April 7, 2009
ALPHARETTA, Ga. - Freshman Geoff Shaw closed with an even-par 72 on Tuesday to lead No. 23-ranked Texas A&M to a tie for fifth place at the United States Collegiate Championship at the Golf Club of Georgia.
The Aggies defeated eight nationally-ranked teams, including six top-10 squads.
No. 5 Clemson won the title with an 876 total, edging No. 7 Stanford (878) by two shots. No. 14 Georgia Tech was third (881), followed by No. 1 Georgia (883), A&M (296-287-303=886), No. 10 Alabama (886), No. 6 Washington (887), No. 22 UCLA (887), No. 3 Southern California (888), No. 2 Oklahoma State (895), No. 9 South Carolina (897), East Tennessee State (906), No. 8 Florida (909), No. 4 Indiana (910) and No. 18 Florida State (915).
Shaw tied for seventh individually (73-73-72=218), six strokes behind co-champions Bud Cauley of Alabama (70-69-73=212) and Erik Flores of UCLA (65-74-73=212).
A&M senior Bronson Burgoon tied for 25th (73-70-80=223), junior Andrea Pavan tied for 37th (75-71-80=226), sophomore Nacho Elvira tied for 44th (81-73-74=228) and senior Clay Hodge tied for 70th (75-82-77=234).
"Overall, I'm pleased with our finish against such a strong field on a very tough golf course," A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "We played some really good golf most of the time. Having to count an 80 today hurt a lot, but otherwise we did pretty well. The conditions were tough and to finish fifth in this field shows we can play with anybody. We felt like we left a lot out there today but we are heading in right direction as we get ready for postseason play."
"Geoff did a fantastic job and I couldn't be more proud of him," Higgins said. "For a true freshman to finish in the top 10 against the best players in the country was outstanding. His short game was terrific and he did a marvelous job of keeping the ball in play. I'm also really proud of Nacho. He had a rough start but battled back and gave us good rounds the last two days."
A&M plays host to the Aggie Invitational April 18-19 at Traditions Golf Club in Bryan. The Big 12 Championship is April 26-28 in Hutchinson, Kan.