Arkansas golf places fourth at Cabo Collegiate Invitational

The No. 7 Arkansas men’s golf team made the trip south to sunny Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Sunday and finished fourth in the three-day Cabo Collegiate tournament. The Razorbacks finished with a score of 824, 28 under par.

The Hogs’ total score set a program record, but because the Mexican course is a par 71, their 28-under-par score tied for fifth-best. Junior Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira shot an 8-under-par 205 and tied for 10th place, giving him his fifth top-10 finish in six competitions. Senior Julian Perico shot a season-low 65 in the third round, going from a tie for 34th to finishing tied for 12th.

Seniors Luke Long and Segundo Oliva Pinto each shot 5 under par to finish in the top 30. Junior Will Gibson, the fifth member of the team, shot 1 under par and tied for 34th.

Freshman Juan Camilo Vesga and junior Enrique Dimayuga competed as individuals in Cabo. Vesga shot 2 over, while Dimayuga struggled to a 12-over-par finish, tying for 72nd in a field of 78 competitors.

After day one, Arkansas was in fourth place at 8 under par as Fernandez de Oliveira, Pinto, Long and Gibson were each at 2 under. The Razorbacks finished the day five strokes behind the first-place Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Arkansas ended the day strong as Long finished on back-to-back birdies and Fernandez de Oliveira and Gibson birdied two of the last three. Pinto birdied hole 17 as well. Arkansas led the field with 24 birdies and shot a tournament-leading 4 under par on par-4 holes for the day.

The Razorbacks moved into a tie for third place after day two. They shot a 277, which brought them to 15 under par for the tournament. Arkansas moved within three strokes of the Cowboys and the Florida State Seminoles, who were tied for first.

Fernandez de Oliveira shot a career-best 65 to tie for second among individuals and keep Arkansas afloat as the rest of the Razorback golfers shot a 70 or worse on the par-71 course. Long shot 1 under and Pinto and Perico were both even for the day. Gibson fell behind, scoring 3 over par on day two.

Arkansas took the lead at 26 under par midway through the third and final round of the tournament, and even got down to 30 under. The Vanderbilt Commodores came from behind to finish in first place with a 32-under-par score after starting the day at fifth place.

Fernandez de Oliveira shot an even 71 on the final day, while Long and Gibson both went 2 under and Pinto was 3 under.

Arkansas had a tournament-high 68 birdies, with Fernandez de Oliveira coming in second among individuals with 17.

Next up, the Razorbacks will travel to Tucson, Arizona, on March 18 for the Arizona National Invitational Tournament.