March 24, 2008
Texas A&M opened with a 304 in cold, windy conditions on Monday and is tied for 11th place after the first round of the United States Collegiate Championship at the Golf Club of Georgia's Lakeside Course. The tournament continues through Wednesday.
No. 3-ranked UCLA leads after carding a two-over-par 290. No. 12 Florida State is in second at 291, followed by No. 6 Oklahoma State (292), No. 5 Southern California (294), No. 1 Alabama (294), East Tennessee State (294), No. 7 Georgia Tech (296), Georgia State (298), Coastal Carolina (302), No. 2 Georgia (302), A&M (304), No. 4 Charlotte (304), No. 9 Stanford (310), BYU (312) and Texas (313).
Four players are tied for first in the individual standings after firing three-under 69s -- UCLA's Kevin Chappell, Oklahoma State's Trent Leon, Georgia State's Joel Sjoholm and Georgia Tech's Cameron Tringale.
Matt Van Vandt led the Aggies with a one-under 71 and is tied for fifth. Van Zandt was four-under through seven holes before taking a double bogey and a triple bogey to go to one-over after 12 holes. He recovered by playing the final six in two-under.
A&M's Nacho Elvira is tied for 24th (74), Bobby Gates is tied for 51st (78), Bronson Burgoon is tied for 66th (81) and Andrea Pavan is in 78th (90).
"It was tough out there today with snow flurries and wind, but it was the same for everybody," A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "We had a tough time being aggressive and didn't make very good decisions at times. Some teams handled it well and some didn't. We've got 36 holes left and still have a chance to have a great tournament. We'll come back tomorrow and try to improve."