De La Fuente Leads Men’s Golf after Cabo Collegiate First Round

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico & SUGAR LAND, Texas – University of Houston junior Santiago De La Fuente posted a 1-under 70 to lead the Cougars and tie for fourth after the First Round of the Cabo Collegiate at Twin Dolphin Club.

Starting his day off No. 10, the Mexico City native made three straight pars before draining his first birdie of the day on the 571-yard, par-5 13^th hole.

After a bogey on No. 15 returned him to even par, De La Fuente posted three straight pars to close his first nine and opened his second nine with back-to-back birdies on the way to the 70 on the 7,156-yard, par-71 course. It was his team-leading 15^th round under par in 18 total rounds in 2022-23.

As a team, the 50^th-ranked Cougars posted a score of 296 and stood in ninth against an elite field. The tournament features 13 of the nation's Top-50 programs and 10 of the Top 25.

Sophomore Wolfgang Glawe was tied for 25^th at 73 while redshirt freshman Ruben Lindsay was tied for 48^th at 76. Junior Austyn Reily was tied for 56^th at 77 with super senior Campbell Gibson tied for 70^th with an 80.

#1 Vanderbilt held the first-day lead at 280 to stand four shots ahead of No. 44 Mississippi. #2 Texas Tech, #3, Arizona State and #23 Baylor were tied for third at 288 with #19 Arizona (291), #48 Arkansas (292), #9 Florida State (294), #17 Alabama (298) and #18 Oklahoma State (298) rounding out the Top-11 leaders.

On the individual leaderboard, Arkansas' Mateo Fernandez De Oliveira fired a 67 to finish one stroke ahead of Vanderbilt's Matthew Riedel. Vanderbilt's Gordon Sargent stood in third with a 69 while De La Fuente joined Luke Potter (Arizona State), Johnny Keefer (Baylor), Sarut Vongchaisit (Mississippi), Jack Wall (Texas Tech) and Patton Samuels (Mississippi) in a tie for fourth.

Houston will be represented at two tournaments beginning Monday. In addition to the Cabo Collegiate, four student-athletes will compete as individuals at the HCU-Colin Montgomerie Invitational at Sweetwater Country Club in Sugar Land, Texas.

LIVE SCORING
Fans can follow live scoring at the Cabo Collegiate by visiting Golfstat.com and following the appropriate links or by clicking here.

Fans can follow live scoring at the HCU-Colin Montgomerie Invitational by visiting BirdieFire.com and following the appropriate links or by clicking here.

PAIRINGS
For Monday's Second Round at the Cabo Collegiate, Houston will compete in groups with student-athletes from Alabama, Oklahoma State and Stanford.

De La Fuente begins the day at 9 a.m. (CST) Monday off No. 10 with Glawe (No. 11), Lindsay (No. 12), Reily (No. 13) and Gibson (No. 14) following.

Fans can find complete Cabo Collegiate pairings by clicking here.

For the HCU-Colin Montgomerie Invitational, senior Marcus Wochner begins off No. 14 at 8:30 a.m., Monday, with super senior Braxton Watkins (No. 15), sophomore Drew Murdock (No. 16) and redshirt freshman Bryant Hiskey (No. 17) following.

Fans can find complete HCU-Colin Montgomerie Invitational pairings by clicking here.

UP NEXT
Following the Cabo Collegiate and HCU Colin Montgomerie Invitational, the Cougars play host to their own All-American Intercollegiate on March 20-21 at Golf Club of Houston in Humble, Texas.

From there, Houston plays host in its second straight tournament when it welcomes an elite field to the Valspar Collegiate Invitational at Floridian National Golf Club on March 27-28.

SUPPORT HOUSTON RISE
Join Houston Rise, a $150 million fundraising campaign for Houston Athletics dedicated to championship success in the Big 12 Conference.

Every Houston Rise contribution prepares our Cougars to compete and win when we start Big 12 competition in July 2023. Click here to rise and be counted.

JOIN PROJECT 17
Fans are invited to join Project 17 to support Houston Men's Golf. Project members provide financial support directly to Houston Men's Golf for needs beyond the program's operating budget.

For information about Project 17 or to join, fans can click here.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarMGolf on Twitter and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at UHCougarMGolf. Fans also can follow the team on Instagram at uhcougarmgolf.

– UHCougars.com –

Upcoming Events

Recent Results