September 19, 2004
Freshman Bobby Gates carded a final-round two-over-par 72 on Sunday and finished in a tie for fourth at the Notre Dame Invitational/Central District Preview at Notre Dame's Warren Golf Course.
The Aggies finished with a 295 on Sunday and tied for seventh place in the season opener. The Warren Golf Course will be the site of the NCAA Central Regional May 19-21.
Kent State won the title with a total of 287-293-291=871, finishing two strokes ahead of Michigan State (873). Texas Tech was third (888), followed by Colorado (889), Indiana (890), Notre Dame (892), A&M (303-298-295=896), Xavier (896), Northwestern (907), Arkansas (908), Tulsa (909), SMU (911), Missouri (918), Toledo (925) and Iowa State (931).
Kent State's Ryan Yip won the individual crown by five shots with rounds of 68-72-69=209.
Gates, ranked as the No. 6 junior golfer in the country for 2004, lived up to his billing in his college debut, finishing with a 73-71-72=216 total.
But Gates wasn't the only A&M freshman to shine as Martin Piller tied for 19th at 78-72-73=223 and Trey Todd, competing as an individual, closed with an even-par 70 and tied for 42nd with a 230 total.
Junior Andrew Parr also had a solid outing, tying for 14th with rounds of 76-74-71=221. Junior Jerad Harklau tied for 68th (76-82-79=237) and junior Rand Arbuckle finished 75th (81-81-80=242).
"We wasted a great effort by our freshmen, which shows how much of a team sport this really is," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "All it takes is a couple of guys not playing at the top of their games. We had three guys finish in the top 20, so we should have had a chance to win. But we got a chance to see this course, which should be helpful at regionals."
"Bobby had a great start to his college career and showed why he was so highly recruited," Higgins added. "Trey had a terrific round today and showed that maybe he can help us down the road."
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