November 16, 2004
The Texas A&M men's golf team lost to No. 10-ranked Texas, 3-2, on Tuesday and finished fourth at the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championships at the Mission Inn Resort.
No. 3-ranked Oklahoma State shut out No. 2 Georgia Tech, 4-0-1, to win the championship.
A&M freshman Robert Gates dominated his match against Texas All-American Matt Rosenfeld, who is the nation's No. 10-ranked player by Golfweek. Rosenfeld was 2 up after three holes, but Gates won six of the next 10 holes and went on to an easy 4 and 3 victory.
Junior Andrew Parr, who lost his first three matches while battling a sore back, defeated the Longhorns' Jeff Bell, 3 and 1, posting birdies on the last two holes to close out the match.
Texas' Matthew Mills beat freshman Martin Piller, 4 and 3, handing Piller his first loss in the tournament. UT's Jace Moore defeated junior Jerad Harklau, 3 and 1, while the Longhorns' Farren Keenan edged senior David Schultz, 2 and 1.
The Keenan-Shultz match was all square through 15 holes, but Keenan won the 16th and 17th to close out the match and give the Longhorns the victory.
"I'm really proud of the way our guys battled and fought," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "Our depth has been our strength this year, but today the top of the lineup carried us. For us to get fourth place in this field is a great accomplishment and gives us something to build on as we head into our spring season."
The Aggies defeated No. 1-ranked Georgia and No. 18 Georgia State in the first two rounds before falling to No. 3 Oklahoma State in the semifinals.
Gates and Piller each finished with a 3-1 record, while Harklau was 2-2 and Schultz and Parr were both 1-3.
The tournament ended A&M's fall schedule. The Aggies open their spring season Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at the PING/Arizona Collegiate in Tucson, Ariz.