April 04, 2001
The Texas A&M men's golf team will play host to the 50th Annual Border Olympics, the nation's second oldest college golf tournament, Friday and Saturday at Laredo Country Club.
The oldest college tournament is San Jose State's Western Intercollegiate. Past Border Olympics individual champions include Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, Charles Coody and Don January. North Texas State, the eventual NCAA champion, won the first Border Olympics title in 1952.
The tournament will consist of 36 holes on Friday and 18 holes on Saturday for a total of 54 holes. Baylor won the team title by four strokes over runner-up A&M last year while Rice's Drew Conrad won the individual crown with a 1-under-par 215 total. The Aggies have won the tournament three times, with the last title coming in 1997. Six A&M players have captured the individual crown, the last being Ryan Palmer in 1998.
In addition to A&M, the 15-team field includes No. 7-ranked Texas, No. 11 New Mexico, Arkansas, Baylor, Central Oklahoma, Lamar, Rice, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, SMU, Texas Tech, Texas-Arlington, Texas-Pan American and Texas-San Antonio.
Top individuals in the field include No. 24-ranked Craig Lile of Arkansas, No. 27 Jason Hartwick of Texas, No. 40 John Klauk of Texas, No. 44 Franklin Hatchett of SMU, No. 69 Matt Dobyns of Texas, No. 88 Matt Brost of Texas, No. 92 Wil Collins of New Mexico and No. 97 Michael Letzig of New Mexico.
Representing A&M will be junior Shaun Helmle, sophomore Dwayne Morley, sophomore Matt Lindholm, senior Casey Cronin, freshman Stephen Reed and junior Josh McCoy. Freshman Duke Butler will compete as an individual.
The Aggies remain in contention for a bid to the NCAA Central Regional May 17-19 in Stillwater, Okla., but must play well in their remaining tournaments. The Aggies are ranked No. 9 in District VI but the top eight teams in the district will advance to regionals. Four teams ranked ahead of the Aggies in the district rankings ?" No. 1 Texas, No. 4 SMU, No. 6 Baylor and No. 8 UT-Arlington ?" are competing at the Border Olympics.
"This is a key tournament for us," said retiring A&M coach Bob Ellis, who will be coaching in his 27th Border Olympics. "We need a very high finish to stay in contention for a regional bid. We know we are capable of doing that if we simply play to our capabilities. This tournament has always been a fun event and is run by a lot of really good people in Laredo who do an outstanding job. I'll certainly miss being a part of it."
The Aggies final tuneup for the conference tournament will be at the Intercollegiate at North Carolina April 14-15 in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Big 12 Championships are April 23-24 in Hutchinson, Kan., followed by the regular-season finale, The Maxwell, May 12-13 in Ardmore, Okla.