April 24, 2001
The Texas A&M men?â„¢s golf team couldn?â„¢t make up any ground in the final 18 holes of the Big 12 Conference Championship, so the Aggies will have to wait to see if a sixth-place finish is good enough to get an invitation to the NCAA Central Regional in Stillwater, Okla. on May 17-19.
A&M was hoping for third- or fourth-place finish, so the selection committee couldn?â„¢t pass over the Aggies.
A&M freshman Stephen Reed finished with a 2-over-par 72 for a 226 finish, which tied him for fifth in medalist play. That ties the highest finish by an A&M golfer in the five-year history of the Big 12 ?" Sean Gilliland was fifth last season.
"I?â„¢ve been hitting the ball well, but haven?â„¢t been putting too well," Reed said. "I knew if I stayed focused, it was just a matter of time. I was pretty pleased with how I played."
So was Baylor?â„¢s Worth Williams and the unranked Bears.
Williams shot a three-round total of 215 to claim medalist honors and lead the Bears to their first conference golf championship since 1966.
Baylor shot 894 at the Prairie Dunes Country Club. The title was only Baylor?â„¢s third golf championship in school history.
"This is a big moment for Baylor golf," said Baylor coach Tim Hobby. "This year?â„¢s seniors were in my first recruiting class which makes this championship even more special."
Williams, a senior, won the individual title by eight strokes, shooting two-over par 72s in the first two rounds and a one-over par 71 in the final 18.
Oklahoma and Texas tied for second, finishing 10 strokes off the lead at 904. Colorado was fourth at 905 and defending champion Oklahoma State was fifth at 912. A&M shot 311-314-302=927.
Reed shot 75-79-72=226. Other A&M scores were: Dwayne Morley 80-78-75=233; Casey Cronin 78-82-75=235; Duke Butler 84-75-82=241; and Matt Lindholm 78-85-80=243.
"Today was not what we had hoped for," A&M coach Bob Ellis said. "We didn?â„¢t let anyone past us, but we didn?â„¢t move forward either. Stephen really had a solid round and remained focused the whole day.
"Dwayne and Casey were real close to having good rounds, but like all year, it wasn?â„¢t quit there. Hopefully, this will be good enough to get into regionals."
Those selections will be made next week.
"We were disappointed that we didn?â„¢t perform better today," Ellis said. "I think we have a great effort. We haven?â„¢t played as well as we can. I can?â„¢t fault our effort at all, we?â„¢ve got the talent. It?â„¢s just a matter of coming together and producing the results we?â„¢d like to see."