No. 19 Men’s Golf set to open spring schedule at Jack Brown Memorial Invite
The No. 19-ranked UHV men's golf team will continue its push for a fourth consecutive conference championship when it opens its spring schedule on Monday.
The Jaguars, which are ranked 15th by Scoreboard – the stat provider for golf – will travel to Texas A&M-International's Jack Brown Memorial Invite Monday and Tuesday at the Laredo Country Club.
The new ranking system by Scoreboard powered by Clippd, an industry-leader in golf technology, ranks schools based on a points system for each tournament played.
UHV is the highest ranked school in the Red River Athletic Conference, according to Scoreboard's rankings. The Jaguars are one of three Texas universities in the top 20 with Wayland Baptist (No. 7) and Texas Wesleyan (No. 10).
Last year, the team finished third at the Jack Brown behind NCAA Division II schools UT-Tyler and St. Mary's. UHV won its last two tournaments in the fall with a tri-match against Division I schools Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern, and a one-stroke win over Blinn College in the UHV Fall Classic.
"We closed the fall really strong," said head coach Garrett Adair. "We were able to get good rounds from each of our guys. Now that we're in the spring, they'll have to step it up and the Jack Brown is a good test for us right out of the gate."
Heading into Monday, UHV holds a 291.2 team stroke average. The school record for stroke average in a season is 291.44 set during the 2020-21 season.
Josh Van der Wath leads the team with two wins and holds a scoring average of 72.8 through 10 rounds. He finished two-under (69-74-71—214) to win the UHV Fall Classic title. According to Scoreboard, Van der Wath is the third-highest ranked golfer in Texas and the top-ranked golfer in the RRAC.
Sophomore Enzo Dakiche isn't far behind Van der Wath, averaging 72.9 per round this season. The Paris, France, native shot seven-under (71-68-70—209) to finish third at the Texas Intercollegiate to open the season in September.
"Josh and Enzo have done a great job leading the way for us this season," Adair said. "Josh was dialed in during the fall and so was Enzo. We need them to keep leading from the front and challenging our guys to shoot their best each tournament.