Sept. 10, 2009
ALBUQUERQUE - The No. 7-ranked Texas A&M men's golf team opens its fall season at the 55th William H. Tucker Intercollegiate Friday and Saturday at the University of New Mexico's Championship Golf Course.
Joining the defending national champion Aggies in the 17-team field are Air Force, Arizona, Baylor, BYU, Campell, Colorado, UNLV, New Mexico State, North Texas, Pepperdine, San Diego State, UTEP, UT-San Antonio, Utah and Wyoming. The teams will play 36 holes on Friday and a final 18 on Saturday. Live scoring is available at Golfstat.com.
Representing A&M will be sophomore Andrea Pavan, junior Johnson Hurley and freshman Cameron Peck. Sophomore Jordan Russell and redshirt freshman Case Cochran will play as individuals.
"It is hard to believe that we are starting another season - it feels like we just came off the 18th green (after winning the NCAA title) at Inverness," A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "I am excited to see what kind of team we have this year. So far we look pretty good and I think we are much farther along then we were at the same time last year. The boys have played really well in qualifying and have played with a lot of confidence.
"The Championship Course at UNM will be a tough test for us because of the terrain and elevation," said Higgins, who was head coach at UNM for four years before coming to A&M. "The greens are especially tricky, they are very fast and downhill putts can get away from you. With that said, it should set up pretty well for us because it is long with big greens which usually favor a good ball-striking team. If we can play uphill, I think we could have a really good tournament."
The Tucker is the second-oldest men's college tournament in the country, behind only the New England Intercollegiate Golf Tournament. The invitational is named in honor of English golf course architect and former University of New Mexico groundskeeper William H. Tucker.