April 26, 2009
HUTCHINSON, Kan. - As the league's second-highest ranked team, No. 12-ranked Texas A&M may be the top challenger to top-ranked Oklahoma State at the Big 12 Men's Golf Championship beginning Monday at Prairie Dunes Country Club.
The Aggies beat the Cowboys by nine shots at the U.S. Collegiate Championship in Georgia in early April, then took them to the wire before falling by three strokes at the Aggie Invitational on April 19. A&M was runner-up to OSU by seven strokes the last time the conference tournament was played at Prairie Dunes in 2007.
Last year, the Cowboys cruised to their sixth Big 12 title while the Aggies finished fourth at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas.
Other nationally-ranked teams in the field are No. 15 Texas Tech and No. 22 Texas. The 12-team event will feature two 18-hole rounds on Monday, followed by the third round on Tuesday and the final round on Wednesday. Live scoring is available online at golfstat.com.
Prairie Dunes is rated among the top 25 courses in the world by Golf Magazine. The course was the site of the 2002 U.S. Women's Open and the 2006 U.S. Senior Open and has been the host of eight previous Big 12 Championships (1997-02, 2004, 2007).
"We are playing great golf right now so we are excited to get up to Prairie Dunes and try to win a Big 12 championship," A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "It is a truly great course that tests every part of your game and exposes any physical or mental weakness. This group is playing with a lot of confidence and is looking forward to the challenge."
Representing A&M will be seniors Bronson Burgoon and Matt Van Zandt, junior Andrea Pavan, sophomore John Hurley and freshman Geoff Shaw.
A&M has tied a school record with three tournament victories this season, including the Burns Intercollegiate in Hawaii where it shot 16-under-par in the final round. The Aggies have posted six top-five finishes.
Burgoon is ranked No. 21 nationally by Golfweek and leads the team with a 72.68 scoring average. He has posted six top-20 finishes, including a victory at the Adams Cup of Newport and a tie for second at the Callaway Match Play Qualifier. Burgoon tied for fourth at the 2007 Big 12 Championship at Prairie Dunes, closing with a three-under 67.
Ranked No. 51 by Golfweek, Pavan is the Aggies' second-leading scorer with a 73.36 average and has had seven top-25 performances, including a runner-up finish behind Burgoon at the Adams Cup. He placed fifth at last year's conference tournament.
Hurley is coming off a tie for fourth at the Aggie invitational and along with Shaw is making his first appearance at the conference championship. Shaw tied for seventh at the U.S. Collegiate Championship earlier this month in Georgia. Van Zandt tied for eighth at the Aggie Invitational and for 22nd in his only previous appearance at the conference tournament last year.
A&M last won a conference title in 1987, when it captured its 10th Southwest Conference crown. The Aggies have finished among the top four at the Big 12 Championship for three straight years.