A&M joins 15 other teams, including west coast powers No. 11 USC, No. 14 San Diego State and host No. 18 Washington, in the 54-hole, stroke-play tournament. Two rounds will be played Monday beginning at 7:30 a.m. (PT), with the final round set for Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. (PT).
"We're excited to get going," said head coach J.T. Higgins, who is entering his 11th season at the helm of the Aggie golf program. "Gold Mountain is a fantastic golf course. They've hosted regionals twice and hosted the U.S. Junior Amateur this summer. We played it two years ago (in the PING/Golfweek Preview), and it's fantastic. Most of the really good teams from the West Coast are going to be there. It's a great event, they do a great job of hosting, and Seattle is a fun town, so we're looking forward to it."
Texas A&M enters the season sporting the highest preseason ranking in school history and is looking to build towards advancing its record-setting streak of four consecutive trips to the NCAA Championships.
The Aggies' two returning starters, two-time All-Americans Jordan Russell (Sr., College Station) and Cameron Peck (Jr., Olympia, Wash.), are in this week's lineup. Joining them are redshirt sophomore Jade Scott (Daingerfield), who will see his first action for A&M since transferring from Rice following the 2010 season; true freshman Ty Dunlap (Westlake), who won the state championship last year at Liberty Christian School; and sophomore transfer Johannes Veerman (Sugar Land), who played last season at Tulsa and was one of the Golden Hurricanes' top players-placing fifth at the Conference USA Championships.
"I'm thrilled with work this team has put in," Higgins said. "I have no idea how we will play yet, but they are the hardest working group I've ever had to start a season, ever. I've been really impressed with how they go about their business and how they have played in qualifying so far. What's even nicer about this tournament is that we can take 10 players with us, so the whole team is going to get some experience and some playing time early. We'll get to see what they can do under those kind of conditions."
This will mark A&M's second trip to the Husky Invitational, as the Aggies finished fourth last season at Washington National Golf Club after carding a 5-over 869. Peck, who hails from the Seattle area, matched the school record with a 9-under 63 in the final round of last year's event.
Live scoring of the Husky Invitational can be found at golfstat.com, and fans can also follow along with updates via Twitter at @AggieMensGolf and @Kikkor_Invite.
KIKKOR GOLF HUSKY
INVITATIONAL BREAKDOWN
September 26 & 27
Gold Mountain Golf
Club, Olympic Course (par 72, 7,124 yards)
Bremerton, Washington
Host: University
of Washington
The Field (16 teams):
(#6) Texas A&M, (#11) USC, (#14) San Diego State, (#18) Washington, BYU,
Fresno State, Gonzaga, Long Beach State, Oregon, Oregon State, Pacific, Pepperdine,
Santa Clara, SMU, UC Davis, Washington State.
Format: team
stroke play, 54 holes
Defending Champions:
Pepperdine (team), Josh Anderson, Pepperdine (individual)
Rounds 1 & 2:
Monday, 7:30 a.m. PT
Round 3: Tuesday,
7:30 a.m. PT
A&M lineup: Jordan
Russell (Sr., 71.60 average in 2010-11); Cameron Peck (Jr., 72.46); Johannes
Veerman (So., 74.3 at Tulsa last year); Jade Scott (RSo., Daingerfield, Texas);
and Ty Dunlap (Fr., Westlake, Texas). Case Cochran (Jr.), Drew Evans (Jr.),
Ryan Kelley (So.), Geoff Shaw (Sr.) and Greg Yates (RFr.) will compete as
individuals on the par-71, 6,707-yard Cascade Course.
Live Scoring: http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/index.cfm?tournament_id=2812
Updates: via
twitter at @AggieMensGolf and @Kikkor_Invite
Up Next: Oct.
16-18 at Lone Star Invitational, San Antonio (Briggs Ranch)