February 14, 2001
The Texas A&M men's golf team will open its spring season at the 11th Annual Taylor Made Intercollegiate Invitational Thursday through Saturday at the Waikoloa Kings' and Beach Golf Courses.
In addition to A&M, the field includes No. 3-ranked Georgia Tech, No. 5 Texas, No. 8 Brigham Young, No. 16 San Diego State, No. 16 USC, No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 19 Texas Christian, Arizona State, Arkansas, UCLA, UC-Santa Barbara, Cal State-Bakersfield, Hawai'i, Nagoya, Nevada-Reno, Oregon, Oregon State, Pepperdine, Rhode Island, San Francisco, SMU and host University of Hawai'i at Hilo.
Representing A&M will be senior Casey Cronin, sophomore Shaun Helmle, sophomore Matt Lindholm, junior Josh McCoy and freshman Stephen Reed. McCoy led the team in the fall with a 73.00 stroke average and tied for second at the Baylor Invitational, while freshman Stephen Reed posted a 73.25 average. Helmle, a transfer from Sam Houston State, will be making his A&M debut.
Heading the field is nation's top player Bryce Molder of Georgia Tech. Also in the field are No. 5-ranked Craig Little of Arkansas, USC's Hunter Mahan (8), Texas' John Klauk (10), Arizona State's Jeff Quinney (11), SMU's Franklin Hatchett (19) and Texas' Matt Brost (20).
On Thursday and Friday, groups will tee off from the first tee between 6:45 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. at both courses. Saturday's final round will be played at the Kings' Course with a 7 a.m. shotgun start. The Kings' is a 6,594-yard, par-72 Scottish Links course designed by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish. The Beach is a 6,566-yard, par-70 resort course designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr.