RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's golf team is excited to be back on campus and kick off the fall season. 
 
"It's been good," UTRGV Head Coach Houston Moore said. "The guys have been here for almost three weeks now. They are getting some solid work in, and we take off in a few days. We are fired up. We will figure out who our six best are and then get up and head to North Carolina. We are really excited about that."
 
Early on in the fall, the Vaqueros are thinking about just getting better. Qualifying rounds have concluded, and the Vaqueros wanted to play as many rounds as possible before the their first tournament. 
 
The first few weeks have been a gauge for the Vaqueros to see where they are at in their level of play and where they need to put in some extra work. 
 
"Right now, we are still trying to figure out everyone's strengths and weaknesses," Moore said. "We are playing a lot of rounds of golf to see where everyone stands. From that, we can learn what we are deficient in and work from there. As of now, we are just trying to be the best we can each week."
 
The Vaqueros are coming off a spring season that saw them make a run at a conference championship. Heading into the fall, they want to carry that momentum and take another step forward. 
 
The work they are putting in now will be focused on building on the momentum they saw in the spring. 
 
"That's the thing, we want to make sure we can take the next step forward," Moore said. "We want to put in the right work and make sure we are working on the right things and give ourselves the opportunity to take that next step. That's the biggest thing right now, we want to build off last year and make that our new standard."
 
The Vaqueros welcome back a good core group form last spring after seeing Javier Neira Garcia and Leonardo Novella graduate. They return Esteban Gonzalez, Taj Sutherland, Juan Luis de Bethencourt Duque, Emilio Gil Leyva, Eddie Lai, Juan Martinez, Carlos Roldos, and Henry Wang.
 
Gonzalez, Sutherland, Bethencourt, and Gil Leyva played a majority of the tournament last year helping set a new standard for the program. 
 
On the flip side, UTRGV brought in transfers Arthit Kruaprayong and Luis Limon and freshman Marvin Lee. The new group is already making their presence felt throughout qualifying and that was a big reason why they were brought into the fold. 
 
"The two transfers were recruited here to come in and play," Moore said. "They have done that so far. It looks like they have a chance to make it to the first event. That's what we brought them here to do. Marvin, the freshman of the group, has a lot of skills. We will get him developed and the best golf is ahead of him."
 
The Vaqueros have a solid schedule this fall that will provide some fun times but will also test them on the course. They will open the fall at the JT Poston Invitational, hosted by Western Carolina, before competing at Rice's Bayou City Collegiate Classic. They will also tee it up at SMU's Trinity Forest Invitational before closing out the fall at the Monterrey Collegiate Classic, hosted by George Washington. 
 
The fall schedule will give the Vaqueros a little bit of everything with good competition throughout.
 
"We got a good mix this fall," Moore said. "We go to North Carolina. We got somewhere we are familiar with in Westwood Country Club at Rice's event. We go to SMU with a great venue up in Dallas. We go to Monterrey, Mexico so I think the guys get a good mix with some really good fields. They get great hospitality and will be an amazing experience for these guys. It will be a competitive fall."
 
The fall season is here. 
 
The biggest focus is just about getting better each week. 
 
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