Cowboys pull off three-peat at Royal Oaks, Sooners surge into third

DALLAS, Texas–Oklahoma State’s men’s golf team recorded its first victory of the season on Tuesday, winning the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate at Royal Oaks Country Club.

The Cowboys, who have now won the event three consecutive years, closed with a 1-over score of 356, giving them a 15-over total of 1,080 and a one-shot margin over Baylor. The Bears finished at 1,081, while Oklahoma was third at 1,084 at the par-71, 7,068-yard layout.

Baylor did snap OSU’s string of two consecutive individual medalists at the event, with Mikkel Bjerch-Andresen posting a 6-under 207 total to take top honors.

OSU’s Jordan Niebrugge climbed the leaderboard after firing a 64 during his third round to finish alone in third at 209. The junior posted the first of his 10 birdies on the day at the second before moving back to level par with a bogey at the fourth.

Standing at even par through five, Niebrugge reeled off five birdies in a row before a bogey at the 11th dropped him back to 4-under for the day. He moved to 6-under with back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th before making his final bogey of the day at No. 16. Niebrugge bounced back with birdies on his final two holes to get to his 7-under score for the day.

Freshman Sam Stevens posted a 72 during his third round to come in tied for 13th place at 217, while classmate Kristoffer Ventura’s 74 gave him sole possession of 15th place at 218.

Redshirt freshman Brendon Jelley also carded a 74 to finish at 219 and tied for 16th place.

Sophomore Wyndham Clark’s 74 knotted him for 28th place as 223.

Sophomore Zachary Olsen’s 72 gave him a 225 total and tied him for 40th place.

The Cowboys will resume action on Feb. 5 when they begin play at the American Airlines Invitational in Kona, Hawaii.

The University of Oklahoma took third place with a 1084 (+19).

For Tuesday’s final round, the Sooners fired a 354 (-1), the only under-par team score of the tournament. The 12-team field featured eight squads ranked within the top 50 of the latest Golfweek/Sagarin poll. Six players competed per team, with five scores counting toward the team total.

The Sooners have participated in the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate each season since it began in 2008. The third-place showing was OU’s best at the event since also taking third in 2011.

OU started the day six strokes behind Oklahoma State before surging to within a stroke late in the day. Sixth-year OU head coach Ryan Hybl said that even though his squad came up short of the win, he is pleased with the way it played.

"The guys did a great job today," Hybl shared. "We were in the hunt all day and had a chance coming down the stretch but just couldn’t quite get there. Every shot counts, and it is good for us to have experienced today, especially for our young guys."

Paced by a season-low 68 (-3) in the final round, sophomore Max McGreevy took a share of fourth place, matching his career-best finish. McGreevy pocketed a team-best 15 birdies during the week, including seven on Tuesday.

With an even-par 71, freshman Grant Hirschman secured a career-best sixth-place showing. Hirschman negated his three bogeys by carding three birdies in the round. In the Sooners’ four fall tournaments, Hirschman finished within the top 20 in all but one.

Senior Michael Gellerman tallied a 70 (-1) for the final 18 holes, his lowest score of the tournament, to finish in a tie for 22nd place with a 221 (+8). Gellerman recorded just one bogey in an otherwise clean round.

Junior Beau Titsworth shot a 77 (+6) on Tuesday and tied for 37th place with a 224 (+11), while freshman Rylee Reinertson claimed a share of 40th place at 12 over par. Reinertson closed his first collegiate event with a 72 (+1), his tournament low. After shooting a final-round 73 (+2), junior Luke Kwon tied for 44th with a 226 (+13).

The Sooners will return to the course Feb. 9-10 as they travel to San Antonio, Texas, to compete in the UTSA/Oak Hills Invitational.