 "Photo: File photo; The Daily Texan")
Leave it to the freshmen when it comes to winning in Hawaii.
The No. 16 Longhorns won the Turtle Bay Intercollegiate to capture their second title in four tournaments this season.
“I’m very pleased to win in Hawaii and close out the fall with a win,” coach John Fields said. “I look forward to going into the offseason with a victory.”
The Longhorns were powered by freshman Dylan Fritelli, who finished with a sixth-place individual finish — a career best. Friitelli fired a final round 65, the second best round of anyone else on the field during the three-day tournament.
“He has been waiting for that all year,” Fields said. “The story for us was that the freshmen really came through and helped us out this week.”
After the first day of play Monday, it was a different Texas freshman who took command of the tournament. Austin native Adam Wennerstrom was playing his first collegiate round and shot a blistering six-under 66 to tie for the opening round individual lead in a tournament with 19 teams playing.
“His 66 was a great way to start his career at Texas,” Fields said.
With the help of Wennerstrom and Texas star golfer Charlie Holland, the Longhorns opened eight-underpar and in second place.
On day two, it was another underclassman who paced the Longhorns — sophomore Bobby Hudson. Hudson shot a team best, one-under 71, to put his Longhorns in third place but just two strokes behind San Diego State and UNLV going into the final round.
Wednedsay was a completely different round compared to the Longhorns’ final round in the Isleworth UCF Collegiate Invitational just two weeks earlier. At the Florida tournament, bad weather forced the Longhorns to shoot 30-overpar on the final day resulting in a season-worst 13th-place finish.
This time around, the Texas squad shot a 15-under par round powered by Fritelli’s 65. Sophomores Donald Constable and Hudson added rounds of 67 and 69 to help Texas get a three-shot win over San Diego State and stay seven shots clear of everyone else.
Before the tournament, Fields said he wanted his veteran Holland to pick it up after having finished in the top 10 in the World Amateur. Holland ended up shooting rounds of 70, 73 and 72 to finish at one-under par and third among the Longhorn golfers.
Though the win didn’t come the way Fields anticipated, a win’s a win, and Fields isn’t worried.
“Our older guys are the core of our team, but it’s good for them to see that the younger guys are here to help,” Fields said. “If they all play the kind of golf we know they can play, we’ll have a shot to be one of the better teams in the country. We will get better and better from here.”
The Longhorns resume play in late February at the Puerto Rico Collegiate.
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