April 27, 2009
First and Second Round Results
HUTCHINSON, Kan. - Bronson Burgoon and Andrea Pavan shot two under-par 68s in Monday's afternoon round to lift No. 12-ranked Texas A&M into third place at the Big 12 Men's Golf Championship at Prairie Dunes Country Club.
The Aggies (585) trail co-leaders Colorado (581) and top-ranked Oklahoma State (581) by four strokes going into Tuesday's third round. The final round is scheduled for Wednesday. Live scoring is available online at www.golfstat.com.
Heavy rains pounded the course late Sunday, pushing Monday's opening round back one hour. Temperatures in the 40s and winds up to 30 mph made for tough scoring conditions. The average score was seven-over in the morning round and five-over in the afternoon.
Baylor (590) is in fourth place, followed by No. 15 Texas Tech (599), Kansas (604), Kansas State (605), No. 22 Texas (608), Oklahoma (611), nebraska (612), Iowa State (614), and Missouri (617).
Burgoon fired an even-par total of 72-68=140 and is one shot behind co-leaders Derek Tolan (71-68=139) of Colorado and Bill Allcorn (68-71=139) of Baylor. Pavan is tied for ninth at 78-68=146.
A&M senior Matt Van Zandt (77-72=149) is tied for 14th, sophomore John Hurley (74-76=150) is tied for 17th and freshman Geoff Shaw (80-80=160) is in 54th.
The Aggies got off to a rocky start in the opening round and were 23-over through 13 holes but played the last five in two-under. Burgoon played that stretch in two-under while Hurley played it in three-under with birdies on four of the last five holes. A&M shot a team score of 301 and was in sixth place after the first round.
"It was really cold and windy and we didn't handle it well at the start," A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "The conditions were tough but the course was soft and the greens were slow, which should have allowed us to score better. We made it tougher than it was but the light seemed to come on for us the last few holes. We focused and played solid golf the rest of the day. We were racing the daylight trying to get the second round in and showed a lot of toughness. We're in great shape with 36 holes left to play."
Burgoon shot a three-under 32 on the final nine in the evening round, which the Aggies completed in near darkness. Pavan was one-under on both sides while Van Zandt was even on his last nine. After the shaky start, A&M played its final 23 holes in just two-over. The Aggies' four-over 284 in the second round was the second best score of the day behind Baylor's 283.
"Bronson and Andrea played awesome golf this afternoon," Higgins said. "They showed why they are two of the best players in the conference and hopefully they can keep it going the next couple of days."