TicketsSALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Cincinnati men’s golf team earned a win and a tie through its first two matches at Big 12 Match Play Monday at The Country Club of Salt Lake. The Bearcats split the morning session against Arizona, 2.5-2.5, before topping UCF, 3.5-1.5, in the afternoon.
With groups still on the course, second-round play resumes at 9:45 a.m. ET Tuesday. The third round of pool play pits the Bearcats against top-seeded Oklahoma State at 10:30 a.m. with bracket play slated for 3:30 p.m.
All individual matches within the team match will produce a result (3&2, 1 up, halved) and will not be played beyond the 18th hole. An individual match win awards that team with one point. An individual match that remains tied after 18 holes awards each team with a half point. Once all individual matches are completed within a team match, the team with the greater point total will receive three points while the losing team receives zero points. If the match is tied at the end of all five individual matches, both teams receive one point.
In the morning, junior Leo Wessel battled to a 2&1 win over Arizona’s Dillon Dean. After dropping his opening hole with a bogey at the par-4 16th, the junior fought back to take a 2-up lead after a birdie at the difficult par-3 first. But Dean won three of the next four holes to knot the match, before the pair halved the next four holes. Wessel won the 10th and 11th holes for another 2-up advantage, and, after Dean took advantage of a Wessel bogey to make it a 1-up lead, Wessel closed it out with a birdie at the par-4 14th for the victory.
In the afternoon, the Indianapolis native carded three birdies to make quick work of UCF’s Jakub Hejlek in a 5&4 win for his second victory in as many matches.
Fifth-year Ryan Ford halved a seesaw battle with Arizona’s Tianyl Xong in the morning session. Five birdies in his first nine holes kickstarted Ford to an eventual 1-up lead through the par-5 11th, their 12th hole of the round, but Xiong birdied two of his next three for his first advantage of the day. However, Ford answered right back with a birdie at the par-4 16th to knot the match and earn the halve.
In the afternoon, the fifth-year Bearcat bogeyed the par-4 10th to drop his opening hole to UCF’s Camden Goldknopf before winning the next four holes for a 3-up lead. A Ford bogey at the parr-3 15th gave a hole back before he used four birdies over his next six holes to push his lead to 5-up with five to play before closing out the 3&2 win.
Freshman Aidan Wilson won his opening match over Arizona’s Jose Sampedro 1-up. A birdie on his second hole of the day, the par-5 18th, gave him the lead and he doubled it with another birdie at the par-5 fourth. That’s where the match would stay until three-straight Sampedro birdies knotted the match after the par-5 12th. However, the Bearcats’ freshman birdied the par-4 14th before a pair of pars sealed the win.
Wilson then played a wild afternoon match against UCF’s Hans Risvaer. Two Wilson bogeys and a pair of Rivsaer birdies saw the Bearcats’ freshman drop the first four holes. However, a string of 11-straight pars from Wilson knotted the match after their 13th hole, the par-5 fourth. Both players birdied the short par-4 fifth before a Rivsaer birdie at the par-4 sixth and a Wilson birdie at the par-4 seventh saw the players split the two holes. Both players made par at the par-5 eighth before bogeys at the par-4 ninth as the match was halved.
Sophomore Brayden Miller held an early led after two holes but Arizona’s William Wistrand won two of the next four for his first advantage. The Bearcats’ sophomore battled back to even it after a birdie at the par-4 sixth, but Wistrand took a lead he would not relinquish with a birdies at the par-5 eighth for the 2&1 victory.
Miller then knotted his record on the day with a 5&3 win over the Golden Knights’ Ilan Dufrenoy in the afternoon. Dufrenoy birdied the par-5 12th and held a 1-up lead through the par-4 14th, their fifth hole of the match, but Miller used a trio of birdies to win five of the next seven holes to take a commanding 4-up lead. Miller bogeyed the par-5 fourth but answered with birdies to take the par-4 fifth and sixth holes for the victory.
After falling behind early in his opening match against Arizona’s Taishi Moto, consecutive birdies by senior Timmy Hollenbeck at the fifth and sixth holes gave the Bearcats’ senior a 1-up advantage. However, Moto tied it with an eagle at the par-5 eighth and then went on to take three of the final five holes on his way to the 3&2 win.
Hollenbeck held a 1-up lead after four holes of his second-round match against UCF’s Brodie Cunningham, but the Golden Knight took the next three holes, sparking a 5&4 win.