February 10, 1999
The Texas A&M men's golf team opens its spring season Thursday through Saturday at the Taylor Made Waikaloa Intercollegiate at Waikaloa Country Club.
The tournament will consist of 18 holes each day for a total of 54 holes. The teams will play both the Beach Course (6,566 yards/par 70) and the Kings Course (7,074 yards/par 72) at Waikaloa Country Club.
In addition to A&M, the 20-team field includes No. 4-ranked UNLV, No. 9 Arizona State, No. 13 TCU, No. 14 UCLA, No. 23 Arizona, Oregon State, Pepperdine, UTEP, Washington, Arkansas, SMU, Hawai'i, UC-Santa Barbara, Nevada-Reno, Air Force, San Francisco, Southern California, Korea, Lagoya (Japan) and Nihon (Japan).
UNLV is the defending champion, while the Aggies finished 12th last year. A&M's best finish in the prestigious event was fourth place in 1994.
A&M will be represented by seniors Ryan Palmer (Amarillo) and Matt Welch (DeSoto), freshman Sean Gilliland (Killeen), junior Lee Reed (Rigby, Idaho) and sophomore Casey Cronin (Rockwall). Palmer tied for 18th last year with rounds of 70- 73-74=217. Cronin is the only other player in the lineup to participate last season, tying for 70th at 68-81-77=226.
"We are excited about getting our spring season underway," said Bob Ellis, is his 25th year as A&M's head coach. "The players have been working very hard and I think we have a chance to have a very good team. We are playing against some of the best teams in the country on a couple of tremendous golf courses."
Palmer, an All-America candidate, led A&M in the fall with 73.21 stroke average, followed by Cronin at 74.55.