head Men's Golf Coach Jay Rees. "We have gotten better throughout the season. There are signs of what we can be but it is going to take a lot of work to smooth out of weaknesses. This is a team that is raw and full of potential."
This season has been the coming out party for a trio of freshmen - Michael van de Venter, Bobby Massa and Bryce Easton. van de Venter improved his game dramatically from the fall season and ended the spring averaging 73.33 in five tournaments. He finished tied for 11th after posting a season-best score of two-under-par 70.
Massa matched his best round of the season with a one-under-par 71. He finished the year with the third best scoring average (74.68) while playing on a team-high 12 tournaments. He won the Diet Pepsi Shocker Classic in the tournament leading up to the SLC Championship with a 54-hole total of 219.
Easton showed signs of being a solid player for the Mavericks throughout the season. He posted three top-20 finishes and averaged 74.33 the first three tournaments of the year and averaged 74.74 for the season.
Junior Zack Reeves, a first-team all-SLC golfer as a sophomore, will return next season to lead the squad. He could not match last season's stroke average of 72.76., but his 73.96 stroke average ranks 15th all-time.
utamavs.com
