ABILENE, Texas – Within minutes of the St. Mary’s men’s golf team claiming second place at Tuesday’s season-opening tournament, pictures of the squad’s prize flooded Twitter.

The guys were understandably proud of their newest trophy.

Fueled by a stellar performance from the top of their lineup to the bottom, the Rattlers held onto second place in Tuesday’s second and final round of Abilene Christian’s Charles Coody West Texas Intercollegiate.

Taking the course for the first time this season, St. Mary’s shot 294 in the final round for a two-round total of 579 at the Diamondback Golf Club, showing signs of the kind of promise they have to offer this season.

It was the Rattlers’ highest team finish since taking second place at Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Texoma Championship in October 2010.

Matthew Van Winkle (So., Castroville, Texas) and Alex Bissaro (Fr., San Antonio) led the way, tying for 14th place after posting similar final-round scores. Van Winkle carded a 72, while Bissaro shot 73 for a score of 144. Shawn Bennett (Jr., Marion, Texas), who led the squad after one round, shot a solid 76 on Tuesday to finish in a tie for 17th.

Newcomers Kirby Gorzell (Fr., San Antonio) and Chris Contreras (Jr., San Antonio) shot 147 and 150, respectively.

Host Abilene Christian won the event after shooting 549, while Wildcat standout Alex Carpenter took first place individually with a 133. Fourteen teams competed in the event.

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