Junior golfers Rodrigo Barahona and Manuel Barbachano finished eighth and 11th, respectively, out of a 24 player field at the PGA Works Collegiate Competition last week.
The annual tournament, held this year at Whistling Straits Golf Course in Kohler, Wisconsin, is comprised of collegiate golfers from minority-serving institutions or student-athletes from minority communities. The rounds from Barahona and Barbachano marked the end of GW golf’s season, following their eighth place finish at the Atlantic 10 Championships.
The PGA has hosted the tournament since 1986 to highlight golf programs or golfers that are historically underrepresented on the national stage. This is the first year student-athletes from GW have participated in the conference since 2020, according to former competition rosters.
Barbachano finished his first round in Wisconsin three over par with a score of 75, with Barahona one stroke behind him. Both jumped up to tie for eighth place after the second round, each finishing under par of 72. Barbachano shot 71 while Barahona shot 70.
The two enjoyed birdie-filled rounds on day two, with Barahona notching five on the back nine and Barbachano picking up five of his own.
Both Revolutionaries failed to improve their standings in the third and final round, as Barahona shot 75 and Barbacahno shot 77 to round out their total scores of 221 and 223, respectively.
Two University of Delaware students finished in the top two of the tournament, with senior Egor Zubov finishing with a 210 gross score and sophomore Arsit Areephun finishing with 213 strokes over three rounds.
Both GW golfers grew up in Mexico, where they crossed paths when they competed on Mexico’s Junior National Tour as children. The two forged a close friendship while growing up, consistently placing top two in tournaments they played in.
“It was nice because we’re always fighting for first and second place when we were at the national level as kids, and that’s where our relationship started growing,” Barahona said in November.
The tournament closes out golf’s 2024-25 season in which the team struggled to win tournaments, failing to place top three of any of the 12 they competed in. Barahona was the team’s most consistent player this season, which included a top two finish at the Howard USF Intercollegiate in September.
In that tournament, which opened the Revs’ season, Barahona finished four strokes under par with rounds of 70, 66 and 70. He shot 10 strokes under the next best Rev, Barbachano, at six over par.
Barahona finished tied for 13th in a field of 19 teams at the Loyola Intercollegiate in February in Arizona, shooting five shots under par as the team placed 17th.
In April, Head Coach Chuck Scheinost said that Barahona made major improvements this year in his overall play.
“It’s been a big step this year versus last year in consistency of how he’s performing, and the biggest part of that is learning how to play his game when he doesn’t have his A-game,” Scheinost said.
After an offseason that saw three players depart, Scheinost said in April the high turnover led to weaker play.
“We’re struggling worse than — might have been struggling as bad as I’ve ever seen it in my time at GW,” he said.
At the A-10 championship in late April, GW finished eighth out of 12 teams, with a score of 883, 19 strokes over par. First-place Davidson finished with 854. Barahona was the sixth lowest individual scorer with 213 strokes over three rounds, three under par. His play earned him an all-conference nod.
The championship success was not new for Barahona, as both he and Barbachano finished in the top ten at the A-10 championship in their sophomore years in 2024. Barbachano’s even score tied him for fifth while Barahona finished tied for seventh, one stroke over par.
With just one senior set to depart this spring, the team will look to regain consistency on the course heading into Barbachano and Barahona’s final years.
