UT’s Ghim in round of 16 at U.S. Amateur
Texas senior golfer Doug Ghim continued to roll at the U.S. Amateur, defeating Sahith Theegala in 19 holes to advance to the round of 16 Wednesday at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Ghim is the final remaining Longhorn in competition after the week started with six UT competitors.
The senior took a 1-up lead when he made birdie on the second hole. Theegala birdied the next two holes to regain the lead, however.
Ghim fought back and had a stretch in which he won two of three holes to go 1 up. Thee- gala birdied the 17th hole to make things all square.
After both golfers made par on No. 18, Theegala blinked first, making a bogey on No. 19 while Ghim made par.
The victory sets up a match Friday for Ghim against Joey Vrzich at 3:25 p.m.
The quarterfinals and semi- finals will be played Saturday.
On Wednesday, Ghim defeated Chris Waters 4 and 3. Ghim made back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes to lead by two. The senior took a 3-up lead when he made par on the eighth hole. Ghim made two more birdies later in the round to go 4 up. men Lexi Sun, Brionne But- ler and Ashley Shook were the first-, second- and sixthrated recruits in the nation, and sophomores Autumn Rounsaville and Orie Agbaji closed out last season with solid performances in the NCAA championship match.
“I think we have similar- ities with the Golden State Warriors,” Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said last week. “A very deep bench, a lot of dif- ferent people can get the ball and score for us.”
Yes, the comparisons to the Warriors are lofty. The Longhorns do, however, have ties to the NBA champions.
Elliott and Golden State coach Steve Kerr attended Palisades High School in the Los Angeles area. Elliott, 49, is two years younger than Kerr, but he considers him a family friend. There also is that NBA Finals MVP who attended Texas; Elliott is hoping that Kevin Durant can Skype in a pep talk this season.
Like a Golden State team that has reached three straight NBA Finals, Texas has made every Final Four since 2011. The Longhorns, however, have only one title to show for all those Final Fours. That came in 2012; Texas has been the NCAA’s runner-up in two straight seasons. This year, the Long- horns are hunting for gold.
“We’ve worked so hard for it, and I feel like this year we have all the pieces,” McCoy said. “I don’t want to look too far ahead and hype it up more than it needs to be, but obviously that is the
The Longhorn sealed the win on No. 15 after Waters made an eagle on the 12th hole.
Ghim shot 71 in the second round of the U.S. Amateur on Tuesday, carding a 67 in the first round. The Texas senior finished stroke play at 2 under par and tied for eighth place.
Women’s golf: Kaitlyn Papp, incoming UT freshman, defeated Mathilde Claisse of Team Europe 6 and 5 to help the United States win the Junior Solheim Cup in Des Moines, Iowa, late Wednesday.
Team USA topped Europe 14.5-9.5 to take the win.
Papp won two out of the three matches she played in during the tournament. Along- side Brooke Seay she defeated Alessandria Fanali and Alessia Nobilio 2 and 1 in a fourball match.
The only match she lost was the foursome contest against Linn Grant and Amanda Linner. Papp and Alyaa Abdulghany fell to the European duo 1 up.
Team USA held a dominating advantage in the singles matches Wednesday, taking 8.5 out of 12 points. The competition had been tied through four-ball and foursome action.
Papp, the No. 4 recruit according to Golfweek/ Sagarin, will join UT in the fall. main goal. It’s going to take a lot; the process will be very tiring.”
Scrimmage sensation: This weekend the soccer team hosts Rice and West- ern Kentucky, Texas’ first matches of the season. Last Friday UT tuned up for those matches with a 2-0 win over Incarnate Word. In the exhi- bition match, the Longhorns got goals from sophomore Cyera Hintzen and junior Katie Glenn.
Glenn is a few months removed from scoring a team-high six goals during UT’s spring scrimmages, and four of those scores were tallied against Houston. Glenn attended nearby Rouse High; she was the American-Statesman’s 2014 Central Texas player of the year after scor- ing 43 goals her junior season. She was third on the team in scoring last year as a sophomore.
As a junior, Glenn is among the elder statesmen on a roster that features only three seniors. Texas, which went 8-9-1 last year and missed the Big 12’s postseason tournament, is ranked eighth in the Big 12’s preseason poll. Texas returners scored 24 of last year’s 28 goals, and sophomore forward Mikayla Flores is back from a knee injury.
“We’re just ready to get out there and show everybody how Texas soccer really plays,” said Hintzen, who was voted onto the conference’s preseason team. “Considering last year didn’t go the way we wanted, so we’re really hungry and ready.” ance as UT’s co a ch last November, he proclaimed, “The cake has been baked. The only thing you need to do now is put the icing on it and slice it.” It was his firm belief the Longhorns were poised for a breakout 2017 season, although Strong knew he wouldn’t be around to see it.
Strong’s comments implied that he felt the roster was fully stocked. Texas appears to have solid first- team units loaded with expe- rience. But the Horns don’t appear to have enough to comfortably fill out a com- plete two-deep roster.
Take tight end, for exam- ple. Andrew Beck is out 6-8 weeks with a fractured foot, and freshman Reese Leitao will be suspended the first two games for pleading guilty to misdemeanor drug possession this summer. “Maybe one of these guys — Garrett Gray, Kendall Moore or Cade Brewer — prove to us that they deserve to be on the field quite a bit, so we’re giving them every opportunity to do that,” Herman said.
Projected starting right tackle Elijah Rodriguez, who started at three posi- tions last season, has already been ruled out with an ankle injury and has undergone surgery. He was playing right tackle mostly because Tristan Nickelson or Denzel Okafor couldn’t win the job outright. Asked about Okafor on Thursday, Herman said, “He’s not there yet, but he’s definitely improved from where he was last week.”
Also, sophomore offen- sive lineman Jean Delance announced Tuesday he was transferring. He played in two games last season and was thought to be develop- ing. That chipped away at UT’s offensive line depth even more.
Meanwhile, over at running back, Chris Warren III missed several practices with a concussion and Kyle Porter (shoulder) likely won’t be cleared for full-contact work until next week. Freshman running backs Toniel Carter and Daniel Young were both called out by coaches before last Saturday’s scrimmage even started. “That’s never a good thing,” Herman said afterward.
The coac h ing staff is already holding its breath about quarterback, where the Horns have been unable to land a graduate transfer. If either Shane Buechele or Sam Ehlinger gets seriously hurt, the Horns likely will pull receiver Jerrod Heard back over to quarterback as a last resort.
The defensive depth is thin, too. Several linemen left the program during the off- season. As of now, Malcolm Roach and Charles Ome- nihu are the only two expe- rienced ends, and Roach is battling turf toe.
Herman loves defensive tackle Poona Ford in the mid- dle. “If we can get 11 guys playing like Poona Ford on defense, look out,” he said. Chris Nelson continues to be steady, and Gerald Wilbon and D’Andre Christmas are looking for breakout sophomore seasons.
Freshman tackle Ta’Quon Graham was the first newcomer to have the red stripe removed from his helmet, indicating he has grasped the defensive scheme.
Herman has noted several times that he’d like to see “more playmakers at line- backer.” Anthony Wheeler, Malik Jefferson and fifth-year senior Naashon Hughes are the likely starters.
But there’s been little or no buzz about Gary Johnson, ranked as the nation’s fifthbest junior college recruit by 247Sports. The coaching staff hasn’t really talked up Breckyn Hager, Edwin Freeman or Demarco Boyd, either. At most, Herman said Hager was “a situational guy right now,” or an extra pass rusher on third downs.
In the sec o nd a ry, P.J. Locke III is a clear-cut starter, as is cornerback Kris Boyd. But can Davante Davis or Holton Hill find consistency? Brandon Jones and DeShon Elliott are veterans now. Can they get better?
In t hree ye a rs u nder Strong, UT’s pass defense went from first in the Big 12 (2014), to third (2015) to seventh (2016).
The Longhorns are in the dog days of training camp. Two weeks remain before the Sept. 2 opener against Maryland. Herman said that by the end of this weekend’s scrimmage, “whether you like it or not, that’ll be who we are.”
Right now, the Longhorns are a team that can’t afford any more injuries. This cake isn’t ready.