Improving upon last year’s Jackson T. Stephens Cup performance, SDSU finished third in stroke play and advanced to Wednesday’s match play at Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club.
Teeing off first for the Aztecs was Harry Takis, who finished T-14 at 6-over for the stroke play portion of the tournament. Takis’ opponent was Oklahoma’s PJ Maybank III, who also finished T-14 in stroke play.
Takis took a 2-up lead after three holes, thanks to Maybank III making back-to-back bogeys. Maybank III then took the lead, winning with a birdie on holes five and seven, then a bogey by Takis put Maybank III up two holes with nine to play.
Takis tried to keep pace with Maybank III, but a bogey on the 10th put Takis 3-down. Maybank III kept his foot on the gas, with birdies on 12 and 13 to give the Sooners the first point, winning 5&4.
The next match was Pol (Chanachon) Chokprajakchat (4-over T-9) for the Aztecs and Jase Summy (10-over T-23) for the Sooners. The match was back and forth, remaining all square for the better part of 11 holes. With consecutive eagles on holes 12 and 13, Chokprajakchat took a 2-up lead.
Summy did not go out quietly, responding with a birdie on 14 to decrease his deficit to 1-down. With a Chokprajakchat bogey on 18, Summy made a par to conclude the match at all square, resulting in a half-point for both teams.
The third Aztec to step up to the tee was Tyler Kowack (2-over T-4). He opposed OU’s Matthew Troutman (2-over T-4). Both players had a colorful front nine, resulting in Kowack being 2-up at the turn.
The match moved to all square by way of a Kowack bogey on hole 10 and a Troutman birdie on hole 12. Kowack held steady, finishing the last six holes at 1-under. Troutman was unable to match, shooting 1-over in the same stretch, tying up the overall match at 1.5 after three matches.
The final two matches included the two highest-ranked Aztecs and the highest-ranked Sooner (rankings according to PGA Tour University): Shea Lague (57th) versus Ryder Cowan and Justin Hastings (19th) versus Drew Goodman (13th).
Lague (4-over T-9) never gave up, carding two birdies (including a win on hole 10), but went away fairly silent with a loss to a near-perfect Cowan. The match ended at 6&5.
The long-awaited Hastings (8-over 22) and Goodman (12-over T-27) match was the final of the five between the Aztecs and Sooners.
Through the front nine, Goodman took a 2-up lead, carding three birdies to Hastings’ one birdie. After the turn, Goodman went bogey-bogey to tie the match through 11 holes. The next three holes were a tug-of-war, but Goodman ultimately won two of the last three holes to take the final point from the Aztecs.
Oklahoma defeated SDSU 3.5 to 1.5. The number one-ranked Sooners proved their ranking true by winning the final two matches in 17 or fewer holes to capture third place in their home state.
The champion of the Jackson T. Stephens Cup was Oklahoma State, who defeated SMU in convincing fashion, 4-1.
Up next on the docket for the Aztecs is the Cal Poly Invitational at the fabled Preserve Golf Club in Carmel Valley, CA beginning Oct. 28.
