May 19, 2004
The Texas A&M men's golf team will challenge for its first NCAA Championships berth since 1997 at the NCAA Central Regional Thursday through Saturday at the Kampen Course at Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind.
The top 10 teams and top two individuals from each of three regionals will advance to the NCAA Championships June 1-4 in Hot Springs, Va. Each regional includes 27 teams and six individuals for a total of 423 players participating in regional competition. The East Regional is being played in New Haven, Conn., with the West Regional in Sunriver, Ore.
The tournament will consist of 18 holes each day for a total of 54 holes. The total of each team's top four individual scores will count toward each day's team score.
A&M will begin first-round play at 12:45 a.m. and is paired with Big 12 rivals Kansas State and Baylor.
In addition to No. 47-ranked A&M, the Central Regional field includes No. 8 Oklahoma State, No. 9 Texas, No. 10 TCU, No. 13 Minnesota, No. 17 Oklahoma, No. 22 Kentucky, No. 23 Arkansas, No. 25 Kansas, No. 31 Tulsa, No. 32 Colorado, No. 33 SMU, No. 36 Texas Tech, No. 35 Kansas State, No. 41 Baylor, Xavier, No. 39 Illinois, No. 45 Ohio State, host Purdue, No. 50 Kent State, No. 46 Wichita State, No. 40 Indiana, Lamar, Notre Dame, Princeton, Western Illinois and Jackson State.
"We have worked very hard all year to be included in this field and we are excited to go test our skills against the best teams in the Midwest," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "Regionals are always pressure-packed, but when you add in the fact that 21 teams in the field are ranked in the Top 50 -- and only 10 advance to nationals -- and that we are playing on a very difficult track at Purdue, it should make for a great week of golf."
The Kampen Course at Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex is located on the Purdue University campus. The Pete Dye-designed course measures 7,259 yards and plays to a par of 72. The venue played host to the 2003 NCAA Women's Golf Championships.
"It all really just comes down to one thing: If we play well, we will advance; if we play poorly, we won't," Higgins said. "I think we are as ready as we can be and we have a great chance to advance."
A&M's lineup consists of two seniors, one junior and two sophomores. Three of A&M's top four seeds -- senior David Tasker, sophomore Andrew Parr and senior Stephen Reed - have played in all 11 tournaments while junior David Schultz has appeared in 10. Rand Arbuckle, a sophomore from A&M Consolidated, has played in just four previous events this season, but the regional will mark his fourth straight tournament.
Reed, Parr and Tasker each have regional experience. Reed tied for 85th last year and tied for 12th as a freshman, while Parr tied for 85th and Tasker tied for 96th last season.
The Aggies have posted an 91-67-3 dual record this season and have finished in the top 10 in 10 of 11 events, including five top-five performances.
A&M opened the fall with a fifth-place finish at the Tucker Invitational and followed with a second-place showing at the Mason Rudolph Collegiate that led to a No. 16 national ranking. A&M closed the fall season with a tie for fifth at the Barona Collegiate Cup, which included a second-round score of 13-under-par 275, the best round in school history.
The Aggies began the spring with a solid performance at the Burns Intercollegiate in Hawaii, tying for sixth. A&M's 36-hole score of 563 is the fourth-best in school annals and the 54-hole score of 849 ranks fourth on the school chart. The Aggies struggled in the middle of the spring schedule, tying for 13th at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate and finishing 10th at the Hall of Fame Invitational.
A&M came back to place seventh at the Border Olympics and ended the regular season with a fifth-place effort at the Hitchcock Invitational in early April. The Aggies struggled to a 10th-place finish in their last outing at the Big 12 Championships in April.
Tasker has had an outstanding season, leading the team with a 73.00 stroke average, the best by an Aggie since All-American Anthony Rodriguez in 1994-95 (72.1). He has posted seven top-20 and four top-10 finishes and has finished in the top 15 in five of seven spring tournaments.
Reed has missed just one tournament in his A&M career and is making his third NCAA Central Regional appearance. He ranks fourth on the team in scoring with a 73.88 average and has posted three top-20 finishes. He won the individual title at the Mason Rudolph Collegiate in the fall, closing with a six-under-par 65, the fifth-best round in school history.
Parr ranks second on the team in scoring with a 73.56 average, the best by a sophomore in school history. The Canadian has had four top-15 finishes this season, including a tie for fourth at the Tucker Intercollegiate to open the fall slate.
Schultz, a transfer from New Mexico, led the Aggies at the Big 12 Championships with a tie for 16th place (73-77-72=222), his fifth top-25 finish of the year. Schultz ranks third on the team in scoring at 73.69. Arbuckle tied for 29th at the Big 12 (75-74-76=225).
A&M has played in 13 NCAA regionals in 16 years since regional play began in 1989. A&M twice has advanced through regional play to the NCAA Championships, finishing 21st in 1996 and 13th in 1997.
Overall, A&M has competed in 21 NCAA Championships since its first team appearance in 1955. A&M won the NCAA Central Regional in 1996 in Ann Arbor, Mich., and placed third in 1997. A&M has narrowly missed NCAA berths several times, finishing 11th at regionals in 1993, 12th in 1994, 11th in 1998 and 13th in 2000 and 2001.
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