Cougar sports services
The Houston Cougars golf team shot a 2-over-par 290 Thursday and three Cougars finished in the top five individually as UH won the Conference USA Men's Golf Championship at the Columbia Lakes Golf Course in West Columbia, Texas.
UH claimed its 15th conference title overall and its first since 1985. Houston won nine Southwest Conference Championships and five Missouri Valley Conference titles.
It was the third C-USA title for UH this school year, with the other two coming in football and men's indoor track and field.
C-USA Freshman and Player of the Year Chris Devlin from Alabama-Birmingham won the individual title, but UAB still finished with a three-day total of 890 for second place. The Cougars shot a three-day total of 875.
Houston's Victor Schwamkrug finished second individually with a 2-under-par 214, one stroke behind Devlin.
Devlin birdied the 18th hole to take the title. Devlin shot a 70 Thursday, a 71 Wednesday and a 72 Tuesday.
Cougars Mike Brennan and Jeff Burns finished third and fifth with a 218 and 221, respectively.
UAB came into Thursday's round eight strokes behind Houston, but closed to within five strokes after the first nine holes. But the Cougars pulled away on the final nine.
South Florida moved up to third with a third-round score of 306, while Louisville and Memphis tied for fourth.
Schwamkrug, Brennan and Burns all made the All C-USA First Team. Chris Morris, who tied for seventh with a three-round total of 226, made the All C-USA Second Team.
"We played well all the way around," said UH golf coach Mike Dirks, who won C-USA Golf Coach of the Year. "Lawrence O'Neil, who had struggled in the first round, shot a 74 today to get everything started. Then we came in 73-72-71, and that's solid golf. It's not great golf, but it was solid and that's what it takes to win."
The Cougars compete next month in the Perry Maxwell Intercollegiate in Ardmore, Okla., to close out the regular season.