April 15, 2006
No. 9-ranked Texas A&M dominated play on Saturday's opening day of the Aggie Invitational, taking a commanding 15-shot lead with a tournament record score of 290-287=577 at Traditions Golf Club.
Sunday's final round begins at 7:30 a.m. Admission is free.
A&M sophomore Robert Gates, Jr., leads the individual standings with a two-under-par total of 72-70=142. Baylor's Ryan Baca (71-72=143) and Texas Tech's Oscar Floren (75-68=143) are tied for second.
The other four players in A&M's lineup also are in the top 10, underscoring the Aggies' domination of a 12-team field that includes four top 20 teams and 20 top 100 players.
Senior Andrew Parr is tied for 4th at 73-73=146, freshman Bronson Burgoon (72-75=147) and sophomore Martin Piller (73-74=147) are tied for eighth, and senior Jerad Harklau (78-70=148) is in 10th.
Oklahoma State's Pablo Martin, the nation's top-ranked collegian, is tied for fourth at 72-74=146. Defending champion Anthony Kim of Oklahoma, ranked No. 3, is tied for 18th at 70-81=151.
A&M's 36-hole team score broke the tournament record of 580 set by Oklahoma State and New Mexico last season. The record for 54 holes is 870 set by OSU in winning last year's inaugural event.
No. 16-ranked Texas Tech is in second at 300-292=592, followed by Kent State (593), No. 2 Oklahoma State (594), SMU (600), Kansas State (607), No. 12 Baylor (610), New Mexico (612), Michigan State (619), Oklahoma (620), Colorado (621) and Augusta State (622).
The Aggies are going for the third victory of the season, which would match the third most in school history and would be the most wins since the 1981-82 team won a school record five events.
Gates got off to a fast start in the opening round with a eagle on the par-5 3rd and a birdie on the par-5 6th. He played the final 11 holes in three-over. He came back with four birdies and just two bogeys in the second round.
Parr had a bizarre first round, posting seven birdies but posting a one-over 73, thanks in part to a triple bogey on the 6th and a double on the par-4 18th.
Competing as individuals for A&M, junior Chris Massoletti (77-74=151) is tied for 18th, sophomore Kris Devlin (77-78=155) is tied for 38th, sophomore Trey Todd (77-80=157) is tied for 47th and junior Dillon Gooch (81-82=163) is in 64th.