AUSTIN, Texas -- Three rounds of golf at the University of Texas Golf Club by 70 of the nation's best Division I men's collegiate golfers produced one under-par total score, indicating that the real star of the NCAA Austin Regional May14-16 was the six-year-old Roy Bechtol-designed course.

Only University of Texas junior Lance Lopez, the medalist, posted a three-round score at or under par, as he shot a 4-under-par 209 (68-69-72) on the 7,412-yard, par-71 championship track to beat Florida's Billy Horschel by five strokes.

Horschel had the only sub-par finish in the final round, shooting a 1-under 70 in rainy and windy conditions, to lead the Gators to the team title with a score of 22-over-par 874, in the process holding off Texas Tech by two strokes (24-over 876) and Texas by three (25-over 877).

Stanford (35-under 887) and Michigan (36-over 888) also advanced to the national championship tournament, set for May 26-30 at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.

Inclement weather plagued the final round May 16 and play was suspended for two and a half hours before resuming with cool and damp conditions prevailing the rest of the afternoon. The event finished in the gloaming.

"The difficulty of this golf course, combined with the winds of the first two rounds and the wind, rain and cool of the final round, was the deciding factor of this tournament," Texas head golf coach John Fields said. "We play this course all the time and we know how good it is. By the third round, the players on the other teams in this tournament had a better understanding of where to hit shots and how the course will play, and it still beat most of them."

Opened for play in 2003 and lengthened and renovated in 2007 to create just the setting for this and future tournaments, the UT Golf Club is located in the Texas Hill Country some 15 miles west of the University of Texas campus.

The course - which Bechtol designed in collaboration with former partner Randy Russell - overlooks Lake Austin and borders the Balcones Natural Wildlife Preserve, offering challenging shots and views that rival the best in Austin. The club is a first-class experience uniting superior golf and club amenities with the triumphant traditions embedded in the spirit of The University of Texas.

The University of Texas has a long and distinguished group of heralded golf alumni, including Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, Mark Brooks, Justin Leonard, Harrison Frazar and Omar Uresti. Bechtol worked with each of those players and many others to assure the UT Golf Club would be great.

Bechtol has long been part of the University of Texas family - he played baseball for the Longhorns and his father Hub was the only consensus four-time football All-America as a receiver in the late 1940s. He said that being associated with the building of the UT Golf Club and the University of Texas on such a high-profile project was "a dream come true."

"We designed this course to be a stern, but fair, test of golf for all levels of play, and with this result we have the idea that most of the things we did at the UT Golf Club were right on target," Bechtol said. "This course and the club are indicative of the University of Texas's drive to always have the best facilities and go first-class across the board. We are very privileged to be a part of the extended University of Texas family and very proud of this course."

Fields and representatives of the UT Golf Club have aggressively courted the 2012 men's golf national championship, and a representative of the NCAA committee that examines bids and decides such matters attended the Austin regional during the final round.

Jack Key, an assistant commissioner of the Southland Conference and part of the six-member committee that selects NCAA sites, studied the course, its amenities, the volunteer base and overall flow of the 54-hole regional at the UT Golf Club. He said he came away satisfied even as the course auditioned under rather extreme circumstances.

"What we want is a true test of golf," Key told the Austin American-Statesman. "We want par to be a good score. The golf course held up. It was a fair test."

Two and a half inches of rain fell during a morning weather delay May 16, and tournament officials considered canceling the final round. Nonetheless, Key got to see UTGC's drainage efficiency.

Key said the clubhouse, locker room and practice facilities at UTGC were "as good as it gets."

Fields was excited about having the first men's NCAA regional at UT Golf Club.

"The truth about The University of Texas Golf Club is it is absolutely a great course," Fields said. "Players and coaches will go away from this tournament with a real appreciation of the course's strength and character. We believe we have one of the best golf courses in the nation, and for that we owe a lot to Roy Bechtol and Randy Russell for their design and expertise and love for this project."

About Bechtol Golf Design
Bechtol Golf Design's principal, Roy Bechtol has designed more than 50 golf courses throughout the United States either as the lead architect or as a collaborator with other top golf course designers. Bechtol Golf Design (www.bechtolgolfdesign.com) combines cutting-edge technology with creative, traditional design practices to determine the best possible plan for blending golf with real estate.

Upcoming projects include courses in the Colorado Rocky Mountains near Vail, on the west coast of Mexico, in the hills of western Virginia, in the Texas Hill Country along the upper banks of Lake Travis and on Mustang Island on the Texas coast, as well as various sites in Central Texas.

Bechtol Golf Design's completed projects, both individually and in conjunction with some of the world's top designers, include:

The Waterford Club (Smithwick, Texas)
The University of Texas Golf Club (Austin, Texas)
The Golf Club of Texas (San Antonio, Texas)
The Golf Club at Star Ranch (Hutto, Texas)
Black Bear Golf Club (Delhi, Louisiana)
ShadowGlen Golf Club (Manor, Texas)
The Ambush at Lajitas (Lajitas, Texas)
ConCan Country Club (North Uvalde County, Texas)
Great Hills Country Club (Austin, Texas)
El Paso Country Club (El Paso, Texas)
Diamondback Golf Academy (San Antonio, Texas)
The Golf Club at Circle C (Austin, Texas)
Vaquero (Dallas, Texas)
Barton Creek Resort (Austin, Texas)
The Hills of Lakeway (Lakeway, Texas)
Austin Country Club (Austin, Texas)
RiverPlace Country Club (Austin, Texas)
Gaillardia (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)

Media Contact:
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