Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Desert Classic
Tech Golfers Take Third At Desert Intercollegiate
February 21, 2016 | Men's Golf
Hurly Long finished tied for fifth individually at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate.
Feb. 21, 2016
PALM DESERT, Calif. -- The Texas Tech men's golf team stayed near the top of the leaderboard all day during the final round of the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate, but wasn't able to get over the hump, finishing third as a team, on Sunday.
The Red Raiders had a pretty even-keel front nine, going 1-over as a team. That consistency allowed them to move into a tie for first place with Kansas, who struggled on the opening nine, falling to 5-over for the tournament, even with the Red Raiders.
However, every Tech player bogeyed at least one of the first four holes on the back nine--Hurly Long and Ivan Ramirez did it twice. At that point, the Red Raiders slipped to +10 for the weekend.
Hannes Ronneblad gets his 1st birdie of the day at the 14!! Need a strong finish from the guys these last few holes! pic.twitter.com/MGkAXbhnCr
-- Texas Tech Mens Golf (@TTUMensGolf) February 21, 2016
From there, Tech struck back with back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 from Hannes Ronneblad, a birdie on 13 from Ramirez and birdies on 14 and 15 from Henry Todd, as well.
Long was able to get one of his strokes back with a birdie on 18, but it wasn't enough for the Red Raiders to climb all the way back. They finished with a 2-over 290 for the day and a 6-over 870 for the weekend, four shots behind Kansas, who took the team title, and one stroke behind Colorado, who took second.
Long carded an even-par 72 on the day, keeping him at 3-under for the tournament, which was good enough to tie for fifth as an individual. It marks his second-straight top-20 individual finish to begin the spring slate.
"Obviously it wasn't the finish we wanted today, but there were a lot of positives to take away," Texas Tech head coach Greg Sands said. "Hurly Long was fantastic, finishing in the top five. We have a couple weeks now to fine-tune some things before our next tournament. I'm looking forward to getting back at it."
Individually, Ivan Ramirez finished 2-over for the weekend, joining Long in the top 15, with a 13th-place finish. Hannes Ronneblad (+3) finished on Ramirez's heels, in a tie for 14th. Henry Todd (+6) settled into a tied for 26th and Federico Zucchetti (+12) tied for 66th.
Playing as an individual, Hayden Springer shot a final round 72 to join Todd at 6-over, tied for 26th.
The Red Raiders will return to action March 7-9, at the Southern Highlands Masters, in Las Vegas, Nev.
Visit www.TexasTech.com for the latest news and information on the men's golf program. Fans also can follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/TTUMensGolf and @TTUMensGolf on Twitter.
Players Mentioned
