May 19, 2001
The Texas A&M men's golf team fired a final-round 305 on Saturday to finish 13th, two strokes out of an NCAA berth at the NCAA Central Regional at Karsten Creek Golf Course.
The Aggies' three-round total of 291-298-305=894 placed them just two strokes back of Houston and SMU who finished tied for ninth at 892. The top 10 teams qualified for the NCAA Championships May 30-June 2 in Durham, N.C.
A&M had entered the final round tied for fourth place, six strokes ahead of the NCAA cut.
Unranked Kent State (289-296-298) and Purdue (297-293-293) tied with 16th-ranked Oklahoma (293-291-299) to share the team championship at 19-over-par 883. No. 30 College of Charleston (885) and No. 35 Minnesota (885) tied for fourth, while host and 15th-ranked Oklahoma State (887) placed sixth. No. 11 Augusta State (888), Toledo (891), No. 19 Houston (892) and No. 42 SMU (892) claimed the final spots in the NCAA team championship.
Ohio State (893) and No. 38 Tulsa tied for 11th, followed by A&M (894), No. 32 North Carolina (895), No. 34 Kansas (896), No. 21 Northwestern (896), No. 43 Colorado (898), Lamar (899), No. 5 Texas (899), Arkansas-Little Rock (902), No. 45 Baylor (902), No. 7 TCU (905), Louisiana-Lafayette (906), Wichita State (911), Arkansas State (914), No. 44 North Florida (915) and Jackson State (959).
Individually the Aggies were led by freshman Stephen Reed who finished tied for 12th with a two-over-par total of 74-71-73=218. Freshman Duke Butler (78-70-75=223) tied for 40th, while sophomore Dwayne Morley (72-78-76=226) tied for 60th, senior Casey Cronin (71-79-81=231) tied for 97th and junior Josh McCoy (74-79-81=234) tied for 114th.
Texas' John Klauk claimed the individual crown with a four-under-par total of 68-73-71=212, followed by Oklahoma's Martin Flores (213) and Kansas' Andy Stewart (214).
The tournament was the final one for retiring coach Bob Ellis who, in his long career at the helm in Aggieland, has led A&M to 23 NCAA Tournament appearances.