Islanders Crowned Champions at UTRGV Invitational

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MCALLEN, Texas – Taking home the first-place trophy was the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi golf program after winning the 10-team UTRGV Invitational by 23 strokes after two days at McAllen Country Club.
 
It was the program's first tournament win since 2008-09.

"I am so proud of these student-athletes; great to see them bring home a win! McAllen CC can be challenging, and today's 22-30 mph wind combined with some tough pin locations made for some interesting shots and putts. We adapted to the wind pretty well, and it was great to see Kelli, Reese, and Kellsey finish so strong," said head coach Joni Stephens.
 
Additionally, the Islanders swept the South Texas Showdown over UTRGV after finishing above the Vaqueros in both tournaments this year, home and away. As an institution, A&M-Corpus Christi now leads this year's standings 25.5-16.5, sponsored by NavyArmy Community Credit Union.
 
It was a wire-to-wire win for A&M-Corpus Christi, which entered the day 15 strokes ahead of UTRGV for first-place. Today, the Islanders carded a 305 to post a 906 three-round score overall, while the Vaqueros recorded a 313 day and 929 overall score.
 
The Islanders also finished ahead of Lamar, Illinois-Chicago, North Dakota, Omaha, Texas A&M-Kingsville, Tarleton State, McLennan CC and Prairie View A&M.
 
Individually, four of the five A&M-Corpus Christi student-athletes ended in the top-five.
 
Junior Kelli Ann Dugan earned runner-up honors and was six strokes out of first-place. She turned in a 225 overall after hitting for a team-best 74 in round three.
 
One stroke behind Dugan was freshman Reese Drezins. She tallied a 75 in round three and 226 overall. Senior Kellsey Sample and freshman Lucie Charbonnier tied for fifth with 228 scores.
 
Sophomore Lucy Martinez finished in 19th with a 239.

"We have some things we need to sharpen before we head to HBU next week. Several players struggled a little today with decision-making, commitment and trying to guide the ball in the wind. We also had some unnecessary bogies that we can't afford to make. However, we got a taste today of what it feels like to win, and what can happen when we put team first. This is our first team win since I've been here and the first time we've have four players finish in the top-five," Stephens said.
 
A&M-Corpus Christi will look to win another tournament next week when it heads up to Houston for the HBU Husky Intercollegiate on Monday and Tuesday.


 
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