June 01, 2005
Texas A&M freshman Robert Gates opened with a two-under-par 68 on Wednesday and is tied for ninth place after the first round of the NCAA Men's Golf Championships at Caves Valley Golf Club.
The tournament continues through Saturday. The Golf Channel will televise the final three rounds on a tape-delayed basis from 2-4 p.m. (Central) each day. A&M tees off at 6:45 a.m. (Central) on Thursday and is paired with first-round leader Georgia and Washington.
A&M is tied for 26th after a 16-over-par 296. The No. 2-ranked Bulldogs took a five shot lead with a six-under 274, while No. 12 Tennessee is in second (279) and No. 23 Arizona is in third (282). Top-ranked Oklahoma State is in 24th after struggling to a 292. Texas is in 27th at 298 and Missouri is in 30th at 300.
Georgia's Kevin Kisner and Augusta State's Major Manning are tied for the individual lead after firing five-under 65s. Georgia Southern's Aron Price is in third after a 66.
The Aggies were eight-over through 15 holes, but played the final three holes in eight-over.
"We played pretty well most of the day but finished terribly," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "Finishing has been our strength all year so that was disappointing. We had a chance for a really good round, but there's a lot of golf left to play. We're not out of it by any means."
A&M junior Jerad Harklau added a strong opening round with a two-over 72, while senior David Schultz had a 75 and junior Andrew Parr and Martin Piller carded 81s.
Starting on hole No. 10, Gates was three-under through 16 holes before suffering his only bogey of the day on the par-3 8th. Going back to the NCAA Central Regional two weeks ago, Gates had played 46 straight holes without a bogey.
"Bobby is just playing great golf," Higgins said. "I'm proud of him and pleased for him. It's great to see him coming into his own and shooting the kind of scores we thought he could,"
Harklau had four birdies in his round, including one on his final hole, the par-4 9th. Schultz didn't finish as well, closing with a double bogey on the same hole.
"We've got a great tee time on Thursday and we're going to go out and try to peck away at the leaders and move up the ladder," Higgins said. "We've dug ourselves a hole, but we have 54 holes left to play. Our guys are anxious to get back out there and prove this round was a fluke."