Razorback MGolf Finishes 3rd in Spring Opener

TUCSON, Ariz. – The #5 Arkansas men’s golf team was sixth at -3 after 18 holes before tying for the low round in round two (278) and posted the low round for the final round (273) to finish third with a 29-under-par score of 835 at the Arizona Intercollegiate.

The two-day, 54-hole event started Monday and only 30 holes were played before the round was suspended due to darkness. The Hogs climbed to third before the stoppage and were tied for second late into the final round Tuesday before New Mexico pulled away to finish in solo second, one shot off the lead.

Host and #34 Arizona won with a score of 829 (-35) while #37 New Mexico fired an 830 (-34). The Razorbacks were six shots off the lead but 17 shots ahead of fourth (BYU at 852 / -12).

The event was the spring season opener and saw the Razorbacks post some of the best scores in school history.

• Finishing -29 marks the fourth-lowest, 54-hole score in relation to par
• Posting -16 in today’s final round marks the fourth-lowest 18-hole score in relation to par
• Posting a score of 272 in today’s final round ties for the eighth-best, 18-hole total regardless of par

Other highlights include:

• In five events this season, Arkansas has won twice, finished runner-up once and finished third twice.
• Luke Long stood in 65th place (of 80 golfers) after 18 holes with an opening-round 75 and finished tied for sixth after rounds of 67-65 to close the tournament. Overall, Long went from 65th in round one to 24th in round three to sixth in the final round.
• Luke Long’s final-round 65 was his best career round.
• Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira recorded his fourth top 10 in four events this season.

Long opened Tuesday with two birdies to finish his second round and began round three with a birdie. He suffered a bogey on his second hole of the final round and had a par on hole three. From there, Long played bogey-free with an eagle on 5, birdie on 6, birdie on 10 and birdies on holes 13, 14 and 15. He completed the event with four pars to tie for sixth with a 7-under score of 207 (75-67-65).

Fernandez de Oliveira – coming off a South America Amateur win two weeks ago and a runner-up finish at the Latin America Amateur last week – was the only Razorback to shoot under par for all three rounds (70-71-68=209). He opened the final round with a bogey before carding five birdies and 12 pars to climb eight spots and tie for 10th.

Segundo Oliva Pinto tied for 14th (70-68-73=211 / -5) and transfer Enrique Dimayuga – playing in his first event as a Razorback – tied for 21st with a 4-under-par score of 212 (70-72-70). Dimayuga had 18 birdies over 54 holes, the second-best total in the field.

Julian Perico played as an individual and tied for 26th (73-70-71-214 / -2) and Juan Camil0 Vesga tied for 61st (77-77-69=223 / =7).

Arkansas will take almost a month off before returning to action. The Razorbacks will travel to South Walton Beach, Fla., to play in Florida State’s Camp Creek Invitational Feb. 20-22.

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