October 18, 2004
The Texas A&M men's golf team carded a final-round 296 on Monday and finished ninth at the Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic at Duke Golf Club.
The Aggies had a 54-hole total of 304-304-296=904, finishing 44 strokes behind champion Duke (860). North Carolina was second at 873, followed by Washington (876), Michigan Satte (876), Furman (883), North Carolina Wilmington (894), Baylor (894), Coastal Carolina (897), A&M, Carlotte (909), Drake (909), Virginia Tech (910), Michigan (912) and Florida Southern (935).
North Carolina's Martin Ureta captured the individual title with a six-under-par total of 71-73-66=210, winning a playoff against three other players.
A&M's final round was highlighted by a hole-in-one by freshman Bobby Gates, who aced the 201-yard 15th hole with a 3-iron. The ace was the second of Gates' career and his first in competition. Gates tied for 21st to lead the Aggies with rounds of 73-74-75=222.
A&M freshman Martin Piller tied for 39th (80-74-74=228), while junior Jerad Harklau tied for 46th (77-80-73=230), junior Andrew Parr tied for 55th (74-84-74=232) and freshman Matt Van Zandt tied for 66th (82-76-77=235).
"Obviously, we're disappointed with how we played in this tournament, but we have a very young team," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "To play like we did was unexpected, but hopefully we learned what it takes to compete."
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