September 20, 2001
First-year Texas A&M golf coach J.T. Higgins will lead the Aggies' golf team into its season opener Friday and Saturday in a familiar setting -- The William H. Tucker Intercollegiate at the University of New Mexico's Championship Golf Course.
Higgins came to A&M this summer after four seasons as New Mexico's coach, but says he has no qualms about returning to Albuquerque to start his A&M coaching career.
"I'm really looking forward to it," Higgins said. "I still have a lot of friends there and the Tucker is always a great tournament. I'm anxious to see how we do in our first tournament of the year. It's a challenging event and is a good place for us to get started."
The tournament will consist of 36 holes on Friday and a final 18 holes on Saturday for a total of 54 holes. Play will begin at 9 a.m. (CDT) each day. The par-72 UNM Championship course measures 7,248 yards and has been the site of the Tucker Intercollegiate since 1967.
In addition to A&M, the 20-team event will include Air Force, No. 2-ranked Arizona, No. 10 Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, Colorado State, Hawaii, No. 19 New Mexico, New Mexico JV, New Mexico State, No. 22 Oregon State, No. 20 Pepperdine, San Diego State, Southeastern Louisiana, No. 20 Southern California, No. 13 UNLV, Utah, Wyoming and Texas-El Paso.
Representing A&M will be sophomore Stephen Reed (Houston), senior Sean Gilliland (Killeen), junior Dwayne Morley (Houston), senior Clay Fullick (Baytown) and freshman Rand Arbuckle (College Station). Senior Josh McCoy (Perryton) will compete as an individual.
"Stephen played really well in qualifying, breaking par in three of his four rounds," Higgins said. "All the guys making the trip shot under par at least once in qualifying, so I think we're ready for a solid performance."
The Aggies return five lettermen from last season after losing seniors Casey Cronin, Matt Loving and Ryan Tull to graduation. Duke Butler, who ranked third on the team in scoring, transferred to Florida, while Matt Lindholm quit the team. Senior Shaun Helmle (Pasadena) and sophomore Frank Paul (Austin) also return. Higgins brings in four new faces this season in freshmen Arbuckle and Tyler Garrett (Houston), SMU transfer Parker Briley (Abilene) and LSU transfer Mark Schultz (Richardson).
Reed led the team in scoring last year with a 74.43 average and appeared in a team-high 12 tournaments. He posted four top-20 finishes, inlcuding a tie for fifth at the Big 12 Championships and a tie for 12th at the NCAA Central Regional. Last month, he qualified for the United States Amateur.
Gilliland struggled as a junior, ranking seventh on the team in scoring, after earning All-Big 12 honors as a sophomore when he placed fifth at the Big 12 Championships and won the Pepperdine/STRATA Intercollegiate. Gilliland set a school record for lowest round in NCAA regional play with a 67 at the at the 1999 NCAA Central regional.
Morley is a former Texas state junior champion and along with Fullick qualifed for the 2000 U.S. Amateur. Arbuckle was one of the state's top-ranked high school players last year at A&M Consolidated. McCoy posted a pair of top 10 finishes last year, including a tie for second at the Baylor Invitational.