November 16, 1997
The No. 30-ranked Texas A&M men's golf team equaled the best round of the day Sunday and finished ninth at the 18-team Golf World/Palmetto Dunes Invitational.
Led by senior Miguel del Angel's 3-under-par 69, the Aggies carded a final round of 289, 1-over-par on the 6,651-yard, Par 72 Arthur Hills Course at Palmetto Dunes Resort. Only tournament champion TCU, Houston and New Mexico could match A&M's effort on Sunday.
The Aggies came into the final round in 14th place after struggling to a 298 total on Saturday. A&M's final score of 284-298-289=871 finished 19 strokes behind No. 6-ranked TCU, which carded rounds of 281-282-289=852 to post a seven-stroke victory over No. 11 UNLV. However, the Aggies finished just nine strokes behind No. 9 Clemson, which placed third at 862.
All eight teams that finished ahead of A&M were ranked higher in the latest Golfweek rankings, and the Aggies finished ahead of five higher-ranked teams - No. 22 Northwestern, No. 20 North Carolina, No. 18 Florida, No. 13 New Mexico and No. 30 Wake Forest. The only other Big 12 team in the field, No. 2-ranked Oklahoma State, finished eighth at 869, just two strokes ahead of A&M.
Del Angel (McAllen, Texas) finished tied for sixth in the individual standings with a 4-under-par total of 73-70-69=212. UNLV's Jeremy Anderson won the individual title with rounds of 70-65-68=203, four strokes ahead of runner-up David Christensen of East Tennessee State.
A&M sophomore Lee Reed (Rigby, Idaho), who shared the first round lead, tied for 11th at 67-73-73=213. Other A&M finishes were freshman Ryan Tull (Georgetown, Texas) tied for 61st at 75-75-74=224, junior Ty Cox (Amarillo, Texas) tied for 68th at 72-80-74=226 and freshman Clay Fullick (Baytown, Texas), also tied for 68th at 72-81- 73=226.
The tournament ends A&M's fall season. The Aggies open their spring schedule Feb. 13-15 at the Taylor Made/Big Island Intercollegiate in Waikaloa, Hawaii.