April 24, 2011
HUTCHINSON, Kan. - Texas A&M goes for the program's first Big 12 title this week when the Aggies participate in the 15th annual Big 12 Men's Golf Championship Monday through Wednesday at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kansas.
The Aggies are the No. 2 seed for the tournament, and enter off an impressive 18-shot victory at last weekend's Aggie Invitational at Traditions Club. The win came against a field that included quite a few Big 12 teams, including OU, OSU, Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor. A&M has finished fifth or better in every tournament this season, posting victories at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegate and the Aggie Invitational. The Aggies finished second in four other tournaments.
"We have been looking forward to this tournament all year," head coach J.T. Higgins said. "Everything up to this point has been in preparation for the postseason and we're glad it's finally here. We are playing well and this is a great track for us. Prairie Dunes is in great shape and will play tough this week. It will crown a deserving champion."
A&M placed second last year and has finished fourth or better in each of the last five seasons.
The Field
Pairings
Live Scoring/Updates
Prairie Dunes Country Club (par 70/6,701 yards)
Format
Texas A&M Lineup
Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Avg. Rds. Par/- T10s Lo 18/54
Nacho Elvira 6-1 180 Sr. 72.1 24 14 4 66/207
John Hurley 6-4 200 Sr. 73.0 20 10 2 67/206
Cameron Peck 6-0 180 So. 72.9 29 11 2 63/208
Jordan Russell 6-0 175 Jr. 71.3 32 18 6 63/203
Conrad Shindler 5-8 205 Sr. 72.5 26 11 3 66/208
Rankings
Weather
Aggies All-Time at Big 12s
2010 Recap
TRINITY, Texas (April 25, 2010)--The No. 2-ranked Texas A&M men's golf team made a run but couldn't catch top-ranked Oklahoma State at 2010 Big 12 Men's Golf Championships at Whispering Pines Golf Club.
The Aggies were one-over as a team in the final round to jump past Texas Tech and Texas, but the Cowboys would not come back to the pack with a six-under 282 on Sunday. A&M fired rounds of 280-285-292-289 and finished at six-under, which was 13 shots behind the Cowboys (-19). Looking up at the Aggies and Cowboys were Texas (-4), Texas Tech (even), Kansas State (+11), Baylor (+19), Oklahoma (+32), Nebraska (+32), Colorado (+36), Iowa State (+51), Missouri (+53) and Kansas (+58).
"Congratulations to Oklahoma State, they are a fantastic team and played great golf all week," Aggie golf coach J.T. Higgins said. "I am so proud of our team because it was obvious we were not going to catch them after the front nine, but we kept playing like we had a chance and quietly moved up the leaderboard. We finished really strong on the toughest part of the course and ended up in second. We are now 3-and-3 with (OSU) this season. The rubber match will be at nationals and we look forward to seeing them again."
The Aggies were paced by senior Andrea Pavan, who finished in a tie for third at six-under with rounds of 71-66-71-74=282. Sophomore Jordan placed in a tie for seventh at even par with rounds of 68-69-76-75=288. Junior Conrad Shindler tied for 12th at one-over with rounds of 70-75-72-72=289. Junior Nacho Elvira posted A&M's low round of the day with a two-under 70 and placed in a tie for 22nd at six-over (73-77-76-70=294). Freshman Cameron Peck tied for 22nd at six-over with rounds of 73-75-73-73=294.
Last Time at Prairie Dunes (2009)
HUTCHINSON, Kan. (April 29, 2009)--No. 12-ranked Texas A&M closed with a six-over-par 286 and finished third at the Big 12 Men's Golf Championship at Prairie Dunes Country Club.
Top-ranked Oklahoma State won its third straight Big 12 title and its seventh overall with a 29-over total of 1,149. Colorado was 14 strokes back in second (1,163), followed by A&M (301-284-296-286=1,167), Kansas State (1,170), Baylor (1,174), No. 15 Texas Tech (1,188), Kansas (1,191), No. 22 Texas (1,194), Missouri (1,204), Oklahoma (1,205), Nebraska (1.206) and Iowa State (1,210).
A&M trailed Oklahoma State by 13 strokes entering the final day and trimmed the margin to five strokes early in the round after senior Bronson Burgoon eagled the par-4 third hole and senior Matt Van Zandt eagled the par-5 seventh. Burgoon was four-under through seven holes and Van Zandt was three-under through nine, but the Aggies cooled off and played their final four holes in six-over.
"We came here to win and that didn't happen so we are disappointed in the results," A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "I'm very proud of how hard we played today. We made a run at them but couldn't keep a great round together. It was disappointing not to finish stronger because we played better than the final score shows."
Oklahoma State freshman Morgan Hoffman closed with a four-under 66 and captured individual honors by three shots with a four-under total of 276.
Burgoon placed fourth (72-68-72-70=282), junior Andrea Pavan finished eighth (78-68-73-73=292), Van Zandt tied for 12th (77-72-76-71=296), sophomore John Hurley tied for 23rd (74-76-76-73=299) and freshman Geoff Shaw tied for 43rd (80-80-75-72=307). A&M was the only team with no player shooting above a 73 in the final round.
Burgoon and Pavan earned all-tournament honors for placing in the top 10.