February 12, 2003
The Texas A&M men's golf team carded an opening round of 11-over-par 299 on Wednesday at the Taylor Made Waikaloa Intercollegiate and is tied for 17th place.
The tournament continues with 18 holes on Thursday and a final 18 holes on Friday.
Half the 24-team field, including the Aggies, played the par-72 Kings' Course while the other half played the par-70 Beach Course at the Waikaloa Resort.
UCLA leads the tournament after a five-under-par 283 on the Kings' Course, followed by Texas Tech at 284 and Houston at 288. Baylor's Ryan Baca leads the individual standings after firing a six-under-par 66 on the Kings' Course, one stroke better than Texas Tech's Mark Hull.
"We are hitting the ball pretty well, A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "We didn't score around the greens as well as we would have liked, but our ball-striking was good."
The Aggies were led by sophomore Stephen Reed, who carded an even-par 72, and junior Parker Briley, who posted a one-over-par 73. Also for A&M, junior David Tasker shot a 76, senior Shaun Helmle had a 78 and freshman Andrew Parr carded a 78.
"Stephen played really well today," Higgins said. "He had an up and down round with five birdies and five bogeys. And I was happy with how Parker played. He was composed and never made any big mistakes. he really took charge on the golf course."
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