MCALLEN – The East Texas A&M University men's golf team picked up a 3-2 win over Southeastern Louisiana in the third-place match of the South Texas Match Play on Tuesday at the McAllen Country Club.
 
The match between the two Lion teams of the Southland came down to the final grouping, which was won by East Texas A&M.
 
"I'm really proud of how we were able to battle this week down in South Texas," said director of golf Brian Dolehide. "We had a few really tight matches and pulled through in the end. We're excited to get back to work and prepare for our final stretch!"
 
"A special shoutout goes to Matt Walters, who was our MVP throughout the week."
 
Cooper Watt (Rockford, Ill.) and Griffin Dorr halved the first match of the day, with Watt holding a one-hole lead entering the 18^th hole, but Watt bogeyed the final hole, while Dorr parred.
 
The second match to finish, which was Blake Taylor (Mansfield) and Colby Sullivan, was also halved. Taylor had a lead as big as four holes in the match and led by three with three holes to go, which were all won by Sullivan, who had back-to-back birdies to end his day.
 
The first win of the day for East Texas A&M came in the third match as Nicke Kaajavirta (Kajaani, Finland) won 4&2 over Ethan Dial. Kaajavirta had two birdies and just one bogey in the 16 holes.
 
Southeastern's only win was in the fourth match as Viggo Hed won 4&2 over Janis Erll (Lich, Germany). Hed birdied the 16^th, while Erll had a double bogey to seal the match.
 
Matt Walters (Ballito, South Africa) clinched the match win for East Texas A&M with a 3&2 win in the fifth match over Presto Paulk. Walters parred four of his final five holes and won the match as Paulk bogeyed the 16^th.
 
UP NEXT
East Texas is back in action on April 14-15 for the Arkansas State Spring Invitational, which is the final tournament prior to the conference championships.
 
SOUTH TEXAS MATCH PLAY
Round 1
UTRGV 5, Nicholls 0
EAST TEXAS A&M 3.5, UIW 1.5
Abilene Christian 5, New Orleans 0
Southeastern 4, SFA 1
 
Round 2
UTRGV 3, EAST TEXAS A&M 2 (SEMIFINALS)
Abilene Christian 4, Southeastern 1 (Semifinals)
UIW 4.5, Nicholls 0.5
SFA 4, New Orleans 1
 
Round 3
UTRGV, 3.5, Abilene Christian 1.5 (Championship Match)
EAST TEXAS A&M 3, SOUTHEASTERN 2 (THIRD-PLACE MATCH)
UIW 3.5, SFA 1.5 (Fifth-Place Match)
Nicholls 4, New Orleans 1 (Seventh-Place Match)
 
Round 1: East Texas A&M 3.5, UIW 1.5
Matt Walters, East Texas A&M over Joe Buenfeld, UIW (1 up)
Blake Taylor, East Texas A&M and Francisco Taboada, UIW (tie)
Janis Erll, East Texas A&M over Ken Marten Soo, UIW (5&4)
Carson Hunsucker, UIW over Cooper Watt, East Texas A&M (7&5)
Nicke Kaajavirta, East Texas A&M over Jack Ward, UIW (4&3)
 
Semifinals: UTRGV 3, East Texas A&M 2
Esteban Gonzalez, UTRGV over Nicke Kaajavirta, East Texas A&M (5&3)
Blake Taylor, East Texas A&M and Taj Sutherland, UTRGV (tie)
Cooper Watt, East Texas A&M and Luis Limon, UTRGV (tie)
Matt Walters, East Texas A&M over Emilio Gil Leyva, UTRGV (4&3)
Arthit Kruaprayong, UTRGV over Janis Erll, East Texas A&M (1 up)
 
Third-Place Match: East Texas A&M 3, Southeastern 2
Cooper Watt, East Texas A&M and Griffin Dor, Southeastern (tie)
Blake Taylor, East Texas A&M and Colby Sullivan, Southeastern (tie)
Nicke Kaajavirta, East Texas A&M over Ethan Dial, Southeastern (4&2)
Viggo Hed, Southeastern over Janis Erll, East Texas A&M (4&2)
Matt Walters, East Texas A&M over Preston Paulk, Southeastern (3&2)