Sept. 26, 2010
STILLWATER, Okla. - The ninth-ranked Texas A&M men's golf team sits in second place after a solid first round Sunday--highlighted by a hole-in-one--at the PING/Golfweek Preview at Karsten Creek.
With the field battling windy conditions, the Aggies managed a 9-over-par 297 and sit nine strokes back of top-ranked and host Oklahoma State (288, E). No team and only two individuals broke par on the course, which will host the NCAA Championships this May.
"It was really tough out there today," head coach J.T. Higgins said. "The wind was gusting and the greens were pretty quick. On this course, it is imperative to put your ball in the right spot and the wind made that difficult at times. It was a test out there today, and I thought we did a good job of dealing with the conditions and managing our emotions."
Junior Jordan Russell had the shot of the day, sinking his tee shot on the par-3 seventh for the first hole-in-one of both his A&M and golf career. The College Station native hit a 5-iron on the 176-yard hole, becoming the first Aggie to record a hole-in-one in nearly two years.
No. 10 Georgia Tech (298, +10) is one stroke back of A&M in third, followed by No. 4 Georgia (+12), No. 5 Oregon (+12), No. 7 UCLA (+12), No. 21 Texas Tech (+15), defending national champion and third-ranked Augusta State (+16), No. 12 Arizona State (+19) and No. 11 Texas (+22). No. 23 TCU (+24) is in 11th, with No. 20 Virginia (+25), UNLV (+33), No. 17 Clemson (+36) and No. 13 USC (+43) rounding out the standings.
Three Aggies sit in the top 20 individually after round one, with Conrad Shindler leading the way. The senior fired an even-par 72 and is tied for third, three shots back of the leader. Sophomore Case Cochran (73, +1) is one stroke back in a tie for fifth, while Russell (75, +3) is in a tie for 20th. Sophomore Cameron Peck (77, +5) is in a tie for 34th, while senior Nacho Elvira (84, +12) is in 67th place.
"Connie and Case played really well today," Higgins said. "They had control of their golf ball, which was very impressive on some of these holes. They both hit it pretty long, and that helped, but they also kept it in play off the tee which gave them a chance to score."
Individually, OSU's Talor Gooch (69, -3) leads the field, while Augusta State's Henrik Norlander (71, -1) is the only other to break par. Shindler is tied with U.S. Amateur champion Peter Uihlein of Oklahoma State in third.
Round two gets underway on Monday at 8 a.m. The Aggies are scheduled to tee off at 9:40 a.m. along with Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech. Live scoring will be available on golfstat.com.
NOTES: Jordan Russell's hole-in-one was the first of his career and first of his life ... Conrad Shindler was the last Aggie to record one, coming on May 26, 2009 on hole No. 3 in the first round of the NCAA Championships at Inverness in Toledo, Ohio ... Sunday's 297 was the Aggies' third-best round ever at Karsten.