March 19, 2004
After struggling in its last outing, the Texas A&M men's golf team hopes to bounce back with a strong effort at the Hall of Fame Invitational Friday through Sunday at Redstone Golf Club.
A&M is coming off a disappointing 13th-place finish at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate last Tuesday in Austin.
The Hall of Fame Invitational will consist of 18 holes each day for a total of 54 holes. Redstone, a par-72, 7,508-yard course, is the site of the PGA TOUR's Houston Open. Of the 16 teams in the field, 10 are ranked among the nation's top 25 by Golfweek.
In addition to A&M, the field includes No. 7-ranked Texas, No. 11 UNLV, No. 10 Oklahoma State, No. 8 TCU, No. 20 Arizona, No. 6 Arizona State, East Tennessee State, No. 16 Arkansas, Houston, No. 23 Oklahoma, No. 9 Minnesota, No. 17 New Mexico, Swedish National Team, Averett and Francis Marion. A&M is ranked No. 31.
The Aggies will be represented by seniors David Tasker and Stephen Reed, sophomore Andrew Parr, junior David Schultz and freshman Tyler Kief, who will be making his college debut.
"We were very disappointed in our performance in Austin," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "The good news is that we do not have time to dwell on it as this event is probably an even bigger challenge for our team. There are 10 teams ranked in the Top 25 competing in this tournament and we need to be ready to play. Redstone Golf Club is a magnificent course. It is very long and difficult and we will have to do a good job of managing our games if we want to be successful. This is as close as we come to a home event so we feel like we need to go out and play well in our own backyard."
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