April 26, 2011
HUTCHINSON, Kan. - The Texas A&M men's golf team was one of two to break par in the third round of the Big 12 Championship at Prairie Dunes Country Club, jumping into second place after carding the fourth-best round in the event's history on Tuesday afternoon.
A&M's 5-under 275 was the third best round ever turned in by an Aggie team in a conference tournament, five strokes shy of the record of 10-under (set in the 1982 SWC Championship). It was the best round an Aggie team has ever played at Prairie Dunes, site of 10 of the Big 12's championships, and second-best Big 12 round overall by an A&M team.
"We played really well today," head coach J.T. Higgins said. "We looked in control all day and I was very impressed by our poise and composure. The conditions were perfect for scoring and I was glad we took advantage."
The Aggies' strong showing was eclipsed only by leader and top-ranked Oklahoma State, who fired a Big 12 record 270 (-10) and has a 12-shot lead heading into Wednesday's final 18 holes.
Trailing OSU (845, +5) and A&M (857, +17) is Texas, who sits in third at 22-over. Texas Tech (+26) is in fourth, followed by Oklahoma (+27), Missouri (+38), Kansas (+39), Nebraska (+46), Baylor (+46), Colorado (+51), Kansas State (+60) and Iowa State (+60).
Individually, the Aggies saw three players shoot in the 60s on the day--sophomore Cameron Peck (69), senior Conrad Shindler (69) and junior Jordan Russell (66), the first time an A&M team has ever accomplished that feat at Big 12s. Russell's 4-under round was the best ever by an A&M player at Prairie Dunes and the third-best round by an Aggie at the Big 12 Championship.
"Jordan was awesome today," Higgins said. "Shooting a 66 on this course is always hard to do. He was never in trouble and converted most of his chances. Prairie Dunes is a good course for him because it fits his style of play and rewards patience."
Russell (77-69-66=212) is in third place overall at 2-over par, five shots back of the leader, OSU's Morgan Hoffmann (207, -3). Shindler (71-74-69=214), meanwhile, is in seventh place at 4-over, seven shots out of the lead.
Peck is in 11th place at 6-over 216 (69-78-69), senior Nacho Elvira is in 16th at 7-over 217 (69-77-71), and senior John Hurley is 43rd at 16-over 226 (77-76-73).
The fourth and final round will get underway on Wednesday morning. The Aggies are paired with OSU and Texas, and will begin action at 8:50 a.m. off the first hole. Live scoring will be available on golfstat.com.
"It's good to know that the sun does shine in Kansas but I think tomorrow will be back to normal, cold and windy," Higgins said. "That's fine, because we have some ground to make up and the tougher the conditions, the more opportunities to make up shots."