May 20, 2000
The Texas A&M men?â„¢s golf team fell short in its bid for a berth in the NCAA Championships, finishing 13th Saturday at the NCAA Central Regional at Victoria Country Club.
The Aggies carded a final round of 285, one-over-par on the 6,870-yard, par 71 layout, but their 868 total fell eight shots short of No. 25-ranked Kansas and Oklahoma, which tied for eighth. The top nine teams advance to the NCAA Championships May 31-June 3 in Opelika, Ala..
No. 23-ranked Texas posted a blistering 12-under-par 272 on Saturday to win the team title by two strokes over No. 20-ranked Kent, which closed with a 273.
The Longhorns posted a 54-hole total of five-under-par 847, followed by Kent (849), No. 3-ranked Oklahoma State (850), No. 10 Houston (851), Minnesota (852), No. 7 Northwestern (854), TCU (859), Oklahoma (860) and No. 25 Kansas (860). Non-qualifying teams were Baylor (862), Mississippi (866), Michigan (866), A&M (868), SMU (870), Ohio State (874), Tulsa (879), Arkansas State (880), Southeastern Louisiana (881), Colorado (881), Arkansas-Little Rock (881), Louisiana-Lafayette (886), Coastal Carolina (886), North Texas (888), Wichita State (891), Oral Roberts (893), Toledo (901) and Jackson State (905).
Kent?â„¢s Jon Mills on the individual title with an 11-under-par total of 71-66-65=202, five strokes ahead of runner-up Cody Freeman of Oklahoma, who carded rounds of 71-67-69=207.
A&M freshman Matt Lindholm, who tied for 10th with rounds of 69-68-74=211, lost on the first hole of a three-way playoff with Baylor?â„¢s Jimmy Walker and Mississippi?â„¢s Jon Bartlett for the final individual NCAA qualifying berth. Lindholm waited more than four hours for the playoff to begin after completing the final round.
Lindholm?â„¢s 2-iron tee shot on the first playoff hole found the left rough, leaving him 195 yards to the flag. Lindholm?â„¢s 6-iron approach fell short of the green, but he chipped to within six feet. With Walker and Bartlett tapping in for par, Lindholm needed to make his par putt to remain in the playoff, but the putt slid off the right lip and he was eliminated. Bartlett went on to beat Walker on the fourth playoff hole. Arkansas?â„¢ Craig Lile captured the other individual qualifying berth with rounds of 71-71-66=208.
"The wait didn?â„¢t have any effect on the playoff," Lindholm said. "If I had it to do over, I would probably hit a wood off the tee. I left myself too far from the green. I thought I made my par putt but I just misread it. I didn?â„¢t have my game today and that?â„¢s the way it goes sometimes. It seemed like every time I thought I hit a good shot, it would be short or long. But if someone would have told me coming in that I would finish in the top 10, I would have been very pleased."
The final round was not without other highlights for the Aggies.
A&M sophomore Sean Gilliland carded a career-best four-under-par 67, setting an A&M single-round record for regional play. The old record was a pair of 68s by Miguel del Angel en route to the regional title in 1997, while Jeff Brown also carded a 68 at the 1997 regional. Gilliland tied for 54th with a 54-hole total of 219.
Gilliland had perhaps the shot of the day on his final swing of the tournament when he holed a sand wedge from 91 yards for an eagle on the 598-yard, par-5 18th hole. Gilliland had just one bogey in the final round and posted three birdies on the front nine to make the turn with a three-under-par 33.
"I just kind of let it flow today," Gilliland said. "I only made one bogey and when you do that, you?â„¢ll usually have a pretty good score. On the eagle, I had a good lie in the rough and hit it exactly like I wanted. It was a nice way to finish."
A&M freshman Dwayne Morley also had a strong final round with a two-under-par 69, which included three birdies and only one bogey. Morley dropped a 15-foot putt for birdie on the final hole to complete the second best round of his college career. Last fall, Morley posted a 67 at the Baylor Invitational. Morley tied for 74th with a 54-hole total of 222.
"I hit it horrible the first two rounds and I really felt like I let the team down, especially yesterday," said Morley, who carded a 79 on Friday. "It felt good to contribute today, although we fell short as a team."
Also for A&M, senior Ty Cox tied for 68th with rounds of 73-73-75=221 and junior Casey Cronin tied for 134th with rounds of 78-74-82=234.
"We?â„¢re disappointed we didn?â„¢t make it to nationals, but I?â„¢m very excited about the future of our program," A&M coach Bob Ellis said. "Sean and Dwayne had great rounds today and Matt had a great tournament. With the guys we have coming back and the players we have coming in next year, our prospects are very bright for next season."