October 14, 2007
Senior Bobby Gates fired an even-par 71 on Sunday as Texas A&M took a three-stroke lead in the Oklahoma Intercollegiate at wind-swept Oak Tree Golf Club. The tournament continues through Tuesday.
The Aggies carded a team score of 296. Texas Tech is in second at 299, followed by Arkansas (305), Baylor (306), SMU (307), Oklahoma (311), Oral Roberts (317), Santa Clara (317), Tulsa (321), Texas-San Antonio (322) and Stephen F. Austin (329).
Gates is in second place in the individual standings, two strokes behind Tech's Will Griffin, who fired a two-under 69. A&M junior Martin Piller is in fourth (73) and freshmen Ignacia Elvira (76) and Conrad Shindler (76) are tied for eighth. Sophomore Andrea Pavan is tied for 27th (79).
Gates was steady all day despite 35 mile-per-hour winds on the 7,400-yard course. He had 16 pars with one birdie and one bogey.
Shindler had perhaps the day's best comeback after starting with two double bogeys and a triple bogey on the first three holes. He played the final 15 holes in two-under, including an eagle on the par-5 16th.
"It was a really good day for us in some tough conditions," A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "This course is hard enough without the wind so we feel like this is something we can build on. Bobby looked like a tour player today with the way he controlled himself and the ball. Conrad showed a lot of heart in bouncing back from a terrible start. That's a real accomplishment, especially for a freshman."