April 17, 2005
The Texas A&M men's golf team carded a final round 306 on Sunday and finished 10th at the inaugural Aggie Invitational at Traditions Golf Club.
Top-ranked Oklahoma State posted rounds of 290-290-290=870 to edge No. 5 New Mexico (286-294-292=872) by two strokes for the title.
The tournament was A&M's first regular-season event at a local course in 29 years.
"From an administrative standpoint, the tournament was a huge success," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "The support we got from the community was fantastic and the atmosphere was as good as I've seen at any college golf event. As a coach, I was pretty disappointed in how we played. Our guys wanted so badly to play well at home and they put a lot of pressure on themselves."
Texas Tech finished third (882), followed by Oklahoma (889), SMU (891), No. 17 Texas (892), Baylor (894), Kent State (899), No. 21 Michigan State (901), A&M "A" (302-294-306=902), Northwestern (905), Ohio State (906), A&M "B" (294-307-308=909) and Notre Dame (919).
Oklahoma's Anthony Kim closed with a three-under-par 69 to tie New Mexico's Spencer Levin (67-69-74=210) for the individual crown with a six-under-par total of 72-69-69=210.
A&M's hopes were dashed early in the final round when a back injury forced junior Andrew Parr to withdraw. Parr entered the final round tied for 12th at 74-71=145.
The Aggies were led by freshman Martin Piller, who tied for 12th at 73-74-73=220. Also for the A&M "A" team, freshman Robert Gates tied for 45th (84-73-73=230), junior Jerad Harklau tied for 57th (77-76-80=233) and freshman Chris Thompson placed 64th (78-79-80=237).
Senior David Schultz led the A&M "B" team, tying Piller for 12th with a 71-76-73=220 total. Also for the "B" team, junior Rand Arbuckle tied for 40th (73-81-75=229), freshman Matt Van Zandt tied for 45th (77-73-80=230), freshman Trey Todd tied for 60th (75-78-81=234) and freshman Brandon Burgoon tied for 62nd (75-80-80=235).
"We got behind early and tried to force things," Higgins said. "The more we pressed, the worse we played. We've got a couple of weeks to get ready for conference, so we've got to come back out and get to work. The postseason is what really matters and we still have a chance to reach our goals."
The Aggies play host to the Big 12 Championships April 29-May 1 at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity.
-30-