April 18, 2010
The Texas A&M men's golf team grabbed five of the top six individual places as the No. 4 Aggies rolled to a 21-shot victory at the Aggie Invitational on Sunday at the Traditions Club Golf Course.
The 2010 Aggie Invitational, which included top-ranked Oklahoma State and top 25 squads Texas, Texas Tech and TCU in its field, was billed as tuneup for next week's Big 12 Championships at Whispering Pines Golf Course in Trinity, Texas.
Asked what his team's dominating victory meant, A&M head golf coach J.T. Higgins said, “I think it means that we're really good on this golf course. I hope it also means that we're going to be really good at Whispering Pines next week.”
Led by individual champion Jordan Russell's final round 67, the Aggies carded a 15-under par 345 that moved the team to an impressive 38-under for the tournament. The Aggies' three rounds of 346, 351 and 345 marked the three lowest scores of the tournament. The Aggies were trailed by top-ranked Oklahoma State (-17), No. 14 Texas Tech (-13), San Diego State (+7), No. 7 Texas (+12), No. 24 TCU (+14), Baylor (+15), New Mexico (+16), SMU (+20), Kent State (+25), Colorado (+30) and UTSA (+53).
“This was a great field of teams, and there was some fantastic players here,” Aggie golf coach J.T. Higgins said. “So for our guys to play this well, and all of them at the same time is a huge accomplishment. ”
Russell, a sophomore from A&M Consolidated in College Station, grabbed the first victory of his career. Russell finished the tournament at 10-under par with rounds of 70-69-67 as he held off teammate Geoff Shaw for a one-stroke victory.
“It was fun to play at home in front of everybody,” Russell said. “I was focused on trying to avoid mistakes and helping the team as much as I could, and I ended up playing pretty well. It was fun. All my friends that I went to high school with were out here. My whole family was out here. That was fun, and it's fun to play well.”
Russell took the lead for good with an eagle on the par-five 15th hole, and then turned in pars on holes 16-18 for the win. Russell offset his lone bogey of the day with four birdies and an eagle.
“I know how much he's put into this and how hard he's worked, so I know it's pretty special for him to win it on his home course in front of his home crowd,” Higgins said. “The roar when he made the eagle on 15 was loud. When I heard it I thought it sounded like a pro tournament and someone had just made a birdie for a million bucks.”
Shaw, a sophomore from Edmond, Okla., had a share of the individual lead going into the final round, but his three-under 69 wasn't enough to hold off Russell. Shaw ended up in second-place at nine-under (67-71-69). Juniors Nacho Elvira and Andrea Pavan tied for sixth at five-under with rounds of 70-71-70. Freshman Cameron Peck tied for 15th at two-under with rounds of 69-72-73.
Playing as individuals for the Aggies were: freshman Case Cochran (t29th, 72-70-76, +2), junior John Hurley (t29th, 75-69-74, +2), junior Bryant Lach (61st, 80-75-74, +13), freshman Drew Evans (77th, 83-79-79, +25).
The Aggie Invitational
Traditions Golf Club Championship Tees
Bryan, TX
Apr 17 - Apr 18, 2010
Round 3 Scores
Par 72, 7146 yards
Fin. Team Scores Total Par
1 Texas A&M..................... 346 351 345 1042 -38
2 Oklahoma State................ 355 357 351 1063 -17
3 Texas Tech.................... 354 359 354 1067 -13
4 San Diego State............... 356 362 369 1087 +7
5 Texas......................... 359 368 365 1092 +12
6 TCU........................... 375 363 356 1094 +14
7 Baylor........................ 366 377 352 1095 +15
8 New Mexico.................... 364 369 363 1096 +16
9 SMU........................... 366 374 360 1100 +20
10 Kent State.................... 374 365 366 1105 +25
11 Colorado...................... 376 368 366 1110 +30
12 UTSA.......................... 377 377 379 1133 +53
* Player is participating as an individual
Fin. Players Team Scores Total Par
1 Andrea Pavan................... Texas A&M..................... 70 71 70 211 -5
T6 Joakim Mikkelsen............... Baylor........................ 67 75 69 211 -5
T8 Brett Cairns................... Kent State.................... 78 62 72 212 -4
T8 Cody Gribble................... Texas......................... 70 70 72 212 -4
T8 Tom Berry...................... San Diego State............... 70 68 74 212 -4
T8 Peter Uihlein.................. Oklahoma State................ 75 72 65 212 -4
T8 Matt Smith..................... Texas Tech.................... 72 73 67 212 -4
T8 Morgan Hoffmann................ Oklahoma State................ 72 69 71 212 -4
14 Kevin Tway..................... Oklahoma State................ 72 66 75 213 -3
T15 James Erkenbeck................ New Mexico.................... 72 72 70 214 -2
T15 Cameron Peck................... Texas A&M..................... 69 72 73 214 -2
T15 Nils Floren.................... Texas Tech.................... 73 70 71 214 -2
T18 Dylan Frittelli................ Texas......................... 70 75 70 215 -1
T18 Kelly Kraft.................... SMU........................... 72 76 67 215 -1
T18 Travis Woolf................... TCU........................... 75 71 69 215 -1
T18 Matt Schovee................... SMU........................... 74 70 71 215 -1
T18 Lorenzo Scotto................. Baylor........................ 73 71 71 215 -1
T23 Bobby Hudson................... Texas......................... 71 74 71 216 E
T23 Mark Johnson................... Oklahoma State................ 70 76 70 216 E
T23 Emiliano Martinez.............. UTSA.......................... 71 72 73 216 E
T26 Kevin Miller................... Kent State.................... 73 74 70 217 +1
T26 Chris Ward..................... Texas Tech.................... 71 73 73 217 +1
T26 Sean Einhaus................... Oklahoma State................ 71 74 72 217 +1
T29 John Hurley*................... Texas A&M..................... 75 69 74 218 +2
T29 Case Cochran*.................. Texas A&M..................... 72 70 76 218 +2
T29 James Kwon..................... SMU........................... 76 72 70 218 +2
T29 John Catlin.................... New Mexico.................... 71 74 73 218 +2
T29 Justin Bardgett................ Colorado...................... 76 73 69 218 +2
T34 Tom Carlson.................... New Mexico.................... 71 74 74 219 +3
T34 Brian Scherer.................. Texas Tech.................... 68 77 74 219 +3
T36 J.J. Spaun..................... San Diego State............... 71 77 72 220 +4
T36 Trent Whitekiller.............. Oklahoma State................ 70 77 73 220 +4
T38 Eli Cole....................... TCU........................... 73 77 71 221 +5
T38 Charlie Holland................ Texas......................... 72 74 75 221 +5
T38 Colin Featherstone............. San Diego State............... 71 74 76 221 +5
T38 Johan Carlsson................. San Diego State............... 74 71 76 221 +5
T38 Jason Burstyn.................. Colorado...................... 75 72 74 221 +5
T43 John Hahn...................... Kent State.................... 74 78 70 222 +6
T43 Johan de Beer.................. TCU........................... 76 74 72 222 +6
T43 Travis Ross.................... New Mexico.................... 74 75 73 222 +6
T43 Tom Hoge....................... TCU........................... 80 69 73 222 +6
T43 Daniel Jennevret............... TCU........................... 72 75 75 222 +6
T43 Sebastian Heisele.............. Colorado...................... 72 77 73 222 +6
T43 Jerry Ruiz..................... Baylor........................ 73 77 72 222 +6
T50 Andrew Cooley.................. San Diego State............... 80 72 71 223 +7
T50 Nick Geyer..................... New Mexico.................... 76 74 73 223 +7
T50 Ryan O'Rear.................... Baylor........................ 76 75 72 223 +7
T50 Kevin Kring.................... Colorado...................... 75 72 76 223 +7
T54 Scott Roudebush................ TCU........................... 79 74 71 224 +8
T54 Finley Ewing IV................ Texas Tech.................... 78 74 72 224 +8
56 Payne Gniewek.................. Baylor........................ 77 80 68 225 +9
T57 Alex Kang...................... San Diego State............... 70 77 79 226 +10
T57 Derek Fribbs................... Colorado...................... 78 74 74 226 +10
T57 Austin Struble................. UTSA.......................... 80 76 70 226 +10
60 Brandon Putnam*................ New Mexico.................... 79 70 78 227 +11
61 Bryant Lach*................... Texas A&M..................... 80 75 74 229 +13
T62 Draegen Majors................. SMU........................... 71 83 76 230 +14
T62 Ben Tewes...................... SMU........................... 73 81 76 230 +14
T64 Nathan Tarter.................. Kent State.................... 81 76 74 231 +15
T64 Johnathan Schnitzer............ Texas......................... 76 75 80 231 +15
T64 Mackenzie Hughes............... Kent State.................... 76 75 80 231 +15
67 Nicko Dodd..................... UTSA.......................... 73 81 78 232 +16
T68 Michael Imperato............... Colorado...................... 80 77 76 233 +17
T68 Lewis Chong.................... UTSA.......................... 76 80 77 233 +17
T68 Mitchell Griffin............... UTSA.......................... 77 74 82 233 +17
71 Lance Lopez.................... Texas......................... 79 79 77 235 +19
T72 Ryan Gay....................... New Mexico.................... 78 77 81 236 +20
T72 Brian Fragakis................. SMU........................... 81 75 80 236 +20
74 Cody Paladino.................. Baylor........................ 83 79 76 238 +22
T75 John Furlong................... Kent State.................... 73 81 86 240 +24
T75 Taylor Koser................... UTSA.......................... 84 75 81 240 +24
77 Drew Evans*.................... Texas A&M..................... 83 79 79 241 +25
78 Tyler Morris*.................. San Diego State............... 80 83 79 242 +26