Texas State entered the final round with a two-stroke lead over Missouri State (MSU) and used a three-under par 69 from Alastair Jones to propel the t

The Texas State men’s golf team claimed the Bob Hurley Auto ORU Shootout for the second straight year, leading the 12-team field by ten strokes with a three-round tournament score of 902 at the Golf Club of Oklahoma in Broken Arrow, OK, Tuesday afternoon.

“We wanted to win,” Texas State head coach Shane Howell said. “We started the year slowly, but we’ve gotten better since and it was just time for these guys to step up and get a win and they did just that.”

Texas State entered the final round with a two-stroke lead over Missouri State (MSU) and used a three-under par 69 from Alastair Jones to propel the team to a 297 final round. MSU finished at 912, Sam Houston State took third place with a three-round score of 920, Stephen F. Austin finished one stroke behind the Bearkats for fourth place and Tulsa closed out the top five with a 926.

Individually, the Bobcats controlled the leader board as Michael Carnes, Jeff Gerlich, Carson Gibson and Jones all finished in the top 20. Tom Moore finished tied for 29th, finishing better than half the competition.

“This win was a total team effort and everyone contributed,” Howell said. “I think it shows the depth of our team. Our fifth man, Alastair Jones, stepped up big today with a 69. Every team member had a hand in the victory this week.”

Carnes fired a 75 in the final round and jumped from fifth-place to third to close out the tournament with an eight-over 224. Gerlich paired a 146 from the opening two rounds with an 80 a day earlier, dropping from the individual lead to sixth-place overall.

Gibson tied for 14th place, shooting a 79 for an overall score of 230. Jones’ 69 combined with a first outing score of 163 brought him to 20th place. Moore shot a two-over par, 74, a career low, for his top 30 finish.

“Although we won, we have a lot of room for improvement,” Howell said. “We will celebrate this victory and then get right back to work on Thursday. We have two big-time tournaments to finish the fall semester and we need to be on top of our games in order to compete.”

The men’s golf team will return to action Oct. 18-19 at the Lone Star Invitational in San Antonio.