March 19, 2006
The hard-charging Texas A&M men?â„¢s golf team fired the low round of the tournament on Sunday to grab runner-up honors at the Hall of Fame Invitational at the Redstone Golf Club.
Led by sophomore Bobby Gates?â„¢ five-under-par 67, the No. 16 Aggies finished with a 289 to take second place. The Aggies finished the tournament trailing only No. 2 ranked Oklahoma State after standing eighth in the team standings after the first round. The Aggies posted head-to-head wins over No. 1 Georgia, No. 12 Clemson, No. 13 Duke, No. 14 East Tennessee State, as well as Big 12 foes Texas and Oklahoma.
?We did a good job of playing smart golf after the first round,? Aggie head coach J.T. Higgins said. ?We call it playing ?'Aggie Golf?â„¢. We did a good job of avoiding trouble. We hit to the fat part of the greens. We played a smarter brand of golf in the final two rounds. We stayed positive and didn?â„¢t stop believing in ourselves. We knew we still had the ability to turn it around.?
Gates?â„¢ 67 ranked as the low individual round of the day and moved him to third-place on the leaderboard. With rounds of 74-76-67=217, Gates was one stroke out of second place and nine behind champion Anthony Kim of Oklahoma.
?Bobby was fantastic today,? Higgins said. ?He had seven birdies. He had excellent control over the golf ball. He put it where he wanted and had a bunch of birdie opportunities.?
Gates led an Aggie final day effort that saw all five golfers score 75 or better. Freshman Bronson Burgoon posted a 75 on Sunday and finished in a tie for sixth (73-72-75=220). Rounding out the Aggie scores were Andrew Parr (79-70-74=223, t11th), Jerad Harklau (82-75-74=231, t44th) and Martin Piller (84-76-74=234, t57th).
?It was a total team effort,? Higgins said. ?At one point today we were six-under as a team. It really gave us a chance for a great round. I was proud of all the guys and the way they competed.?
The Aggies return to action at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate on April 3-4 in Austin.