Rice Battles Back to Tie Utah at Jackson T. Stephens Cup

Wednesday, September 16

Frisco, TX

All Day

Rice University

2.5

Utah

Rice Battles Back to Tie Utah at Jackson T. Stephens Cup

9/16/2026 5:54:00 PM | Men's Golf

Results

By: Tim Andrzejewski (tra3@rice.edu)

Frisco, Texas — Rice fought back from a big deficit to pull out a tie with Utah, 2.5-2.5, in the third-place match at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup.

Raines Watson fell to Jack Jerge, 4&3. Watson was just one down after 11 holes, but dropped three of the next four holes.

Reggie Zhu came back to defeat Ivan Enguita, 2-Up. Zhu was one down through six, before winning the next two holes. After bogeying the ninth to make the turn tied, Enguita to a 1-up lead on the 12^th. But Zhu birdied the 14^th to pull even. It stayed that way until the 17^th, when Enguita bogeyed while Zhu parred to take the lead. Zhu then birdied the 18^th to earn the victory.

Daly dropped his match, 2&1, to Gabriel Palacios. Daly was 3-down with three to play. He extended the match with a birdie on the 16^th, but they both parred the 17^th, clinching the match for Palacios.

Nolan Kuszyk battled back from an early three hole deficit to tie Will Pizza. Kuszyk dropped three of the first four holes. He birdied the seventh to get one back, but a double-bogey on the 10^th push his deficit back to 3-down with eight to play. He won the next two holes, birdieing the 11^th and following with a par on the 12^th. He then tied the match with a par on the 14. It stayed that way until Kuszyk bogeyed the 17^th to go 1-down. But he parred the 18^th while Pizza closed with a bogey to tie the match.

Davis Byrd closed the match with a 2-Up victory over Sergio Jimenez. Byrd was 1-up through six holes, but dropped the next two. After pulling even with a par on 11, Jimenez went back up one after Byrd bogeyed the 13^th. But a birdie on 15 evened the match, and Byrd went up after Jimenez bogeyed the 16^th. Byrd clinched the match with a birdie on the 18^th.

JUSTIN EMIL QUOTABLE

"We were 5-down, losing all of the matches, and the guys fought back in a huge way. Utah is a really good team, and our guys showed what they can do out there this week. I'm excited to see us build on a solid week in Frisco."

NEXT UP

The Owls will host its only tournament of the year this Monday-Tuesday, Sept. 21-22, at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic at Westwood Golf Club in Houston.

Rice 2.5, Utah 2.5
Reggie Zhu (Rice) def. Ivan Enguita (Utah), 2-Up
Nolan Kuszyk (Rice) ties Will Pizza (Utah)
Davis Byrd (Rice) def. Sergio, Jimenez (Utah), 2-Up
Jack Jerge (Utah) def. Raines Watson (Rice), 4&3
Gabriel Palacios (Utah) def. Henry Daly (Rice), 2&1