University of North Texas Athletics
Youth Movement Led Mean Green, Future Is Bright
5/26/2021 9:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
DENTON - The North Texas men's golf team had a good core of experienced returners heading into the 2020-21 season, but it was the new faces who stood out as the team made it to the match-play final at the Conference USA tournament and weren't far off the cut line of earning an NCAA Regional berth.
Freshman Vicente Marzilio was the team's best player throughout the season with a team-best 72.43 stroke average, and when he went on a back-nine tear in the final round of the conference tournament to claim the individual championship, he earned a spot in the NCAA Regional as an individual, where he finished tied for 21st in the Stillwater Regional.
Marzilio was joined by fellow freshmen Nikhil Gopal and Diego Prone to inject some youth and new talent onto the roster this year, and it paid off as Gopal competed in all five spring tournaments after enrolling in January and was third on the team in stroke average (73.53).
"Vicente and Nikhil and Diego had a really solid freshman year and improved tremendously this year and helped the team be successful," UNT head coach Brad Stracke said. "Vicente had the best freshman year of any recruit I've had since I've been at North Texas."
Marzilio's 72.43 average is one of the best in recent memory for the program, beaten only by recent great Ian Snyman in 2017-18 and before that only by all-time program greats Rodolfo Cazaubon and Carlos Ortiz. The team round average of 292.22 was also the best since Snyman's senior year of 2017-18.
In the fall, the Mean Green will add two new players to go with that trio of freshmen with a year of experience under their belts and seasoned vets in Lenny Bergsson, who was second on the team in scoring average, Viktor Forslund and Sean Wilcox, who provided one of the most electric moments of the season when he sank back-to-back long birdie putts to earn the Mean Green a spot in the match-play final at conference on the first extra hole.
Stracke was also proud of his team's work in the classroom, as they had a 3.4 GPA for the year, with a 3.46 mark in the spring semester - the best marks his team has posted in his North Texas tenure, he said.
"I was proud of how the team competed this year and improved over the course of the season," Stracke said. "We have a great culture and talent along with everyone coming back. The future is really bright and we have a really strong schedule in place with 10 strong events where we can showcase their talents next year."
Freshman Vicente Marzilio was the team's best player throughout the season with a team-best 72.43 stroke average, and when he went on a back-nine tear in the final round of the conference tournament to claim the individual championship, he earned a spot in the NCAA Regional as an individual, where he finished tied for 21st in the Stillwater Regional.
Marzilio was joined by fellow freshmen Nikhil Gopal and Diego Prone to inject some youth and new talent onto the roster this year, and it paid off as Gopal competed in all five spring tournaments after enrolling in January and was third on the team in stroke average (73.53).
"Vicente and Nikhil and Diego had a really solid freshman year and improved tremendously this year and helped the team be successful," UNT head coach Brad Stracke said. "Vicente had the best freshman year of any recruit I've had since I've been at North Texas."
Marzilio's 72.43 average is one of the best in recent memory for the program, beaten only by recent great Ian Snyman in 2017-18 and before that only by all-time program greats Rodolfo Cazaubon and Carlos Ortiz. The team round average of 292.22 was also the best since Snyman's senior year of 2017-18.
In the fall, the Mean Green will add two new players to go with that trio of freshmen with a year of experience under their belts and seasoned vets in Lenny Bergsson, who was second on the team in scoring average, Viktor Forslund and Sean Wilcox, who provided one of the most electric moments of the season when he sank back-to-back long birdie putts to earn the Mean Green a spot in the match-play final at conference on the first extra hole.
Stracke was also proud of his team's work in the classroom, as they had a 3.4 GPA for the year, with a 3.46 mark in the spring semester - the best marks his team has posted in his North Texas tenure, he said.
"I was proud of how the team competed this year and improved over the course of the season," Stracke said. "We have a great culture and talent along with everyone coming back. The future is really bright and we have a really strong schedule in place with 10 strong events where we can showcase their talents next year."
Players Mentioned
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