April 22, 2000
The Texas A&M men's golf team will compete in the Big 12 Conference Men's Golf Championships Monday and Tuesday at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan. The tournament will consist of 36 holes on Monday and 18 holes on Tuesday for a total of 54 holes on the par 70, 6,637-yard layout. Play will begin at 8 a.m. (CST) each day.
All 12 conference teams are scheduled to compete. Seven Big 12 teams are ranked in the nation's top 50 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings, led by No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 17 Texas, No. 25 Kansas, No. 26 Baylor, No. 33 Texas A&M, No. 36 Colorado and No. 37 Oklahoma. Unranked league teams are Missouri, Texas Tech, Nebraska, Iowa State and Kansas State.
"Oklahoma State is the team to beat," said A&M coach Bob Ellis, who is coaching his 26th A&M team. "Texas is well coached and they'll respond well. Kansas has a lot of players back from the team that won it last year and Baylor had a good team that doesn't make many mistakes. Those are probably the teams to beat, although Colorado has also shown they can shoot some low scores."
Texas' David Gossett, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, returns to defend the title he won last year at Prairie Dunes. However, Gossett is not the league's highest-rated player this season. Oklahoma State's Charles Howell is ranked No. 8 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings, while Gossett is No. 15. Other top 50-ranked players in the field ate Oklahoma State's Edward Loar (16), Kansas' Ryan Vermeer (19), Baylor's Aaron Pellegrom (20) and Oklahoma State's Anders Hultman (31).
Kansas won last year's Big 12 Championship by two strokes over Nebraska, while Texas finished third and Oklahoma State was fourth. Texas A&M finished seventh last year. Oklahoma State won the first two Big 12 Championships in 1997 and 1998.
Texas A&M senior Ty Cox may be playing as well as anyone in the Big 12 going into the tournament. Cox has posted three straight top 10 finishes and has the team's best spring scoring average at 73.83. In the last three tournaments, Cox has posted a 72.78 average. For the season, Cox is one of only two Aggies (joining Sean Gilliland) to play in all 10 tournaments and is tied for second on the team in scoring with a 74.67 average.
After taking a redshirt year last season, Cox is the team's only senior. He has played in three conference tournaments, including the final Southwest Conference Championship in 1996. He also has competed in three NCAA Central Regionals and two NCAA Championships, tying for 30th in 1997.
"Ty Cox has really come on, which is great to see," Ellis said. "He has really matured as a player. He knows that you'll make bogies on that golf course and you have to be patient. And I haven't had many freshmen with Matt Lindholm's level of maturity. He's an intelligent player who just never quits."
With two true freshmen, two sophomores and only one senior in the lineup, the Aggies are one of the Big 12's youngest teams. Joining senior Ty Cox in the lineup are freshmen Lindholm and Dwayne Morley, along with sophomores Josh McCoy and Gilliland. Gilliland is the only player besides Cox with Big 12 tournament experience, tying for 38th place last year.
"The fact that we are a young team can work against us, but we are very capable," Ellis said. "A lot depends on the elements. It is supposed to rain and if the wind blows, par will be a fabulous score."
Lindholm leads the Aggies in scoring with a 74.24 average, the first freshman in school history to post the team's top scoring average. All five players have posted at least one top 10 finish this season and all have at least one round of 70 or better.
"Our players have all played well at times this spring, but we haven't been getting everyone playing well together," Ellis said. "That's what we have to do. Prairie Dunes is the toughest Par 70 golf course I've ever seen. It's very demanding and it requires a lot of patience to play. You can't attack it, you `ve just got to waltz it around a little bit. If we can get at least three guys playing around par each round, we'll have a good chance to win."