October 26, 2004
The Texas A&M men's golf team fired a 10-under-par 278 on Tuesday and finished in a tie for second at the Barona Collegiate Cup and Barona Creek Golf Club.
The Aggies' 23-under-par total of 285-278-278=841 broke a 25-year-old school record for 54 holes, while their final two rounds tied for the fourth best single rounds in school history. The previous 54-hole record was 21-under-par at the 1980 Border Olympics.
Junior Andrew Parr led the Aggies, finishing third in the individual standings with a 12-under-par 70-67-67=204 total, the third best in A&M history and the best since Jeff Maggert had a 13-under-par 203 at the 1986 Morris Williams Intercollegiate. Philip Parkin also had a 203 at the 1984 All-American Intercollegiate.
Parr finished one stroke behind BYU's Oscar Alvarez (66-69-68=203) and Denver's James Love (64-72-67=203). Alvarez captured the title in a playoff.
The Aggies were three-over-par through nine holes on Tuesday, but went 13-under on the back nine to tie Denver for second place. BYU won the team title by 19 strokes with an amazing 42-under-par 822.
Colorado State finished third at 842, followed by Ohio State (845), Wichita State (847), San Diego State (851), Fresno State (851), UC-Santa Barbara (854), Washington State (855), Texas-El Paso (859), Nevada (867), Hawaii (868) and San Diego (872).
Parr was the only non-freshman in A&M's lineup this week. The Aggies' Bobby Gates tied for 32nd (71-71-72=214), Martin Piller (77-69-70=216) and Chris Thompson (69-71-76=216) tied for 37th, and Trey Todd tied for 47th (75-74-69=218). Junior Rand Arbuckle, playing as an individual, tied for 55th (75-73-73=221).
"We caught fire on the back nine today," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "I'm really happy for Andrew and the way he played. He showed a lot of leadership and did a fantastic job all week. And I couldn't be happier with our freshmen. We've kind of thrown them into the fire this fall, but they've got a lot of talent and are learning fast. I think we'll see some great things from them in the future."
The Aggies close their fall season at the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship Nov. 14-16 in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla.
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