SAN ANTONIO, Texas (October 27, 2026) – The final tournament of the Fall campaign for the UT Permian Basin men's golf team was the NCAA West/South Central Region Preview at Dominion Country Club. The 54-hole tournament got underway Monday morning with the Falcons in first place after both rounds one and two, but during day two on Tuesday, UTPB was jumped by Lubbock Christian University and had to settle for a tie for second place.

The Falcons faced a competitive field in the Alamo City, featuring host St. Mary's, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State East Bay, Cal State San Marcos, Cameron, Colorado Mesa, Colorado State Pueblo, Dallas Baptist, Lubbock Christian, Midwestern State, Oklahoma Christian, UT Permian Basin, UT Tyler, Western New Mexico, Westminster, and Westmont College. The field featured three nationally-ranked programs inside the top-25, including No. 6 Oklahoma Christian, No. 17 Midwestern State, and No. 21 UT Permian Basin.

UTPB (277-283-295; 855; -9) shot 11-under-par and held a three-stroke lead over Oklahoma Christian (280-288-294; 862; -2) for first place after round one and then shot five-under for an eight-stroke lead over both OC and Midwestern State (291-277-287; 855; -9) after round two. However, after seeing each of its top-four players during both round one and round two shoot even-par or better, the Falcons could not get it going during the final round.

During round three, UTPB shot seven-over-par, OC shot six-over to fall seven spots to ninth place, and MSU shot one-under to tie with the Falcons for second place. Lubbock Christian (288-282-283; 853; -11), meanwhile, came out of nowhere with a score of five-under during round three and a combined score of 11-under during the final two rounds to move up four spots and win the tournament by two strokes.

Leading the Falcons was Ioan Rowe (66-72-74; 212; -4), who during the final round shot two-over and fell six spots to finish tied for 11th place out of 90 total golfers. Rowe began the tournament tied for third place after shooting six-under during the opening round, and was tied for fifth place after shooting even-par during round two.

Benson Diehm (68-73-72; 213; -3) was just one stroke behind Rowe in a tie for 13th place, rising three spots after shooting even-par during the final round. He was the lone Falcon to move up the individual leaderboard during round three. Diehm began the tournament tied for fifth place after shooting four-under during round one.

Laurent Beech (71-69-76; 216; E) was the biggest faller, shooting four-over during the final round and dropping 15 spots into a tie for 27th. Beech ended Monday shooting three-under during round two to move up eight spots into a tie for 12th-place heading into the final day.

Tied for 35th were both Gilbert Lujan (73-70-75; 218; +2), who shot three-over during the final round and fell 11 spots, and Dian Wilmot (72-72-74; 218; +2), who shot two-over during the final round and dropped five spots.

As a team, UTPB led all teams with 181 pars, being led by Beech and Wilmot who were both tied for second individually with 41 pars.

"It is very disappointing that we did not pull of the win," spoke UTPB Head Coach Paul Chavez. "On a positive note, we gained some valuable ranking points against top teams in our region. This will help us maintain a top-five ranking within our region. We had an excellent Fall season and look forward to an even better Spring."

This was the last time the UTPB men's golf team will be in action during the Fall stretch of its 2026-27 season. They will return to this same course in February (15-16) to kick off the Spring season with the Rattler Invitational.