UHV golf teams rejoining Aii Conference
The University of Houston-Victoria men’s and women’s golf teams will be rejoining the Association of Independent Institutions Conference beginning with the 2019-20 season.
Along with the reunion, UHV will play host to the Aii Conference Golf Championships on April 27-28.
“UHV is excited to host this tournament, said UHV athletics director Ashley Walyuchow. “It’s a bit of a homecoming being back in the Aii and we look forward to a great tournament on April 27-28.”
With several teams leaving or dropping their golf programs in the Red River Athletic Conference, the conference dropped its sponsorship of golf as a conference sport forcing UHV and two other RRAC programs to look elsewhere in an effort to qualify for the postseason.
“The move provides us with postseason direct qualification opportunities and is a better fit for our golf teams,” Waluchow added.
The Jaguars will be joined by Our Lady of the Lake and the University of the Southwest on the men’s side in the Aii, while the University of the Southwest will join the Jaguars on the women’s side.
All three men’s team have participated in the Aii/RRAC Conference Championships the past two years and will be joined by Crowley’s Ridge (Ark.), Fisk (Tenn.), Haskell Indian Nation (Kan.), Lincoln (Ill.), Northern New Mexico, College of the Ozarks, Penn State Schuylkill and Victoria (BC).
UHV and USW has participated in the Sooner Athletic Conference the last two years and will join Cottey (Mo.), Fisk (Tenn.), Lincoln (Ill.), Northern New Mexico, College of the Ozarks, and Victoria (BC) to battle for the Aii title this season.
“I think it is a big advantage for both of our teams, especially for the women,” said UHV golf coach Christi Cano. “With two strong freshmen coming in (for the women’s team) I think it is going to give them more confidence playing on their own course at conference.”
The Aii conference Championships will be held April 27-28 with the men competing at Victoria Country Club and the women at The Club at Colony Creek. The men’s event will be a 54-hole tournament, while the women will compete in a 36-hole tournament.
OLLU is the defending men’s champion, while Victoria (BC) is the defending women’s champion.
UHV competed in the Aii the first five years of the program with the UHV men finishing as the conference runner-up in 2011 and the women’s team earning its lone NAIA National championship team qualifying appearance in 2015.
The Jaguars have also had two Aii individual champions – Vance Edwards in 2013 and Heather Shake in 2014 – with both qualifying for the NAIA National Championships.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
