April 13, 2008
No. 17-ranked Texas A&M closed with a one-under-par 283, the best round of the day, to finish in a tie for second on Sunday at the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational at the Karsten Golf Course.
A&M freshman Nacho Elvira led the rally with a three-under 68 while junior Matt Van Zandt added a one-under 70. Elvira had posted six birdies.
Host Arizona State claimed the title with a 54-hole score of nine-under (843), followed by A&M (287-289-283=859), Colorado State (859), Denver (860), Oregon (867), Baylor (872), San Diego State (876), California (877), Arizona (880), Oklahoma (880), UC Irvine (881), CSU Northridge (882), Pacific (886), New Mexico (888) and Connecticut (913).
Denver's Espen Kofstad captured individual honors by one stroke with a three-under total of 70-72-68=210. Arizona State's Knut Borsheim was second at 73-68-70=211.
Elvira (74-71-68=213) and Bobby Gates (69-71-73=213) tied for sixth place to lead the Aggies. Van Zandt (70-76-70=216) tied for 16th, senior Trey Todd (74-71-75=220) tied for 38th and junior Bronson Burgoon (81-77-72=230) tied for 76th. Gates and Burgoon both eagled the par-5 14th hole and Gates birdied the final two holes.
"We did a good job today in shooting the low final round, which is important as we head into postseason," A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "Nacho has had a sore shoulder and played with a lot of toughness. It was a good team effort and I really like the way we are playing. We played with a lot of determination and heart this week when things weren't going all that great for us."
The Aggies are back in action at the Big 12 Championship April 25-27 in Trinity, Texas.