Wednesday, April 28
Texarkana, Ark.
University of North Texas
3
vs
2
Conference USA Championship Match Play Semifinal vs. UAB
Mean Green Win Match Play Semi In Epic Fashion
4/28/2021 7:13:00 PM | Men's Golf
TEXARKANA, Ark. - After shooting a 10-under-par 278 in Wednesday's final round of stroke play at the Conference USA Championship, the North Texas men's golf team finished in second place of the three-round stroke play tournament before advancing to the four-team match play tournament to determine the conference champion. They had a pretty strong encore later in the night.
That's when the Mean Green topped UAB, 3-2, in one of the two match play semifinals in dramatic fashion, as the deciding match came down to the final hole when UNT's Sean Wilcox extended the match with a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole and then won it on the 19th hole of the match against UAB's John Snoddy with a 30-foot birdie putt. The Mean Green will move on to Thursday's final match at 8 a.m., against Middle Tennessee State, who edged UNT by two shots in the stroke play tournament and defeated Charlotte in the other semifinal, 4-1.
"That was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen," UNT head coach Brad Stracke said of Wilcox's two final holes, "to be one down and make a 25-footer and a 30-footer back-to-back to win - it was crazy. It was big-time clutch."
"He's been playing better every tournament, and he had to qualify to get in and stepped up in the qualifier and proved he's the guy who needs to be in that fifth spot," Stracke added. "He proved it again in that match. he played awfully well to beat that guy."
Wilcox said it was the most pressure he's ever felt on the golf course over the final four or five holes, but those last two were another level. He credited a practice technique the team uses that requires them to do burpees before hitting tee shots to get their heart rate up and their adrenaline going to simulate playing in pressure and focusing on their breathing and heart rates.
"I kind of backed off a bit and took a couple of deep breaths," Wilcox said. "Those burpees had me in the mindset of what I needed to feel. Looking back, we were doing them and I was thinking, 'What in the world are we doing?' It was all reality standing there on the last few holes. I would say they definitely did prepare me for what just happened. Those last few holes, (Stracke) came up to me and said, 'This is what we're here for. We play golf for a reason.' Those (holes) were definitely the most pressure I've felt, especially on the last two holes."
The Mean Green also got victories from freshmen Nikhil Gopal and Vicente Marzilio, as Gopal took care of his match in just 13 holes, winning 6 & 5, and Marzilio followed up his final-round 67 to win the individual conference championship earlier in the day with a 3 & 2 victory in his match. Senior Viktor Forslund also had a narrow loss, falling 2 & 1 in his match, and junior Lenny Bergsson fell 5 & 4.
Stracke also praised the play of his freshmen in the match, and of his entire team heading into Thursday's final with an NCAA Regional bid on the line.
"Vicente played great," Stracke said. "Nikhil played awesome. The guy he played finished second in the tournament, and he won 6 & 5. All three of those guys played some unreal golf to win their matches."
Stracke said the team is playing with a lot of confidence heading into Thursday.
"Middle is gonna be a good match," he said. "They handed it to Charlotte and they've played well the last two days. We've played some great golf, too. It's gonna be a great match. We're looking forward to it."
"Those two freshmen, what they did so far this week has been huge," he added. "I can't wait to see what the rest of the team is going to do tomorrow. I'm very happy with the overall team and their performance. Everyone did their part, and I'm looking forward to the final."
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That's when the Mean Green topped UAB, 3-2, in one of the two match play semifinals in dramatic fashion, as the deciding match came down to the final hole when UNT's Sean Wilcox extended the match with a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole and then won it on the 19th hole of the match against UAB's John Snoddy with a 30-foot birdie putt. The Mean Green will move on to Thursday's final match at 8 a.m., against Middle Tennessee State, who edged UNT by two shots in the stroke play tournament and defeated Charlotte in the other semifinal, 4-1.
"That was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen," UNT head coach Brad Stracke said of Wilcox's two final holes, "to be one down and make a 25-footer and a 30-footer back-to-back to win - it was crazy. It was big-time clutch."
"He's been playing better every tournament, and he had to qualify to get in and stepped up in the qualifier and proved he's the guy who needs to be in that fifth spot," Stracke added. "He proved it again in that match. he played awfully well to beat that guy."
Wilcox said it was the most pressure he's ever felt on the golf course over the final four or five holes, but those last two were another level. He credited a practice technique the team uses that requires them to do burpees before hitting tee shots to get their heart rate up and their adrenaline going to simulate playing in pressure and focusing on their breathing and heart rates.
"I kind of backed off a bit and took a couple of deep breaths," Wilcox said. "Those burpees had me in the mindset of what I needed to feel. Looking back, we were doing them and I was thinking, 'What in the world are we doing?' It was all reality standing there on the last few holes. I would say they definitely did prepare me for what just happened. Those last few holes, (Stracke) came up to me and said, 'This is what we're here for. We play golf for a reason.' Those (holes) were definitely the most pressure I've felt, especially on the last two holes."
The Mean Green also got victories from freshmen Nikhil Gopal and Vicente Marzilio, as Gopal took care of his match in just 13 holes, winning 6 & 5, and Marzilio followed up his final-round 67 to win the individual conference championship earlier in the day with a 3 & 2 victory in his match. Senior Viktor Forslund also had a narrow loss, falling 2 & 1 in his match, and junior Lenny Bergsson fell 5 & 4.
Stracke also praised the play of his freshmen in the match, and of his entire team heading into Thursday's final with an NCAA Regional bid on the line.
"Vicente played great," Stracke said. "Nikhil played awesome. The guy he played finished second in the tournament, and he won 6 & 5. All three of those guys played some unreal golf to win their matches."
Stracke said the team is playing with a lot of confidence heading into Thursday.
"Middle is gonna be a good match," he said. "They handed it to Charlotte and they've played well the last two days. We've played some great golf, too. It's gonna be a great match. We're looking forward to it."
"Those two freshmen, what they did so far this week has been huge," he added. "I can't wait to see what the rest of the team is going to do tomorrow. I'm very happy with the overall team and their performance. Everyone did their part, and I'm looking forward to the final."
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Friday, November 04