On Tuesday Feb. 10, the UTSA men’s golf team tied for their best placement of the season by finishing second in the UTSA Oak Hills Invitational.

Of the 15 teams in the tournament, UTSA outplayed all but Baylor University — who finished with a total score of 850. UTSA’s score of 866 was good enough to place them above powerhouse club and top-25 ranked Oklahoma University who finished in third with 871.

“(Finishing second) was big for us, especially beating Oklahoma, that was pretty cool,” said UTSA sophomore Bryce Alley.

Alley was one of two UTSA players to end the tournament with an individual top five finish. On the strength of his performance at the invitational, Alley received Player of the Week honors.

“I didn’t play well in qualifying but I just stayed with it, stayed patient and tried to play the best I could and it worked out this week,” Alley said about his performance.

Until recently Alley’s sophomore campaign has been fairly inconsistent. He finished tied for 36th (T-36th) in the first tournament of the season and T-22nd in the second. Alley’s placements have been trending up since his lowest finish in October, where he got T-50th in the Jerry Pate National Invitational. His T-5th finish is his best of the season to this point.

“(Alley) always finds a way to come back and fight to the end. He definitely deserves that recognition,” said Kyle Collins, UTSA assistant coach.

The other Roadrunner to finish T-5th in the tournament was team captain Brett Hogan.

Hogan started the season with an abysmal T-71st placement in the first tournament of the season (Sam Hall Intercollegiate), despite that, he has shined in his junior campaign for UTSA.

“I went into (the Sam Hall Intercollegiate) mentally the wrong way. I feel like I put a lot of pressure on myself to start well,” Hogan said of his initial struggles.

Since his first outing, Hogan has scored five top-15 finishes. His best performance came in the Miramont Invitational where he finished T-3rd.

“Mentally, I feel like I’m a lot more mature and I can handle a lot more now,” Hogan said explaining his progression through the season.

Just like Hogan, the team has progressed consistently throughout the season. The Roadrunners finished eighth, seventh and T-10th in their first three tournaments respectively. In their last three outings the team finished second, fifth and most recently second.

“(The team has) grown a lot. We’ve worked really hard to get where we’ve gotten,” said UTSA senior Garrison Lackey.

“As a team, I don’t think we’ve had that defining moment yet. I think we’ll have one in the next couple of tournaments, that’s for sure,” added UTSA freshman Zander Lozano.

“We beat a top-20 team in Oklahoma. We beat every team that was in our conference there, but it’s nice to know that my guys are hungry, and they weren’t satisfied with just finishing second. That’s a good thing for this group,” said UTSA Head Coach John Knauer on the recent success of his team. “They believe in themselves and they believe they’re one of the top teams in the country,” Knauer finished.

Next the men’s golf team heads to Humble, Texas, to compete in the Bayou City Collegiate Championship from Friday, Feb. 20 to Sunday, Feb. 22.