May 20, 2004
Sophomore Andrew Parr fired a three-under-par 69 on Thursday to share the individual lead and move Texas A&M into second place after the first round of the NCAA Men's Golf Central Regional at the Kampen Course at Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex.
The top 10 teams and two individuals will advance to the NCAA Championships June 1-4 in Hot Springs, Va. The second round is scheduled for Friday with the final round on Saturday.
Only one team in the field, No. 8-ranked Oklahoma State, managed to break par on the rugged, 7,259-yard Pete Dye-designed course. The Cowboys carded a one-under-par 287, while A&M posted a four-over-par 292. Host Purdue is in third at 295, followed by No. 9 Texas at 298.
"This course sets up well for us because we have a team of long hitters," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "The rough here is very long and thick and you have to keep it in the fairway. We hit the fairways today and had a lot of short irons and wedges in our hands."
Parr is tied at the top of the leaderboard with Texas' Jason Hartwick and Oklahoma State's Casey Wittenberg, who also fired 69s.
A&M sophomore Rand Arbuckle and senior Stephen Reed carded two-over-par 74s, while senior David Tasker had a 75 and junior David Schultz posted a 77.
Parr birdied the par-4 1st by dropping a 15-foot putt. He drove pin-high left of the green on the 310-yard, par-4 7th, then chipped to eight feet and made the putt for his second birdie. He bogeyed the par-4 9th to make the turn at one-under-par, but immediately followed with a birdie on the par-5 10th after nailing his third shot to within two feet of the hole.
He bogeyed the par-3 13th, but again followed with a birdie, making an eight-foot putt on the par-4 14th. He added his fifth and final birdie on the par-5 16th.
"I felt solid and stayed out of trouble most of the day," Parr said. "I was able to follow my only two bogeys with birdies. This course sets up good for us. We are one of the longest-hitting teams in college golf, but you have to hit it straight here, too. We're off to a great start, but this tournament is far from over."
Arbuckle had an impressive turnaround after a poor start. He topped his drive just 30 yards on the first hole and ended up making a double-bogey, then followed with another bogey on the second hole to go to three-over-par. But he played his final 16 holes in one-under, making four birdies.
"I don't know what I was thinking on that first drive," Arbuckle said. "After the second hole, I mentally got myself to just start over. I put the bad start behind me and just tried to get it in the fairway. I parred the third hole and that got me going. After that, I just kept it in play and putted pretty well."
Arbuckle birdied the par-4 7th, but went back to three-over with a bogey on the par-4 11th. On the 208-yard par-3 13th, he blistered a seven-iron to within four feet and made birdie, and followed by making an eight-foot birdie putt on the par-4 14th. He bogeyed the 15th, then sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 16th.
But Arbuckle's best shot of the day may have been on the 211-yard, par-3 17th, which is protected by water on the right from tee to green. He hit his tee shot into the water and with no drop area, had to hit his third shot from the tee. This time, he rifled his five-iron to within four feet of the hole and made the putt for a spectacular bogey.
"That was probably my most exciting hole of the day," Arbuckle said. "It almost felt like a birdie."
Tasker also had a tough start, bogeying two of the first three holes and adding a double-bogey on the par-3 5th. But he birdied four of his last 13 holes, playing one-under-par in that span. Reed was steady, posting four bogeys and two birdies. As a team, A&M recorded 17 birdies.
"We were disappointed with the way we played last month at the Big 12 Championships," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "We finished 10th at conference, but we knew this tournament could make or break our year. The guys got back to work after the Big 12, worked really hard and did a good job of preparing."
"We haven't played in so long, we didn't know what to expect," Parr added. "But we have practiced so long and hard the last month that I knew we were prepared. I really didn't have much expectations, I just went out and played solid."
No. 22-ranked Kentucky is in fourth at 298, followed by Kansas State (300), Kent State (301), No. 13 Minnesota (302), Wichita State (302), Ohio State (302), SMU (302), Colorado (304), No. 17 Oklahoma (305), No. 10 TCU (305), Indiana (306), lamar (309), Illinois (309), Notre Dame (310), Xavier (312), Tulsa (314), No. 23 Arkansas (314), No. 25 Kansas (315), Texas Tech (317), Baylor (321), Western Illinolis (323), Princeton (323) and Jackson State (333).
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