November 14, 2004
Texas A&M upset No. 1-ranked Georgia, 3-2, in Sunday's opening round of the Hooters Men's Collegiate Match Play Championships at the Mission Inn Resort.
The Aggies then built a 3-1-1 lead against No. 18-ranked Georgia State in the second round before play was suspended because of darkness. Play will resume Monday at 8 a.m. (Eastern), followed by the semifinals. The championship match is scheduled for Tuesday.
The match against Georgia came down the final hole between A&M freshman Robert Gates' and the Bulldogs' David Denham. Gates hit his second shot into the water on the par-4, while Denham was in a bunker short of the green.
Gates bounced back to stick his next shot an inch from the hole to wrap up a bogey. Meanwhile, Denham hit his third shot out-of-bounds and after dropping back in the bunker, hit his next shot into the water. He conceded the hole, giving Gates a 1 up victory and moving the Aggies into the second round.
A&M freshman Martin Piller also had a big day, downing Georgia's Brendon Toss, 2 and 1, while junior Jerad Harklau beat Jason Hodges, 7 and 5. Senior David Shultz lost his match to Chris Kirk, the nation's No. 11-ranked player, 5 and 4, while junior Andrew Parr lost to Chris Kirk, the nation's No. 8-ranked player, 6 and 5.
"I',m really proud of our guys, especially the freshmen," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "They keeping stepping up for us. We beat a team loaded with All-Americans and proved we can play with any team in the country. It's a big boost for our golf program to beat a team of this caliber."
Through 13 holes in the second-round matches, Gates is 2 up on Georgia State's Steven Tiley, Piller is 2 up on Joel Sjoholm, Harklau is 5 up on Ben Taylor and Schultz is all square with Darren Baynes. GSU's Ty Harris is 2 up on Parr.
The winner of the A&M-Georgia State match will play the winner of the Oklahoma State-Florida match, which the No. 3-ranked Cowboys lead, 3-2.
In other first-round matches, No. 2-ranked Georgia Tech beat Penn State, 3-2; Arizona beat Purdue, 3-2; No. 20 Clemson beat No. 9 Kentucky, 3-2, No. 10 Texas beat Pepperdine, 3-1-1; Georgia State beat Washington, 4-1; Florida blanked No. 8 UCLA, 5-0; and Oklahoma State beat California, 3-2.
In other second-round matches, Georgia Tech and Texas lead in the winners bracket, while Penn State, Kentucky, Georgia and UCLA are ahead in the consolation bracket.
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