WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – The UWF men's golf team was unable to get the big shots when it needed them, falling to West Texas A&M, 2-2-1, in the match play quarterfinals of the 2024 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championship on Friday.
 
WT led in three of the five matches for much of the day until early in the back nine when the momentum swung to the Argos. Junior Fabian Wennerlof went from being down two strokes to ahead by two with a birdie on 12 and a par of 14. But the momentum went back to the Buffs on 16 in his match when his opponent birdied 16 to pull even. The players both pared the final two holes and shot an even par 71.
 
Junior Mason Minkel opened the round for UWF, as he never trailed in his match, shooting a 73 to win by a stroke. After Wennerlof's match, the score was 1-0-1.
 
Freshman TJ Thompson shot 73 but dropped his match by seven shots after his opponent signed for a 66.
 
Freshman Per Ekelund claimed a 5-shot victory in the fourth match, shooting a 1=under 70. 
 
The final match featured UWF sophomore Cooper Tendick, who finished fourth in the stroke play competition, playing against Wyatt Provence, who won the individual national championship. The match was tied early on before Provence led by three after 11 holes.
 
Tendick had an opportunity to gain multiple strokes on the 12th when Provence hit a tee shot into a hazard and had to go back almost to the tee for where the ball crossed the red stakes. Tendick made par and Provence converted a long bogey putt to only drop a shot and lead by two. Provence picked up two more stokes with birdies on 13 and 16. Tendick made an eagle on the par 5 17th but only gained one shot before they both pared the final hole. Provence shot a 66 and Tendick a 69.
 
That tied the match and sent the advancement into a tiebreaker with the first procedure being total stroke of all five players. WT had 352 to UWF's 356.
 
UWF's top eight finish continued the most successful current stretch in Division II men's golf as the Argos have now qualified for match play in seven of the last eight championships, making them the only school to do so.
 
UWF is now 6-6-1 all-time in match play, having reached the finals once and semifinals five times. The seven appearances in match play trail only Lynn with eight and Barry.