Van der Wath, No. 22 men’s golf topple records in Fall Classic win
No record was safe from the No. 22-ranked UHV men's golf team in the final round of the UHV Fall Classic on Tuesday.
The Jaguars tied or set three records as a team and saw senior Joshua Van der Wath tie or set four new individual records en route to sweeping the team and individual champion titles at Riverside Golf Course.
UHV shot a final round 277 (-11), which ties the lowest round in program history set back in 2021 at the UC-Ferguson tournament, and closed the tournament at a program-record 14-under par (281-277—558). The 558 total is the program's lowest-ever 36-hole score.
"We finally had a round where all five hit their stride," said head coach Garrett Adair. "We had (Edgar Hinojosa) contribute today to bounce back from a bad round yesterday. It just shows the fight in them. I think they built off each other's success. They saw Josh and (Paul Chopin) lighting it up, which gave them confidence there were birdies to be had out there today. Today was like a get-right tournament at the end of the Fall and a springboard for the Spring."
Van der Wath tied the all-time lowest round and set the all-time lowest second round mark by shooting a 65 on the final day of the tournament, going 66-65—131 to also set records for lowest 36-hole score and lowest tournament score to par (-12).
The senior from Johannesburg, South Africa, was three-under heading into the final five holes before rattling off five consecutive birdies and finished with nine total. He had a chance to chip in for eagle and a 64 on the Par 5 18th hole.
It's the second tournament win of the year and fourth total for Van der Wath.
"It feels really good now to have good, solid consistency and be able to go low even if I'm not hitting it the best," Van der Wath said. "Yesterday, I struggled a bit in the start and today as well with the bit of pressure. But just being able to put a round together and get myself into the right groove, it's very satisfying right now."
Chopin and Nathan Biais also finished under par on Tuesday and in the Top 10 for the tournament.
Chopin carded a four-under 68 to move up 12 spots into seventh (74-68—142) thanks to three birdies, an eagle and 13 pars on his card.
Biais also kept a tidy scorecard with a one-under 71 to move up three spots into T-8 (72-71—143). The Chassors, France, native had three birdies.
Hinojosa also made a surge up the leaderboard thanks to a one-over 73 on the final day. The Pharr native finished T-37 (83-73—156).
Lucky Boonsrirat rounded out UHV's scores on Tuesday with a four-over 76 and finished T-12 (69-76—145).
"Anytime you shoot 14-under, it's impressive," Adair said. "We saw ourselves drop in the polls and wanted to come out here and prove ourselves. Even though (Riverside) is a getable course, we wanted to show teams what we can do. Shooting 14-under, no matter where you're at, is impressive. This is a great stepping stone to where we want to be."
Including individuals Ryan Romero (84-78—162, 46th) and Brady Copley (85-78—163, T-47), all of UHV's players had final rounds in the 70s.
The Jaguars will resume their season on Feb. 24-25 with the Claud Jacobs Invitational at Victoria Country Club.