LAREDO – In just its second spring tournament of 2026, Tarleton State Men’s Golf had its second-highest finish in the Division I era when the Texans finished as the runners-up at the Border Olympics that concluded Tuesday at the Laredo Country Club.
The Texans tied with North Texas for second place with a 54-hole score of 852, shooting an even par as a team. Tarleton State finished just two strokes behind the tournament winner, Houston, who is nationally-ranked at No. 50. The Texans’ 54-hole score of 852 marked the second-lowest 54-hole score in the Division I era.
Tarleton State had four players who had an even or under par performance in Tuesday’s final round, with sophomore Luis Buech finishing with a 3-under-par day in the last 18 holes. After shooting 4-over-par in the first round, Buech compiled 13 of his 14 birdies in his final 36 holes. The Berlin, Germany, native shot a season-low 18-hole score of 67, lifting himself into the top 10. His season-low 210 54-hole score put him in a tie for fourth place on the player leaderboard.
Freshman Alvaro Pastor recorded his second top 10 finish of the season, shooting 1-under-par to finish tied for eighth on the player leaderboard. He shot 2-under-par in the first round before following that up with 1-over-par second round and an even par 71 in Tuesday’s final round.
Junior Juan Ballester recorded his second top 20 finish as a Texan, finishing tied for 18th on the player leaderboard. Ballester strung together his best round of the season on Tuesday, shooting a 3-under-par 68 to lift himself into the top 20. The Spaniard shot an eagle on his second hole of the day Tuesday, stringing together four additional birdies to jump 29 places on the player leaderboard.
Sophomore Kellen Young finished tied for 27th with a 54-hole score of 218, shooting an even par in the second and third round. Young has collected a top 30 finish in two of his last three tournaments. Freshman Maximilian Bjornstrom compiled a 54-hole score of 227 to tie for 60th.
“Awesome bounce back by the team this week,” head coach Chance Cain said. “Our performance at the Bentwater Intercollegiate was a wake up call and the team was able to make the most of the short turnaround. To bounce back in round two and having our lowest scores in the final round shows a lot of character from this team. We look forward to keeping that momentum going at home and seeing what we can do at the Golden Nugget Invite in the first part of March.”
Tarleton State returns to action March 2-3 at the Golden Nugget Invite in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Team Results
1. No. 50 Houston, 284-283-283-850 (-2)
T2. Tarleton State, 292-282-278-852 (E)
North Texas, 281-290-281-852 (E)
4. Wichita State, 300-276-283-859 (+7)
T5. Illinois State, 289-288-284-861 (+9)
New Mexico State, 286-285-290-861 (+9)
Lamar, 291-279-291-861 (+9)
8. Louisiana, 290-288-288-866 (+14)
9. UTRGV, 297-281-296-874 (+22)
10. Houston Christian, 292-292-292-876 (+24)
11. Troy, 292-290-295-877 (+25)
12. Sam Houston, 288-292-298-878 (+26)
13. Wright State, 293-304-305-902 (+50)
Individual Results
T4. Luis Buech, 75-67-68-210 (-3)
T8. Alvaro Pastor, 69-72-71-212 (-1)
T18. Juan Ballester, 72-76-68-216 (-3)
T27. Kellen Young, 76-71-71-218 (+5)
T60. Maximilian Bjornstrom, 78-72-77-227 (+14)
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