Oct. 24, 2010
ALPHARETTA, Ga. - The Texas A&M men's golf team sits in second place after a strong first round Sunday at the fifth U.S. Collegiate Championship, held at the Golf Club of Georgia outside Atlanta.
The Aggies carded three sub-par rounds on the day to total a 4-under 284, making A&M one of just three teams in the field to hit the clubhouse below par. Host and 10th-ranked Georgia Tech holds a 13-stroke lead after blistering the course with a tournament record 271 (-17).
"We played pretty well today," head coach J.T. Higgins said. "Physically we hit the ball well, kept it in play and attacked the golf course. Mentally, we stayed focused and played fearless golf. Georgia Tech must have been playing from the senior tees, but we held our own against everyone else."
No. 7 UCLA (286, -2) sits two shots back of the Aggies in third, followed by No. 13 USC (288, E) and No. 20 Virginia (289, +1). Cal (291, +3) is in sixth, followed by No. 19 Duke (292, +4), Kent State (294, +6), No. 13 Florida State (298, +10), East Tennessee State (300, +12) and Wake Forest (300, +12). No. 6 Washington (301, +13) sits in 12th, with No. 17 Clemson (303, +15), No. 24 South Carolina (306, +18) and Georgia State (309, +21) rounding out the field.
Individually, junior Jordan Russell (College Station) led Texas A&M with a 3-under 69 and sits in a tie for second place. Sophomores Case Cochran (Paducah, Ky.) and Cameron Peck (Olympia, Wash.) both fired a 2-under 70 and are tied for seventh. Senior Conrad Shindler (Coppell) is in 34th (75, +3) while junior Geoff Shaw (Edmond, Okla.) sits in 55th (77, +5).
Georgia Tech's James White set a course record with a 10-under 62 on Sunday and holds a seven-shot lead on the rest of the field.
"Jordan, Cam and Case were impressive," Higgins said. "And to be honest, Geoff and Conrad weren't far from putting up a red number either. We look good and we're in a good position with a lot of golf left to play."
The tournament continues with round two on Monday. A&M is paired with Duke and Wake Forest and will get underway on the first hole starting at 10:40 a.m. (CT). A link to live scoring is available on aggieathletics.com.