April 04, 2002
The Texas A&M men's golf team will play host to the 51st Annual Border Olympics on Friday and Saturday at Laredo Country Club.
The tournament will consist of 36 holes on Friday and a final 18 holes on Saurday for a 54-hole total. Play begins at 8 a.m. each day on the par 72, 7,125-yard golf course.
In addition to the Aggies, the 17-team field includes No. 18-ranked New Mexico, No. 22 Pepperdine, No. 24 Baylor, Arkansas, Rice, Sam Houston State, Central Florida, Louisiana-Lafayette, Lamar, Texas-Arlington, Texas-San Antonio, Texas-Pan American, San Diego State, Colorado State, Central Oklahoma and Texas Tech.
New Mexico won last year's event with a nine-under-par 855, five strokes ahead of runner-up Texas (860). A&M and Baylor tied for third at 874. Ironically, New Mexico was coached last season by J.T. Higgins, who is now in his first season as head coach at A&M.
Representing the Aggies will be sophomore Stephen Reed, sophomore Parker Briley, senior Sean Gilliland and freshmen Rand Arbuckle and Tyler Garrett. Junior Dwayne Morley, sophomore Mark Schultz and senior Shaun Helmle will compete as individuals.
"This is a really important tournament for us," Higgins said. "We are facing all the teams in our district that we need to beat to make regionals. It all comes down to this tournament. If we play well, we'll probably make regionals. If we don't play well, we probably won't and that will make for a long summer."
The NCAA Central Regional is May 16-18 in Little Rock, Ark.