Aggies Open Season at Tucker Intercollegiate
Sep 16, 1998 | Men's Golf
September 16, 1998
The Texas A&M men's golf team opens its fall schedule Friday and Saturday at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in Albuquerque.
Played at the 7,233-yard, par 72 Championship Course at the University of New Mexico, the tournament will consist of 36 holes on Friday and 18 holes on Saturday.
Representing A&M will be seniors Ryan Palmer (Amarillo) and Matt Welch (DeSoto), junior Lee Reed (Rigby, Idaho), sophomore Clay Fullick (Baytown) and true freshman Sean Gilliland (Killeen).
The 20-team field includes 11 teams ranked in the top 25 in the preseason MasterCard Team Rankings, including top-ranked UNLV. Other teams in the field are No. 6-ranked Houston, No. 8 Arizona State, No. 11 UCLA, No. 13 Arizona, No. 16 New Mexico, No. 17 Oklahoma, No. 19 Ohio State, No. 21 Texas, No. 23 BYU, No. 24 Southern California, Stanford, Pepperdine, Tulsa, New Mexico State, UTEP, Colorado State, SMU, Air Force.
"We are excited about getting started," said coach Bob Ellis, entering his 25th season at A&M. "This is an extremely tough field we are facing on a tremendous golf course. I'm anxious to see how our players respond to the challenge."
Last spring, the Aggies finished 11th at the NCAA Central Regional in San Antonio and missed qualifying for their third straight NCAA Championships by just three strokes. A&M finished fifth at the Big 12 Championships and posted four top five finishes in 1997- 98.
All but one player, Miguel del Angel, returns from last season, including Palmer, a first-team All-Big 12 pick. Senior Ty Cox (Amarillo) also returns but is expected to redshirt this season. Other returning players are Reed, Fullick, Welch, sophomores Ryan Tull (Georgetown) and Casey Cronin (Rockwall), and redshirt freshmen Robert Shelton (Rockwall) and Josh McCoy (Perryton). Gilliland is the team's lone newcomer.
" Our goal is to compete in every tournament we play, win the Big 12 and win the NCAAs," Ellis said. "For that to happen, our veteran players will have to play to their capabilities and our younger players will have to step up to the table."
Palmer had a breakthrough season as a junior, winning two tournaments in the spring and tying the school and course record with a final-round 65 at the Border Olympics. Palmer went on to qualify for the U.S. Open in San Francisco and also played in the U.S. Amateur.
"Ryan has improved leaps and bounds since he came to A&M," Ellis said. "His game is solid in all areas. He's made some technical improvements but he's matured mentally and emotionally as much as anything. I look for him to have a great year in a leadership role for us."
Reed, Tull and Fullick had steady if unspectacular seasons last year but have shown flashed of brilliance. Reed fired an opening round 67 at the Palmetto Dunes Intercollegiate, while Tull played in 10 tournaments as a true freshman. Tull posted a pair of top 15 finishes late in the season. Fullick appeared in six tournaments as a true freshman.
"Lee has set four course records and shot a 67 last year on a tough course at Palmetto Dunes," Ellis said. "That shows you the kind of golf he's capable of playing. Ryan Tull and Clay played in a lot of tournaments last year and know what to expect. Those guys need to draw on that experience this season."
Cronin could emerge as one of the team's top performers this season. He played in only two tournaments as a freshman but played well in the summer, finishing fifth at the Collegiate Players Tour National Championships. Welch, Shelton and McCoy are all talented players who also could contribute this season. Gilliland is an experienced junior player and was the 1996 Maxfli Texas Junior PGA champion. He also won the Collegiate Players Tour state championship last summer.
"Casey is a tremendous competitor who played well most of the summer," Ellis said. "I really think he can be an All-American before he's finished at A&M. Matt wants to play professionally and I think that's made him more focused. He's made some mechanical changes and his maturity and leadership will help the team.
"Shelton has great swing mechanics and just needs to play more tournaments," Ellis added. "Josh has great ability, making the semifinals at his last two national junior tournaments, and has made some swing changes that should help him hit the ball better. Sean won the Collegiate Championship and has great swing mechanics. He's played a lot of competitive golf but this will be his first season at this level."
The Aggies will face perhaps their strongest schedule in years. In addition to the Tucker, the falls schedule also includes tough tournament fields at the Windon Memorial Classic near Chicago, the Red River Classic in Dallas, the Palmetto Dunes Intercollegiate in Hilton Head, S.C., and the Baylor Intercollegiate in Waco.
"Every tournament we play in the fall is against a great field on a great golf course," Ellis said. "The Baylor tournament could be as important as any for us because it includes most of the teams in our district. Every tournament will have a bearing on regional bids at the end of the season."
The schedule gets no easier in the spring with stops at the Waikaloa Intercollegiate in Hawaii, the Louisiana Classics in Lafayette, La., the Morris Williams Intercollegiate in Austin, The BELLSOUTH Yellow Pages Classic in Cary, N.C., and the Maxwell Intercollegiate in Ardmore, Okla.
"We have a great spring schedule with tournaments in Hawaii, Louisiana and North Carolina," Ellis said. "Texas is playing in the Border Olympics this year and that helped us attract a stronger field and we're going back to the Morris Williams tournament in Austin. A lot of the top teams in the country will be there. And we are certainly glad to be going back to The Maxwell. Overall, this is probably the best schedule we've had in my 25 seasons at A&M.
"Ideally, your schedule prepares you for post-season play," Ellis added. "The competition we are facing and the courses we are playing should prepare us well for conference, regionals and nationals. We are competing in some of the best college tournaments in the country."
For the third straight year, the Big 12 Championship will be played at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan., a course ranked among the top 30 in the world.
"Oklahoma State is probably the team to beat at conference, but Texas will also be very strong," Ellis said. "Nebraska, Oklahoma and hopefully us should be in the mix. The conference overall should be very strong. And Prairie Dunes is a great golf course, among the best in the world. It's the toughest 6,500-yard, par 70 course I've ever seen."
The NCAA Central Regional returns for the third time to Ohio State's storied Scarlet Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio, while the NCAA Championships will be played June 2-5 at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., site of the 1971 and 1991 U.S. Opens.
"The Ohio State Scarlet course has always been a tremendous course. To make the regional, we have to be in the top eight in our district and that will be a real battle," Ellis said. "A lot of teams have improved. We have to take care of our business and beat those teams all season. Nationally, UNLV has everyone back and should be tough to beat, and Oklahoma State is always tough. Georgia Tech, Georgia, TCU, Clemson, Minnesota and South Carolina also have great teams. But as Pepperdine proved in 1997, anyone can get on a roll at the right time and win the national championship."
