Texas A&M
William H. Tucker Intercollegiate
No. 7 Aggies in Fifth Place in New Mexico
Sep 11, 2009 | Men's Golf
Sept. 11, 2009
ALBUQUERQUE - The No. 7-ranked Texas A&M men's golf team is in fifth place after Friday's opening day of the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate at the University of New Mexico's Championship Course.
The 17-team field was scheduled to play 36 holes but heavy rains forced the suspension of play late in the second round. Play will resume early Saturday followed immediately by the final round.
The defending national champion Aggies (even par) trail leader UNLV (-16) by 16 strokes. San Diego State (-9) is in second, followed by Pepperdine (-2) and Baylor (-2).
A&M struggled early on the greens early in the day and were six-over-par through five holes, but rallied to play the last 25 holes in six-under. The Aggies carded a four-over 292 in the opening round and are four-under in the second.
A&M junior John Hurley is five-under with six holes left in the second round and is in seventh place, five strokes behind leader Tom Whitney (-10) of Air Force. Hurley opened with a one-under 71 and has birdied 10 of the 30 holes he's played.
"I wouldn't say we played poorly but we were lackluster early on," A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "Some of our guys haven't played mountain courses much and we struggled on the greens. We let some great opportunities slip by, but played with more confidence on the greens in the second round. I was proud of the way we battled back. We'll come out tomorrow and try to keep climbing up the leaderboard."
Senior Andrea Pavan (even) is tied for 17th, freshman Cameron Peck (+2) is tied for 31st, junior Nacho Elvira (+3) is tied for 41st and sophomore Geoff Shaw (+6) is tied for 61st. Competing as individuals, sophomore Jordan Russell (even) is tied for 17th and redshirt freshman Case Cochran (+11) is tied for 92nd.
Peck, the nation's top-ranked junior amateur in 2008, bogeyed the first four holes in his college debut and was six-over through 10 holes. He bounced back to play his last 20 holes in four-under, including an eagle late in the opening round.
