RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's golf team is excited to see what the spring season will bring after finishing the fall on a high note. 
 
After returning from winter break, the Vaqueros have a quick turnaround to their first tournament and have tried to hit the ground running even with the winter weather in the Rio Grande Valley. 
 
"We are just trying to get some good quality reps in," UTRGV Head Coach Houston Moore said. "We got back, and we got some rare weather for the Valley, so we had to do some replanning and some rescheduling. We had to put together a new gameplan for what we were going to do. Finally, we got the good weather back and we are getting those good reps in. It's a lot of qualifying and a lot of competitive rounds. We are just getting ready for this first tournament."
 
The Vaqueros created some momentum in the fall as they played their best golf at the Monterrey Collegiate Classic. The Vaqueros used a 10-under 854 to finish in fifth place and their second round 278 was the eighth lowest single round in program history. 
 
Senior Juan Luis de Bethencourt Duque led the way as he won the classic with a program record 203 with back-to-back rounds of 66 and a final round one-under par 71. Duque broke Armen Kirakossian (2009) and Manuel Inman's (1999) record of 204. 
 
Not all fall went the Vaqueros' way but they know they are capable of so much more. That's the exciting part of the fall and the possibilities of what may come. 
 
"We finished on a high note in the fall," Moore said. "I don't think we played to our full potential in the fall, and I think that's the unknown of the spring. I am excited to see us finally reach the potential that I think we have. We'll go from there and hopefully catch some momentum soon."
 
The Vaqueros open the spring by hosting the Vaqueros Intercollegiate in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico and then follow with a tough field at the Border Olympics and then host a South Texas Match Play at McAllen Country Club.
 
They will also tee it up at the All-American Intercollegiate in Houston followed with the Maridoe Intercollegiate and the Missouri Tigers Intercollegiate before competing at the Southland Conference Championship at Comanche Trace.
 
The Vaqueros will play some tough competition on courses like the Golf Club of Houston, Maridoe Golf Course, and The Club at Old Hawthorne, all of which should sharpen the Vaqueros to compete for a championship at Camanche Trace, where they have won before.
 
"We have assembled a really strong spring schedule on some difficult golf courses with some really quality opponents," Moore said. "We are going to go there, and show are potential, put ourselves in situations that are difficult, and learn from those so by the time we get to the conference championship we hope that we have experienced enough to be ready to go and the moment is not too big for us."
 
The Vaqueros have certainly hit the ground running, and they know that using their time wisely throughout the spring will be important. The other key for the Vaqueros will be everyone on the roster focused on the same goal. 
 
Last season, the Vaqueros were ever so close to raising the trophy at the conference tournament and with every single member working toward that goal this spring, maybe the Vaqueros can raise that trophy at Comanche Trace.
 
"I think the key is these guys staying focused and rowing the boat in the same direction," Moore said. "I think that is the biggest thing right now. We need to work on what we really need to work on and the guys believing in that and we all need to be focused about rowing in the same direction."
 
The spring season is here and the Vaqueros are ready to roll. 
 
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