By Tyler Alley
Sports Editor
Baylor men’s golf may not have had the perfect ending to its first spring tournament, but one member may have.
Senior Joakim Mikkelsen took the individual title of the UTSA Oak Hills Invitational Tuesday.
“I got off to a good start Tuesday and got it to 3-under through 10 holes,” Mikkelsen said. “Even after my two bogeys on the back nine, I kept going. I thought I had played my way [out] of it until I birdied 16 and 18.”
The team shot a 13-over-par 865 overall to finish third in the tournament.
Texas Tech won the tournament with a score of 7-over-par 859, followed by Oklahoma who finished with a 10-over-par 862.
“Overall, I thought we played okay. We definitely wanted to win and we put ourselves in good position after Monday,” head coach Greg Priest said. “It’s a good way to start the spring semester. There are some things to build on, but we played a pretty strong field and managed to pick up some wins.”
Mikkelsen shot a 68 in the final day, including the birdie on the 18th hole which forced a playoff between him and Texas Tech’s Clement Sordet.
The pair played the 18th three more times, tying each other twice before Mikkelsen shot par and Sordet scored a bogey to give Mikkelsen his second career individual tournament title.
“In the playoff, I kept hitting good shots and hit the middle of the green the first two times,” Mikkelsen said. “On the third try, I hit in the bunker, but was able to go up-and-down for par.”
Baylor played two rounds Monday and ended the day in second place at 8-over-par.
“We were off to a little bit of a rough start Monday,” head coach Greg Priest said. “Conditions were rough during the morning round with the wind and the rain. We struggled a bit, but it was good to get that first round back under our belts.”
Mikkelsen, a Drammen, Norway native, shot even-par on the first day, earning him fifth place at the time.
Baylor shot a 5-over-par 289 in the final round on Tuesday to fall back to third.
Senior Lorenzo Scotto tied for 12th overall at 3-over-par 216, followed by freshman Kyle Jones in 16th at 5-over-par 218.
Competing as an individual, redshirt freshman Niclas Mansson shot a final-round 72 to tie for 37th at 9-over-par 222.
Juniors Jerry Ruiz (10-over -par 223) and Ryan O’Rear (14-over-par 227) tied for 42nd and 57th, respectively.
