The Title is Back. UTRGV Men's Golf Has to Replace Its Star

UTRGV men’s golf already proved it can win.

Now the Vaqueros have to prove they can keep winning after losing the player at the center of their breakthrough.

UTRGV enters the 2026-27 season as the defending Southland Conference champion after beating UIW by one stroke last April. That championship sent the Vaqueros to the first NCAA Regional in program history.

Four golfers from that NCAA Regional lineup are back.

The one who isn’t is a pretty big loss.

Jorge Martin Sampedro transferred to Arizona after a freshman season that included Southland Golfer of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors. He then finished 10th at the NCAA Bryan Regional and became UTRGV’s first individual NCAA Championships qualifier since 1978.

You don’t replace that with one golfer.

The good news for UTRGV?

It might not have to.

The Vaqueros return an experienced core, added some interesting new pieces and begin their title defense Sunday at the JT Poston Invitational in North Carolina.

Four Vaqueros to Watch

Rodolphe Cicala, Senior

If there’s an obvious candidate to move toward the front of this team, start with Cicala.

He averaged 72.6 last season, earned First Team All-Southland honors and recorded six top-20 finishes.

And Sunday’s opener should bring back some good memories.

Cicala finished fourth at last year’s JT Poston Invitational after shooting 67-67-71 for a 205, his best tournament score of the season.

With Sampedro gone, UTRGV doesn’t necessarily need Cicala to become him.

But it would certainly help if the senior takes another step.

Gabriel Dulon Villoslada, Junior

Dulon Villoslada might be one of the most important returning pieces.

He averaged 72.8 last season, earned Second Team All-Southland honors and finished seventh at the conference championship.

He also finished fifth at UTRGV’s Compadres Collegiate and played in the NCAA Regional lineup.

He’s already shown he can score for a championship team. Now we’ll see whether his role gets even bigger.

Esteban Gonzalez, Senior

Here’s the one RGV golf fans should really have their eyes on.

Gonzalez is an Edinburg native and McAllen Memorial graduate entering his senior season with the Vaqueros.

He averaged 73.1 across 12 events last year and saved his best finish for the biggest tournament, placing eighth at the Southland Championship.

Gonzalez has now finished inside the top 10 at the conference championship in consecutive seasons.

For a Valley golfer to enter his senior year trying to help his hometown university defend a conference championship? That’s a storyline we’re absolutely following.

Brock Porter, Sophomore

Porter is our Year 2 player to watch.

He averaged 74.3 across 12 events as a freshman and recorded three top-25 finishes. But there’s one round that especially gets our attention.

After opening the Southland Championship with 78 and 77, Porter closed with a three-under 69.

He also played all three rounds of UTRGV’s NCAA Regional appearance, finishing with a 73.

The question now is simple: What does Porter look like with a full year of college golf behind him?

Newcomer to Watch: Bogdan Sandrini

This is where UTRGV gets really interesting.

Sandrini arrives from Central Arkansas as a junior, giving the Vaqueros another experienced Division I golfer instead of asking only freshmen to replace the production they lost.

He averaged 72.8 over 33 rounds last season at Central Arkansas, finished runner-up at the Bentwater Intercollegiate and tied for 10th at the ASUN Championship.

He also brings something particularly valuable to this group: previous NCAA Regional experience.

That’s a pretty significant addition for a defending champion.

Diamond DITV Final Word

We’re not going to pretend losing Sampedro doesn’t matter.

It does.

But UTRGV isn’t rebuilding either.

Cicala is a First Team All-Southland golfer. Dulon Villoslada made the second team. Gonzalez has consecutive top-10 conference finishes. Porter has already experienced a championship run as a freshman. And Sandrini gives UTRGV another proven college golfer.

Last year’s team showed us what its ceiling could look like.

This year’s team has a different question to answer.

Was 2026 one incredible run, or was it the beginning of what UTRGV men’s golf is becoming?

We start finding out Sunday.