March 27, 2011
AWENDAW, S.C. - The No. 7-ranked Texas A&M men's golf team carded an opening-round 282 on Sunday and sits two shots out of the lead in fifth place at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate.
The Aggies were one of only two teams on the day that placed all four scoring players at or under par. Wake Forest (280, -4) has the early lead but four teams--including A&M--are within two shots heading in to Monday's second round at the par-71, 7,298-yard Bulls Bay Golf Club.
"It was a very strange day," head coach J.T. Higgins said. "The weather kept changing--it started off cold and rainy, then the sun came out and it warmed up, then the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. We kind of played to the weather for a while. We started slow, but started making some birdies when the sun came out and it looked like we were going to go low. Then, when the cold front came through, we gave a bunch of shots back. The good news is that we finished incredible in the worst of the weather and we ended up just two shots off the lead."
No. 9 Augusta State, No. 6 Auburn and No. 13 LSU are one back of the lead in a three-way tie for second (281, -3). North Florida (287, +3) is in sixth place, five shots back of A&M, followed by No. 5 Florida (+4), No. 21 N.C. State (+4), No. 22 Duke (+4) and Ole Miss (+5). No. 15 Virginia (+10) sits in 11th, with South Carolina (+13), Kentucky (+17), College of Charleston (+22) and North Carolina (+22) rounding out the field.
Despite the conditions, four A&M players went under par on the afternoon. Senior Conrad Shindler and sophomore Cameron Peck both carded 2-under 70s and sit in tie for 10th, three shots back of the lead. Seniors Nacho Elvira and John Hurley are in a tie for 19th after each fired a 1-under 71. Junior Jordan Russell (74, +2) is in a tie for 46th.
"I think it's just the sign of a mature, experienced team that knows to keep plugging along until the round is over to allow good things to happen," Higgins said. "We could have easily played our way out of the tournament by hanging our heads or getting down on ourselves. Instead, we stayed patient and stuck to the game plan and survived a difficult day. Everyone played pretty well and they all finished strong, but Connie deserves a big pat on the back for birdies on his last three holes to shoot 70."
Round two is scheduled for Monday at 9 a.m. (CDT), weather permitting. Live scoring is available at golfstat.com and fans can also follow the action via twitter through updates at @AggieMensGolf.