Following their eighth-place finish in the Trinity Forest Invitational to start their season, UTSA women’s golf was back in action at the Texas St. Invitational on Monday, Feb. 8, and Tuesday, Feb. 9. Squaring off against perennial school rivals UIW and Texas St., the ‘Runners were looking for an improvement over their previous effort the week before, and they got it. The ‘Runners recovered from a slow start early in the tournament and strong individual efforts from Hannah Holzmann and Camryn Carreon helped power UTSA to a runner-up finish behind the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes in the 54-hole event.

Things got off to an average start for UTSA on day one of the tournament, as they carded a team score of 291, placing them sixth on the team leaderboard and nine strokes back of Tulsa. Individually, Holzmann enjoyed a strong start to the tournament, carding a 70 to finish two strokes under par and finished the day tied for fourth. UTSA’s Nicole Polivchak also got off to a quick start, matching Holzmann’s 70 with one of her own to join in a four-way tie for fourth at the end of day one. 

Day two of the tournament saw UTSA hit a bit of a rough patch as Holzmann struggled over the course of the front nine, shooting two over par, which brought her to even-par for the tournament. Polvichak also struggled on day two and stood at three over par through her first nine holes of the round. Carreon was able to shoot an average round of one over par through her first nine holes of the round. With UTSA struggling, they were able to catch a break when the rest of the second round was suspended on account of darkness. At the time the second round was postponed, UTSA sat at ten over par for the tournament and were 22 shots behind clubhouse leaders Tulsa. 

The final day of the tournament, however, would see a blistering reversal of UTSA’s fortunes. The ‘Runners closed out the second round with solid play that saw Holzmann card a two under par 70, and Carreon a three under par 69. Polivchak struggled to a four over par 76, but the strong effort by UTSA saw them shoot a score of 289 for the round, and they sat just 14 strokes back of Tulsa heading into the final round. UTSA would continue this momentum in the final round, unleashing a hard charge down the home stretch, shooting a school record-tying score of 281 in round three. The seven under par 281 was nearly enough to come roaring all the way back and steal the Tournament from Tulsa, but the Golden Hurricanes managed to do just enough, shooting a five over par score of 293 during the final round, to hang on for a two-stroke victory. UTSA finished the tournament with a total score of a three under par 861, which stands as the fifth-lowest team score through 54-holes in program history. 

The ‘Runners near comeback victory was powered by strong final rounds from the trio of Holzmann, Carreon and Polivchak. Holzmann fired a final round four under par 68, a UTSA career-best for her that was also tied as the fifth-lowest round in the program’s history. This helped her finish with a total score of 208, also the fifth-lowest 54-hole score in UTSA history. The 208 was a career-best for Holzmann, and she finished the tournament with a third-place finish, seven strokes behind tournament winner Hanna Alberto of Sam Houston. The strong effort from Holzmann earned her Conference USA Women’s Golfer of the Week honors. Backing up Holzmann’s strong performance, Carreon also came on strong down the stretch. Carreon shot a three under par 69 in the final round. She ended the tournament at four under par with a total score of 212, a new career-best for her, as she vaulted up the leaderboard and finished fifth for the event. Rounding out the top ten, Polivchak shook off her rough second round to card an even par 72 to finish the tournament with a two over par total score of 218. The 218 was a 54-hole career-best for Polivchak as she finished the tournament in a four-way tie for seventh. 

Looking to continue the momentum from their impressive final round charge, UTSA will be back in action on Feb. 15, and Feb. 16, in Las Vegas to take part in the Rebel Beach tournament.