October 15, 2004
The Texas A&M men's golf team will compete at the Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic Sunday and Monday at Duke Golf Club.
The 54-hole tournament will consist of 36 holes on Sunday and a final 18 holes on Monday on the par-72, 7,104-yard course, which was the site of the 1962 and 2001 NCAA Men's Golf Championships.
In addition to A&M, the 14-team field includes Baylor, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Drake, Duke, Florida Southern, Furman, Michigan, No. 12-ranked Michigan State, North Carolina, UNC-Wilmington, Virginia Tech and No. 14 Washington.
Representing A&M will be freshmen Bobby Gates, Martin Piller and Matt Van Zandt, and juniors Andrew Parr and Jerad Harklau.
"We're playing really well right now and I'm anxious to see how we play this week," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "The Duke course is a tough test of golf and it can be a bear if the weather turns bad. On top of that, we're taking three true freshmen, but I have faith in their ability and I think they are up to the task. Besides, the golf ball doesn't know how old you are, it just knows how it was hit -- and these kids hit it pretty good."
-30-