September 01, 2006
The Texas A&M men's golf team opens its fall season at The International Collegiate Saturday through Monday at the Torrance Course at St. Andrews Bay.
The tournament will consist of 18 holes each day on the 7,037-yard, par 72 course. In addition to A&M, the field includes Wake Forest, North Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Baylor, Texas Tech, Georgia Southern and several teams from Great Britain and Ireland.
"Playing in Scotland will test our patience as we're sure to get some rain and wind, and just playing a different style of golf will require us to be strong mentally right from the start," A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "The Torrance Course is a wonderful test of golf and we are thrilled to be taking part in such a tremendous international event."
Representing A&M will be juniors Robert Gates and Martin Piller along with sophomores Bronson Burgoon, Trey Todd and Clay Hodge.
Gates, Piller and Burgoon were all-region picks last season. Hodge, a transfer from Kansas State, is making his A&M debut after redshirting last year.
The Aggies lose two key players from last season in Andrew Parr and Jerad Harklau. Parr earned All-America honors while Harklau was an all-region pick. A&M finished last season ranked No. 6 nationally by Golfweek.
"Obviously, everyone is very excited to get the season started with a trip to the birthplace of our sport," Higgins said. "But we are also anxious to tee it up again and start building on the success we had last year. This trip is a great opportunity for the kids but it is also a big event for us as we will be competing against some of the top teams in the United States and Britain."