Eugene, Ore. - The Texas Longhorns are headed to the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship Finals vs. Oregon thanks to a strong, two-round effort from their team, and a gutsy three-hole effort from their top-ranked player.
Texas knocked off Red River Rival Oklahoma 4-1-0 in the quarterfinals Tuesday morning, before taking down Southern California 4-1-0 in the semifinals in the afternoon. The Longhorns had redemption on their mind in the semis, after falling to USC in the quarterfinals in 2015. UT now matches up against No. 6 seed Oregon in the finals on the Ducks home course, where they are riding momentum following a 3-2-0 upset over No. 2 seed Illinois.
The Longhorns path to the finals was not easy, however, as No. 3 nationally ranked individual Beau Hossler suffered a shoulder injury on hole number 15 of the semifinals, before gritting it out to win his match over USC’s Andrew Levitt 2 and 1 to clinch the win for UT. Hossler is slated to compete tomorrow for the ‘Horns, who would have to compete a man down if he were not to play.
Doug Ghim and Gavin Hall rolled on Tuesday for Texas, winning both their quarterfinal and semifinal matchups. Ghim took his win over OU seven and six, while Hall won four and three. In the semis, the duo cruised to victory again, both in four and three fashion. Taylor Funk also picked up a win in the quarters six and four, while Scottie Scheffler won his semifinal match one-up.
Hossler, the Mission Viejo, California native, won both his matches as well, taking a one-up win over OU freshman Blaine Hale in the quarters and a gritty two and one victory in the semis over childhood friend Levitt from USC.
The Sooners made their first-ever showing in match play competition, which was introduced to the NCAA Championships in 2009. Additionally, the Sooners made their sixth consecutive appearance in the tournament and join just Georgia, Illinois, Texas and USC as the only programs to reach the national tournament for six straight years.
The Ducks and Longhorns will tee off at 4:10 p.m. CT timer tomorrow (June 1), with Golf Channel picking up the coverage beginning at 5:00 p.m. CT. Golfstat.com will also have live scoring throughout the duration of the match.