April 27, 2008
No. 16-ranked Texas A&M closed with a round of 301 on Sunday and finished fourth at the Big 12 Men?â„¢s Golf Championship at Whispering Pines Golf Club.
No. 5 Oklahoma State claimed the title by 20 strokes with an 11-under par total of 1,141. Texas was second (1,161), followed by Texas Tech (1,165), A&M (299-284-294-3-1=1,178), Baylor (1,191), Kansas (1,194), Oklahoma (1,200), Kansas State (1,202), Iowa State (1,206), Colorado (1,208), Nebraska (1,225) and Missouri (1,237).
?Everybody on the team is pretty disappointed,? A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. ?The conference tournament was one of our big goals for the season and we came up a little short. We had enough good holes to compete for the championship, but we gave back so many shots with double and triple bogeys. Those will kill you in big tournaments.?
Oklahoma State?â„¢s Rickie Fowler won individual honors by four strokes with rounds of 72-68-71-68=279. OSU?â„¢s Kevin Tway was second at 72-68-70-73=283.
A&M sophomore Andrea Pavan placed fifth at 76-71-67-74=288, while junior Matt Van Zandt (74-70-77-76=297) finished 21st, senior Bobby Gates (74-73-74-77=298) tied for 22nd, junior Bronson Burgoon (77-70-83-74=304) tied for 33rd and freshman Nachoo Elvira (75-76-76-79=306) tied for 39th.
?I still think this team can accomplish a lot in the postseason,? Higgins said. ?Regionals are coming up in a couple of weeks and we?â„¢ll be ready.?
The Aggies will now await a bid to the NCAA Central Regional May 15-17 in Columbus, Ohio. The NCAA Championship is May 28-31 in West Lafayette, Ind.