For the past three years, the Texas Tech Red Raiders have had the best players in the prestige field of the PGA West Men’s College Golf Tournament. This year, the Red Raiders simply had the best team.
Texas Tech started the final day of the 54-hole Prestige Tournament with a 10-stroke lead over Kansas State, eventually expanding to a 12-shot victory at PGA West’s Norman Course in La Quinta. The Red Raiders finished the 54-hole tournament with a team score of 33-under 819, including Wednesday’s 9-under 275.
“A lot of things came together,” Texas Tech head coach Greg Sands said. “Obviously we had some players who played solid golf. We’re serious about spiritual and cultural things, and that seems to resonate with some people. We feel together. We feel we have to play for each other.”
Texas Tech continues strong spring with win at Prestige Golf Tournament
Tezastek never threatened in the 54-hole Prestige Golf Tournament, defeating Kansas State by 12 strokes at PGA West’s Norman Course.
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Texas Tech is no stranger to the Prestige Tournament, having participated in the event for the past 15 years. But even though the team hasn’t won a title in the past three years, Texas Tech’s Ludwig Aberg has won three individual titles, two solo wins and one tie. Aberg has already won on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, and last year represented Europe at the Ryder Cup.
This year’s individual winner was Kansas State’s Cecil Belisle, who placed second behind Texas Tech. Belair was the leader on the night and maintained the lead throughout the day. Despite pressure from Washington’s Petr Hruby and Stanford’s Carl Willips, Belisle shot a 4-under 67 on Wednesday to finish at 13-under 200. Hruby and Villips both finished with 202, with Villips shooting a 66 and Hruby a 68 on Wednesday.
Belair shot a 3-under 32 on the front nine, but then stalled with seven consecutive pars. This was enough to maintain a one-stroke lead until the par-3 17th hole, where Belair chipped in for birdie and took a two-stroke lead.
In the team competition, Texas Tech University and the University of Kansas were followed by tournament co-sponsor Stanford University, who had the best round of the day among the leaders with a score of 10-under 274.
Sands said his familiarity with the golf course helped Texas Tech this week.
“Three out of five people have seen the place,” Sands said. “The other two had easy adjustments. Matthew Coggies finished in the top five (seven under, tied for sixth), so that was important.”
On Wednesday, Comegies scored 69, with teammates Tyrann Snyders and Callum Scott each scoring 68. Price Hill scored a 70 in a five-play, four-score format, and Bird Skogen had a 71.
Michael Thorbjornsen (Stanford), who leads the PGA Tour U standings and is ranked 4th in the World Amateur Rankings, started the round with a 6-under 30 on the back nine of the Norman Course and took the lead. I threatened, but I stumbled on the course. The front nine had two double bogeys in a round of 69 and finished tied for 17th at 4-under 209.
In another individual tournament under the Prestige banner Wednesday at Terra Lago Golf Resort in Indio, Texas Tech’s Charles DeLong shot a 1-under 71 for a 54-hole total of 7 under. He won by one stroke with a score of 209. Duke University’s William Love and Northwestern University’s Akshay Anand each finished 210th. Love hit 68 and Anand 67 on Wednesday.