May 5, 2010
Texas A&M senior golfer Andrea Pavan will compete in his home country's National Championship when he tees it up at the BMW Italian Open Thursday through Sunday at the Royal Park Golf and Country Club in Turin, Italy.
Pavan, who is from Rome, Italy, is competing in Italian Open for a second time. Pavan also saw action in the 2007 Italian Open when he was a freshman at A&M.
“Any time one of our players gets the chance to compete at the professional level, we are excited for them and encourage them to take advantage of those opportunities,” Aggie golf coach J.T. Higgins said. “But when they have the chance to play for their National Championship against the best players in their country, it is something that they cannot pass up. Andrea has been playing great lately and we are anxious to see how he does against the pros. Any time you can compete at a higher level, it is a chance to learn and grow as a golfer, and ultimately Andrea will be better for the experience.”
The Aggies' scoring leader, Pavan was named the team MVP at the annual team banquet and he received All-Big 12 honors for being one of the top 10 ranked players in the conference. Pavan, who also received the Robert Ellis Leadership Award at the team banquet, was also selected to represent Europe in the Palmer Cup for the second straight season.
The entire A&M team returns to action May 20-22 when the Aggies host the NCAA South Central Regional at the Traditions Club Golf Course.