May 18, 2000
Freshman Matt Lindholm (Georgetown, Texas) carded a two-under-par 69 to lead the Texas A&M men?â„¢s golf team into a tie for sixth place after Thursday?â„¢s opening round of the NCAA Central Regional at windswept Victoria Country Club.
The top nine teams in the 27-team regional will advance to the NCAA Championships May 31-June 3 in Opelika, Ala. The regional continues with 18 holes on Friday and a final 18 holes on Saturday. The Aggies begin play Friday at 7:30 a.m.
SMU and No. 10-ranked Houston share the first round lead with one-over-par totals of 285 on the 6,870-yard, par 71 layout. No. 3-ranked Oklahoma State is in third place at 288, followed by Mississippi at 289 and Coastal Carolina at 290. A&M is tied for sixth with No. 23-ranked Texas and No. 20 Kent State at 291, followed by Minnesota (292), Louisiana-Lafayette (294), Arkansas State (296), Northwestern (296), North Texas (297), Michigan (297), Colorado (299), Baylor (299), TCU (299), Jackson State (300), Southeastern Louisiana (301), Kansas (302), Oklahoma (302), Wichita State (303), Ohio State (303), Tulsa (305), Arkansas-Little Rock (305), oral Roberts (306) and Toledo (307).
Lindholm is tied for second place in the individual standings with Northwestern?â„¢s Luke Donald and SMU?â„¢s Karl Hansen, one stroke behind leader Chris Chesson of Louisiana-Lafayette, who carded a 68.
A&M?â„¢s effort was also aided by senior Ty Cox (Amarillo, Texas), who overcame a mid-round wrist injury to card a two-over-par 73 as the afternoon winds gusted near 40 miles per hour. Sophomore Sean Gilliland (Killeen, Texas) added a 74 for the Aggies, while freshman Dwayne Morley (Houston, Texas) carded a 75 and junior Casey Cronin (Rockwall, Texas) posted a 78.
"I was really pleased with our effort," A&M coach Bob Ellis said. "We competed very well, especially Matt. Ty battled back after a poor start and came through in the clutch. If we compete the next two rounds like we did today, we will be going to the show (nationals)."
Lindholm blazed to a three-under-par 33 on the back nine, posting birdies on the 10th, 11th and 16th holes. His only bogey of the day came on the par-5 fourth hole.
"I really was just trying to make pars but I had a real good putting day," Lindholm said. "It was tough because of the wind. I wanted to hit the fairways and the middle of the greens and was able to do that. We wanted to have a solid first round today and we did."
Cox sprained his right wrist on the ninth hole when he tried to punch his second shot from behind a tree. His 9-iron struck a low branch and snapped in two. Cox went on to bogey the hole and made the turn with a four-over-par 39. But he charged back with a two-under-par 34 on the back nine, thanks to taking just 10 putts. Cox posted birdies on the 10th and 12th holes and saved par with a chip-in on the par-5 13th. On the par-3 17th, he pulled his tee shot 20 yards left of the green but sank a 30-footer to save his par.
"It was one of those days when it didn?â„¢t seem like anything went well but I still managed to score," Cox said. "I didn?â„¢t get off to a good start but I held it together. The putt on 17 was a real momentum grabber."
AGGIE NOTES: Lindholm is chasing the school 36-hole record for regional play, which was set by current A&M assistant coach Dru Fenimore with rounds of 69-69=138 in 1996, when the Aggies won the regional title?...Lindholm entered the tournament with a team-best 74.24 stroke average, the first time in school history a freshman had led the team in scoring?...the Aggies last qualified for the NCAA Championships in 1997, finishing 13th?...coach Bob Ellis has led the Aggies into postseason play 23 times in his 26 years at the helm.