Sept. 25, 2010
STILLWATER, Okla. - The ninth-ranked Texas A&M men's golf team faces its toughest test of the fall season when the Aggies compete in the PING/Golfweek Preview beginning Sunday at Karsten Creek.
A&M is part of a 15-team field that includes defending national champion and third-ranked Augusta State, national runner-up, host and top-ranked Oklahoma State, and seven of the top 10 teams in the country. Of the 15 teams competing in the Preview, 13 are ranked in the top 20 nationally.
"The Preview is the biggest event of the fall," head coach J.T. Higgins said. "The field is incredibly strong, not to mention that Oklahoma State will be pretty tough to beat on their own track. This will be a good test for us to see where we are and how we stack up against the best teams in the country."
Joining OSU, Augusta and the Aggies are No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 Oregon, No. 7 UCLA, No. 10 Georgia Tech, No. 11 Texas, No. 12 Arizona State, No. 13 USC, No. 17 Clemson, No. 20 Virginia, No. 21 Texas Tech, No. 23 TCU and UNLV.
The teams will tee off at 8 a.m. (CT) on Sunday and Monday, with Tuesday's final round set for 7:30 a.m. (CT). The tournament is contested at the Cowboys' home course, which will host the 2011 NCAA Championship at the end of May. A&M has competed at Karsten just twice, most recently at the NCAA Regional in 2001.
"We'll get a great opportunity to see Karsten Creek before next spring's NCAA Championship," Higgins said. "It's a really tough course, and depending on the rough, wind and speed of the greens Karsten can play as difficult as any course in the country."
A&M has rebounded from tough first rounds to have very strong showings in each of the season's first two tournaments. The Aggies were the top U.S. finisher and placed second overall at the Topy Cup in Japan, then rallied to a fourth-place showing at the Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational last week outside Seattle.
Three members of the Aggie lineup enter the weekend with sub-par averages--sophomore Cameron Peck (70.17), senior Nacho Elvira (70.83) and junior Jordan Russell (71.33). Peck and Russell have already carded school-record rounds of 63 on the young season. Rounding out the A&M squad in Stillwater are sophomore Case Cochran (73.33) and senior Conrad Shindler (73.67).
Fans can follow the action through live scoring at Golfstat.com and aggieathletics.com. Updates will also be available on twitter at @aggie_m_golf.
PING/GOLFWEEK PREVIEW BREAKDOWN
September 26-28 - Karsten Creek (par 72/7,407 yards), Stillwater, Oklahoma
- The Field (15 teams): No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 3 Augusta State, No. 4 Georgia, No. 5 Oregon, No. 7 UCLA, No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 10 Georgia Tech, No. 11 Texas, No. 12 Arizona State, No. 13 USC, No. 17 Clemson, No. 20 Virginia, No. 21 Texas Tech, No. 23 TCU, UNLV
- Format: team stroke play, 54 holes
- Round 1: Sunday, 8 a.m. CT
- Round 2: Monday, 8 a.m. CT
- Round 3: Tuesday, 7:30 a.m. CT
- Defending Champions: Oklahoma State (team), Peter Uihlein, Oklahoma State (individual)
- A&M Lineup: Case Cochran (So., 73.33 average); Nacho Elvira (Sr., 70.83); Cameron Peck (So., 70.17); Jordan Russell (Jr., 71.33); Conrad Shindler (Sr., 73.67)
- Live Scoring: www.golfstat.com (link at www.aggieathletics.com)
- Updates: via twitter at @aggie_m_golf
- Up Next: Oct. 24-26 at U.S. Collegiate Championship, Golf Club of Georgia, Alpharetta, Ga.