A&M-Victoria men's golf closes week strong against stacked field in Arizona
BULLHEAD CITY, Ariz. – The Texas A&M University-Victoria men's golf team closed the week strong against a loaded field.
The Jaguars finished ninth at The Battle at Laughlin Ranch Golf Club after going 303-308-293 across three rounds. A&M-Victoria's final round score was the fourth-lowest among the field of 20 teams, including 15 ranked teams.
A&M-Victoria also once again helped set the pace for the field, finishing second in pars (160), T-2 in Par 3 scoring (+16) and third in Par 5 scoring (+1).
Ethan Armendarez turned in his best finish of the season, shooting 74-76-73—223 to finish tied for 22nd among the field of 100 golfers. The Fort Worth native was steady through the three rounds, carding just 12 bogeys over 54 holes while boasting five birdies and 37 pars, a mark which tied for sixth-best at the tournament.
Paul Chopin made the biggest jump for the Jaguars, climbing 15 spots to finish T-31 after going 79-75-71—225. His 1-under par in the final round was one of just 11 rounds under par on Tuesday. He made a team-leading five birdies on Tuesday and opened with a bogey-free stretch on the first 10 holes that saw him get as low as 3-under.
Florian Simon moved up five spots to finish T-33 after stellar play on the Par 3s. The freshman went 74-79-73—226 thanks to a 2.92 scoring average on the Par 3s, which tied for the second-best mark among the field.
Brandon Gratton moved up three spots to finish T-61 after carding four birdies in the final round to go 78-78-77—233.
Lucky Boonsrirat rounded out A&M-Victoria's scores, going 77-87-76—240 to finish T-78. That marked an 11-spot jump for the New Braunfels native.
The Jaguars' next tournament is the Texas Wesleyan Spring Invitational April 13-14 in Fort Worth.