Texas A&M University-San Antonio’s men’s golf team traveled to Hobbs, New Mexico, on October 7 to compete in the University of Southwest fall invitational at Rockwind Community Links Golf Club.
The University of Southwest Fall Classic featured schools; Texas Wesleyan University, Oklahoma Panhandle State University and A&M-San Antonio’s rival Our Lady of the Lake University.
A&M-San Antonio competes in the Red River Athletic Conference in the National Athletics Intercollegiate Association division.
“I feel excited,” said Felipe Ferreira, a business management senior. “This last tournament was my best result in my career, so I feel excited to see how this one is gonna play out.”
Ferreira, a transfer student from the University of Northern California, started playing golf at the age of six.
“I started playing competitive at eight,” Ferreira said.
The Jaguars play two-day tournaments at the invitationals.
Two rounds were played on day one, and the final round was played on day two.
On average a golf course is a par 72. This means you have that many shot attempts at the course.
Par is the number of strokes a player has to make to get the golf ball in the hole.
To get the best score a player wants to shoot an even-par, the fewer attempted shots will get the better score.
“I want to be as present as possible… and hit one shot at a time,” Ferriera said.
The Jaguars had a tough first round finishing 17 over during the classic.
They fought back in the second round shooting two under placing them in second place.
The Jaguars struggled in the final round of the tournament and ended in fourth place out of the 10-team field.
Jacob Pena was the lowest scorer in the tournament.
The tournament had a 66-player field with Pena finishing fourth overall shooting a three-over for the tournament.
Pena shot two over 72 in round one, two under in round two, and three over in the final round.
The Jaguars recently competed at the Waco River Classic in Waco, Texas on Sept. 16 and 17.
The Jaguars finished ninth overall out of the 15 teams in the field.
Ferreira shot three-under in round one, two under in round two, and four over in the final round.
In golf, shooting under par means taking fewer strokes than par, which gives you a better score.
In the Waco River Classic, Ferreira finished one under placing ninth in the tournament. Ferreira beat 11 of the 14 Division I golfers in the 100-player field.
The Waco River Classic featured Division I teams such as Baylor University and Texas Christian University.
Division I is three tiers above the NAIA division, making Ferreira’s performance stand out against other Division I golfers.
“We’re more than capable of playing with those guys,” said David Rodriguez, general studies senior. “Anyone here can keep up with them even beat a couple of them.”
Rodriguez was the lowest scorer in the Jaguar’s first tournament at the Texas Intercollegiate at Hawkscreek Golf Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
Rodriguez shot two over in round one, two under in round two, and three under in round three.
Rodriguez finished tenth overall, while the Jaguars finished seventh overall in the eight-team field.
The Jaguars travel to Victoria, Texas for the UHV Fall Classic in two weeks to round out their fall season.
