September 16, 2005
Despite making a whopping 31 birdies and an eagle on Friday, Texas A&M is in fifth place after the opening two rounds of the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate at the University of New Mexico's Championship Golf Course.
UNLV leads the 20-team tournament with a six-under-par total of 570, followed by Texas Tech (577), Colorado (578), Northwestern (581) and A&M (294-290=584).
"We kind of have mixed emotions," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "We played better than we scored and should be more in contention. I'm pretty happy to have a team that can make that many birdies, but we've got to learn to minimize our mistakes and make better decisions."
A&M senior Andrew Parr is tied for fifth at two-under (72-70=142). UNLV's Andres Gonzales leads at five-under (67-72=139), two strokes ahead of a group of three players at three-under.
Parr was three-under through 16 holes in the afternoon round before posting his lone bogey on the 250-yard, par-3 17th. His 70 matched the best score of the second round.
"Parr played great golf, especially in the afternoon when the wind really kicked up," Higgins said. "A 70 in that wind was phenomenal. He's got an opportunity for a great finish here to get started on what we hope is a great season."
Sophomore Robert Gates was four-over after two holes in the morning round, back charged back to card a one-over 73, thanks in part to an eagle on the par-5 10th. Gates is tied for 28th at 73-74=147.
Freshman Bronson Burgoon (76-72=148) and junior Chris Massoletti (74-74=148) are tied for 37th, while senior Jerad Harklau (75-80) is tied for 82nd. Sophomore Kris Devlin (75-87=162), competing as an individual, is tied for 101st.