HENDERSON, Nevada – For the third time this season,
Sakke Siltala posted a top five performance, leading the Texas State men's golf team to an eighth-place finish at the Lake Las Vegas Invitational at Reflection Bay Golf Club.
The junior led the TXST lineup for the fourth time in 2024-25, finishing at 8-under 208. Siltala (70-70-68—208) shot under par in all three rounds, bringing his season total to 11 rounds in the category, and posted his team-best sixth round in the 60s. Siltala went -3 on the front nine the final day, shooting six total birdies across the closing 18 to bring his tournament total to an event-high 18.
"It was a fantastic tournament for Sakke this week," head coach
Shane Howell said. "He's been close to winning this year and he was again this week. He keeps putting himself in position and it's only a matter of time now before he wins."
As a team, the Bobcats finished +2, shooting par or better in two of three rounds. Long Beach State won the 15-team event at -34, Northern Illinois was second at -9 and West Virginia climbed six spots on the final day to finish third at -8.
Jack Burke (70-72-73—215) checked in tied for 23rd after shooting +1 in the final round to finish 1-under 215 for the tournament. The senior now has his fourth consecutive top 25 finish this season and has gone even or under par in 10 of 15 rounds.
Climbing nine spots on the final day of action was
Joel Talusen (75-73-74—222), who finished the 54-hole tournament at +6 and tied for 49th.
Rounding out the line up and finishing tied for 56th were
Ben Loveard (77-74-73) and
Jaxon Donaldson (77-71-76) as well as individual
Enzo Dakiche (75-72-77) at +8.
"As a team we struggled on the greens this week with our speed and cost ourselves a great finish due to three putting," Howell continued. "We will continue to work and get better with our speed control. We are close to turning in a winning performance but need to be a bit more disciplined in our process. Looking forward to the Louisiana Classics in a couple weeks now."
The Bobcats are back in action March 10-11 for the Louisiana Classics at the Oakbourne Country Club in Lafayette. Monday's final round is set to be broadcast on ESPN+.
