Sacha Ruiz Leads Men’s Golf in Debut at Jackson T. Stephens Cup

Monday, September 14

Fields Ranch East – PGA Frisco – Frisco, Texas

University of Houston

Jackson T. Stephens Cup

Sacha Ruiz Leads Men’s Golf in Debut at Jackson T. Stephens Cup

9/14/2026 7:44:00 PM | Men's Golf

Live Scoring Watch (Golf Channel) (3-6 pm CT Tue)Tee Times Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco Donate to Project 17

Junior transfer from FGCU fires 68 in Second Round to tie for 10th and lead Cougars

Sacha Ruiz, Second-Round scorecard, Jackson T. Stephens Cup

FRISCO, Texas – Making his Cougar debut, University of Houston Men's Golf junior Sacha Ruiz fired a 4-under 68 in the Second Round of the Jackson T. Stephens Cup and stood in a tie for 10^th at 145 at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco on Monday evening.

Starting the Second Round on No. 10 on the 7,482-yard, par-72 course, Ruiz ran into trouble with a bogey on the 491-yard, par-4 fifth hole but quickly returned to red numbers with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 7-8.

After making pars on each of the first five holes of his second nine, the Le Havre, France, native birdied three of the last four holes to join Brooks Harper (Texas) and Adam Villanueva (Texas) in a tie for 10^th.

As a team, Houston overcame a challenging opening round and bettered their morning score by 22 strokes with a total of 291 in the afternoon and finished the first day in sixth at 598.

Junior Hsuan-Yi Chen was tied for 20^th at 149 while senior Chi Chun Chen was tied for 24^th at 150. Senior Grant Doggett was tied for 31^st at 154 while junior Brett Moore – who also was making his Houston debut – was tied for 35^th at 157.

Texas held the first-day lead at 560 to finish 12 shots ahead of Texas A&M. Rice (575), Utah (584) and SMU (584) completed the Top Five.

Utah's Gabriel Palacios and Texas' Daniel Bennett stood atop the individual leaderboard at 138. Matt Comegys (Texas) and Reggie Zhu (Rice) were tied for third at 139 while Wheaton Ennis (Texas A&M) and Alex Huang (SMU) were tied for fifth at 141.

The tournament continues with the final round of stroke play on Tuesday. With the completion of stroke play, teams will be seeded for one round of match play, which begins Wednesday morning.

The Jackson T. Stephens Cup marked the debut for new Mike Booker Head Coach Andrew Danna. The eighth coach in program history, Danna joined the Cougars this summer following a award-winning career at Florida Gulf Coast, Lynn, and Georgia Southwestern.

In 17 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Danna has led his teams to 32 team championships, including the 2018 NCAA Division II national title with Lynn, and guided nine student-athletes to 17 individual crowns.

He is a seven-time Conference Coach of the Year honoree and was named the NCAA Division II Dave Williams National Coach of the Year. Williams was a legendary Hall of Fame coach for the Cougars and led the program to 16 NCAA team national championships.

BUY TICKETS
Fans can purchase tickets for the Jackson T. Stephens Cup by clicking here.

TUNE IN
Fans can watch action from the Jackson T. Stephens Cup each day on Golf Channel. Tuesday's coverage can be seen from 3 to 6 p.m. The final round of match play can be seen from 3 to 6 p.m., Wednesday.

A subscription to Golf Channel may be required for viewing.

LIVE SCORING
Fans can follow stroke-play live scoring from the Jackson T. Stephens Cup by clicking here.

Fans can follow Tuesday's match-play live scoring by clicking here.

TEE TIMES
For Tuesday's match play, the Cougars will play in groups with student-athletes from Utah and SMU beginning off No. 10.

Moore begins the day at 11:24 a.m. with Doggett (11:36 a.m.), Chi Chun Chen (11:48 a.m.), Hsuan-Yi Chen (Noon) and Ruiz (12:12 p.m.) following.

Complete Jackson T. Stephens Cup match-play tee times can be found by clicking here.

ABOUT the JACKSON T. STEPHENS CUP
Held annually since 2021, the Jackson T. Stephens Cup features some of the nation's top programs. In addition to the 12 competing men's and women's teams, the tournament features prominent individual student-athletes from the U.S. Military Academy and U.S. Naval Academy and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

The event is named in honor of the late Jackson (Jack) T. Stephens, former chairman of Augusta National Golf Club.

UP NEXT
Following the Jackson T. Stephens Cup, the Cougars return to action when they compete at the NB3 Matchplay hosted by the Notah Begay III Foundation at Twin Warriors Golf Club in Pueblo, N.M., on Sept. 29-30.

Houston then tees off at the Big 12 Matchplay at Salt Lake Country Club in Salt Lake on Oct. 12-14 before playing in the Abilene Christian Intercollegiate at Halbert National in Granbury, Texas, on Oct. 19-21.

The Cougars close their fall campaign at the Ka'anapali Classic at Ka'anapali Golf Resort in Lahaina, Hawai'i, on Oct. 26-28.

SUPPORT YOUR COOGS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Men's Golf by providing NIL opportunities and by joining Project 17, which provides financial support directly to Houston Men's Golf for needs beyond its operating budget.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarMGolf on X 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 –