Hardwick paces Jags as men finish 2nd, women 3rd at Texas Intercollegiate

UHV's Hayden Hardwick hits a tee shot during a tri-match with Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern at the Victoria Country Club on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (Sam Fowler/UHV Athletics)

April 16, 2024

WILLOW PARK – Hayden Hardwick turned in a career-low round to help the No. 17-ranked UHV men's golf team make a run at the Texas Wesleyan Texas Intercollegiate on Tuesday.

The freshman from Portland, Texas, fired a 4-under 67 in the final round at Squaw Creek Golf Course on Tuesday, helping him climb 10 spots on the leaderboard to finish T-2 (73-72-67—212). His final round showing helped the Jaguars (286-291-283—860) finish second, just three strokes behind No. 4-ranked Texas Wesleyan and 14 shots better than No. 8-ranked Oklahoma City in fourth.

Hardwick played clean throughout the tournament, carding nine birdies and 38 pars in 54 holes. He had one hole worse than bogey en route to All-Tournament honors.

Nathan Biais (69-73-76—218) and Paul Chopin (71-73-75—219) finished in the Top 15 of the field of 66 golfers.

Joshua Van Der Wath (73-79-69—221) finished T-22 after shooting 2-under on Tuesday. The junior from Johannesburg, South Africa, led the Jaguars with 11 birdies in the tournament, including six during his bounce-back final round.

Enzo Dakiche (79-73-72—224) kept a fairly steady scorecard in the final round, carding three birdies, 12 pars and nothing worse than bogey to finish T-27.

The Jaguars were spurred on the women's side by the seventh Top 10 finish by Emmily Bickelmann this season and each player finishing in the Top 25 to finish third after rounds of 329-327-325—981.

The junior from Weisbaden, Germany, shot rounds of 79-80-78—237 to finish eighth. She carded six birdies over the three rounds.

Mia Lerma (82-78-82—242) finished T-14. The senior from Mission led the field in Par 3 scoring, averaging 2.92 strokes on the course's four Par 3s.

Caitlyn Niemietz (88-84-81—253) and Evelyn Nguyen (84-85-84—253) finished T-20 while Cecelia Niemietz (84-87-86—253) finished 23rd.

Next, the men and women will host the 2024 Red River Athletic Conference tournament April 29-May 1 at the Victoria Country Club. The men are seeking a fourth consecutive conference championship.