The Houston Cougars continue the 2010-11 season on a high note after standing alone in second place out of 12 teams in the Santa Clara Cabo Collegiate.
The Cougars did not travel to this tourist attraction on vacation, and proved they were all business on the par-72, 7,070-yard course at Querencia Los Cabos Golf Club, ranked the top course in Mexico by Golf Digest.
Houston arrived in Cabo San Lucas and immediately took the top spot in the standings after the first round of the tournament. Senior Matt Eschenburg’s 3-under-par 69 helped lift the golf team into the lead on Saturday and set himself at second place in the individual leader board.
“The first day we really came out of the gate strong,” head coach Jonathan Dismuke said. “This was a very demanding golf course and our guys did a good job of navigating themselves around it.”
Even though Eschenburg may have ended the tournament tied for 22nd place, he showed great improvement after finishing last on the team leaderboard in the previous tournament, responding to the pressure to perform as the only non-freshman on this team.
“Matt is a good player,” Dismuke said. “Golf is a tough game and you don’t always play well every week. He played great and bailed us out in the first round.”
The team score improved in the second round on Sunday, but it was not enough to hold on to the lead as Arkansas claimed the top spot and UH dropped to second place. The golf team finished the tournament in second place and never held a lower spot throughout the tournament.
Once again, the great revelation of the team was the freshmen. Jesse Droemer finished atop the team leaderboard for the second consecutive tournament. Dismuke attributes the development of the young freshmen to the leadership of the team’s experienced personnel at practice.
“We have older guys who have been in this program through the years contributing at practice,” Dismuke said. “We also have a great core group of guys that are young, talented, and have a great work ethic.”
Texas Bragging Rights
After taking a short break, the Cougars will return to action on Oct. 17-18 when they compete in the Lone Star Invitational at Briggs Ranch Golf Club in San Antonio. UTSA will host the tournament, which is exclusive to Texas universities, in what will surely be a fight for bragging rights.
“We want to finish on a high note,” Dismuke said. “This will be the first tournament we have in the state and we look forward to the good support from the parents and fans that will be able to attend.
“Our guys work extremely hard, are very prepared, have a great chemistry, and are very supportive of each other.”
The 54-hole event will be the last tournament of the fall season for the Cougars. Houston will look to continue their recent success of finishing in the top five as they look ahead to the spring.
