RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's golf team recorded a spring season that will go down as one of the best in program history.
 
The Vaqueros had their good moments in the fall but there were also moments that they wished they could have back. The big focus going into the spring season was trying to be as consistent as possible. 
 
Having such a young team was evident in the fall but the youthful Vaqueros hit the ground running coming out of winter break.
 
"It was an impressive year," UTRGV Director of Golf Houston Moore said. "We got hot and cold in the fall. You can see that a little bit. We would play good then we wouldn't play good. We were young. We had two freshmen, a sophomore, and two juniors in the lineup, so the inconsistency was bound to happen. I think by the spring, you saw some of the guys come into their own and bring that consistency factor and then you could see us playing with more consistency as well as time went on. It was a big year but it was a big growing year."
 
The Vaqueros opened the spring with a win at the Compadres Collegiate as they beat North Texas by five strokes. The lineup for the Vaqueros that week at Playa Paraiso Golf Club consisted of Jorge Martin Sampedro, Gabriel Dulon Villosada, Rodolphe Cicala, Esteban Gonzalez and Brock Porter. 
 
That lineup would be used more and more throughout the spring as the Vaqueros found their consistency. 
 
That lineup featured two freshmen (Sampedro and Porter), one sophomore (Villoslada), and two juniors (Cicala and Gonzalez). It was important for the young group to get rounds under their belt because those types of rounds are not able to be replicated outside of tournament environments. 
 
That was a big key in finding their consistency. 
 
"You can't simulate reps," Moore said. "I think that's one of the biggest things our freshmen got this year. They got reps that can't be simulated on the driving range or out during practice. The experience they received is probably greater than some of the knowledge they received. We can help them until our faces turn blue here at home but until you take some of that on the road and experience it, there is no pressure involved in it. Using the stuff you learn is great but if you're doing it with no pressure behind it then you don't really know. Knowing they can put in the work and take it on the road and see the results, I think that's massive."
 
The Vaqueros' spring schedule was no cake walk. After the Compadres Collegiate, they faced tough fields but also had to compete at some tough courses. 
 
Courses like TPC San Antonio, Golf Club of Houston, Maridoe Country Club, and The Club at Old Hawthorne helped the Vaqueros get ready for the tournaments that mattered most.


The tests that the Vaqueros faced at these courses, put them in the right mindset to win their first Southland Conference Championship.
 
"Those golf courses are hard and some suit us better than others but some don't," Moore said. "When the golf course is 7,500 yards and soaking wet then it's probably not ideal for us. Golf courses that are 6,800 yards and wide open probably not ideal either but what they did learn is that they show up and follow their game plan and do what you're supposed to do then that's relevant to any place because their stuff is good. I think that's the biggest thing, if they go out there, show up, do what they are supposed to do, they stick to their individual game plan then they can compete at any level. I think that self-belief promotes that internal self-belief. It's about being confident."
 
The Vaqueros did add a second place finish at the Military City Collegiate and a seventh place finish at the Maridoe Collegiate. Sometimes you have to do a deep dive into the numbers to really see how good the Vaqueros were in the spring due to the fact that the fields were stacked with good competition.
 
The Vaqueros entered the Southland Conference Championship as the highest ranked program in the conference coming in at 128^th and the closest in the conference was Lamar at 160^th. 
 
The Vaqueros had the confidence going into the championship but none of them had ever experienced winning a conference championship. It was at this point in the season that they had to rely on the lessons they learned throughout the spring and it certainly paid off. 
 
"I think it was ours to win," Moore said. "I think in the same breath, we hadn't won one before, so there were some growing pains in that as well. You could see that in that first round. It was a bad storm and we weren't playing well but we were fighting. We don't quit as a team and we saw that then. We must have been 18 back after nine holes and for us to comeback and win was huge. It was a testament to their grit and their grind. That's why we put them in those situations in the spring on golf courses that are extremely difficult to make Comanche Trace as easy as possible."
 
The Vaqueros had an uphill climb after nine holes of the championship but they stayed consistent. They trailed by two shots going into the second round before they posted a seven-under as a team. 
 
Going into the last round at Comanche Trace, the Vaqueros were remained steady as they beat Incarnate Word by one shot for their first SLC Championship. It was just the program's second conference championship but the first that gave them a trip to an NCAA Regional. 
 
UTRGV was selected to play at the Bryan Regional at Traditions Course and the experience the Vaqueros got from the regional will be invaluable going forward. 
 
"It was huge and what a great experience," Moore said. "To get to drive up the road to do that is always nice. The weather wasn't ideal, which was the story of our spring. We had a bunch of tournaments with really bad weather. The biggest thing is being there and then beating some teams and knowing that you belong. That's huge and I think these guys will roll it into next year and come back even stronger."
 
The Vaqueros finished 12^th ahead of Miami (OH) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff but showed that they belonged there but the Vaqueros weren't done making program history.
 
Jorge Martin Sampedro had his best tournament of the season as he finished in 10^th with a three-round score of 208 after posting rounds of 69, 70, and 69. He became the program's first to qualify for the NCAA Championships since 1978. 
 
You can also add Southland Conference Golfer of the Year, Freshman of the Year, and All-Conference First Team honors to his list of accomplishments. Being the conference golfer of the year and freshman of the year are also both firsts for the program. 
 
Sampedro helped elevate UTRGV to a new stage. He was a big part of UTRGV's consistency this spring as he settled in after getting his first semester under his belt.  
 
"Vaqueros at La Costa has a nice ring to it," Moore said. "It was unbelievable and he's a tremendous young man as well. The leap he made from when he got here until June was huge. I talked earlier about the consistency piece and he was a big part of that. He had some rounds in the fall where he was shooting 80-65 and just didn't see that in the spring. That's a testament to him and not having an ego and being able to take constructive criticism and go through the processes and have hard conversations. It was just a great experience and I couldn't be happier the way he competed this spring."
 
Sampedro wasn't the only one that had solid springs for the Vaqueros. Cicala earned All-Conference First Team honors while Villoslada earned All-Conference Second Team honors. 
 
Everyone in the lineup wanted to be the top finisher for the Vaqueros and that was evident as that honor rotated throughout the spring. That kind of competition helped the Vaqueros find a groove that helped them finish 131^st in the Scoreboard rankings. 
 
A good core should return for the Vaqueros in the fall of 2026 setting them up to stack another good year on top of 2025-26. 
 
"I am really proud of both teams," Moore said. "It was an incredible job and nothing was given to either team at conference. They went out there and took it. I am really proud of them and their resilience. I have a lot of pride for them and what they have done for us and what they'll do in the future."
 
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