AKUMAL, QUINTANA ROO, Mexico (September 30, 2025) – The first action of the new 2025-26 season for The University of Texas Permian Basin men's golf team saw the Falcons in contention through two rounds before falling to sixth place during the final round at the DII Shootout at PGA Riviera Maya in Mexico.

The tournament was 54 rounds across three days at the par-72, 6980-yard course at Tulum County Club at PGA Riviera Maya.

The 15-team field featured: Oklahoma Christian, CSU-Pueblo, Western New Mexico, Colorado Mesa, West Texas A&M, UT Permian Basin, Colorado School of Mines, UT Tyler, Cal State East Bay, Fort Lewis, CSU San Bernardino, Lubbock Christian, Texas A&M International, Colorado Christian and Team Mexico.

After tying for third place after each of the first two rounds, UTPB (304-296-313; 913; +49) fell back three spots on the team leaderboard during the final round. UTPB was just two strokes off the lead after shooting eight-over-par and trying for the lowest team score during round two.

West Texas A&M University (299-300-294; 893; +29) shot just six-over during the final round to win the tournament by 10 strokes over No. 24-ranked Colorado State University Pueblo (304-296-303; 903; +15), which was originally tied with UTPB after each of the first two rounds of the tournament.

In all, there were five nationally-ranked teams and four teams receiving votes in the field of 15 teams, and the Falcons finished ahead of four of those teams, including finishing ahead of No. 8 Oklahoma Christian University (312-317-306; 935: +71; 11th place) and No. 19 Colorado Mesa University (313-302-304; 919; +16; 8th place).

Despite leading the tournament (75 total players) by two strokes entering the final round, senior Will Tate (72-71-81; 224; +8) shot nine-over during the final round, fell back six spots, and ultimately tied for seventh place. Tate had originally been one-under through two rounds. In addition, he was tied for fourth in the tournament with nine birdies, five more than the next closest players on the team.

After shooting three-over and moving up four spots on the individual leaderboard during round two, junior Ioan Rowe (76-75-76; 227; +11) fell back down those same four spots during the final round to finish tied for 16th place. He was the lone Falcon to shot four-under or better during all three rounds of the tournament. In addition, Rowe was tied for second in the tournament with 40 pars.

After shooting just one-over and rising by an awesome 29 spots during round two, junior Nizar Bourehim (80-73-80; 233; +17) shot plus-eight and fell back seven spots during the final round to finish tied for 28th.

The two Falcons to improve their individual placements during the final round were senior Thonsaeng Nunya (76-83-77; 236; +20) and junior Quinn Robertson (85-77-80; 242; +26). Nunya shot plus-five during the final round to move up seven spots and tie for 42nd place while Robertson shot plus-eight and moved up three spots to a tie for 55th.

"Anytime you have a chance to win a tournament it is exciting," spoke UTPB Head Golf Coach Paul Chavez. "The opportunity was there; we just did not take advantage of the opportunity. There are many positives to take from this, knowing that we have a championship caliber team that can compete at a high level week end and week out. Will Tate, even though he had a disappointing final round, still earned a top-10 finish, so that's obviously a plus for our program."

About PGA Riviera Maya
PGA Riviera Maya is an impressive piece of landscape architecture where the Robert Trent Jones II team has managed to create a spectacular synergy between the Mayan jungle, natural lakes, cenotes, and its two golf courses, one with 18 holes and the other with 9 par-3 holes.

These courses are integrated into the Tulum Country Club residential complex, located in the Riviera Maya, 25 km from Tulum. In 2019, it became the first complex to partner with the PGA of America in Latin America, which guarantees the quality of the course maintenance and the services that players will find when visiting PGA Riviera Maya.