SAN ANTONIO-The eighth-ranked Texas A&M men's golf team opened its season with an even-par 288 in Sunday's first round of the Lone Star Invitational at Briggs Ranch Golf Club.
The Aggies sit right in the middle of the 15-team field in seventh place. New Mexico tops the leaderboard at 14-under par, followed by Houston (-9), Arizona (-7), Baylor (-5), Texas State (-4) and North Texas (-2). Sam Houston State (+1) is in eighth, followed by Weber State (+2), UTSA (+4), UT Arlington (+4), Rice (+4), Southern Miss (+8), SFA (+9) and UTEP (+17).
"It was a good effort for our first round of the year," head coach J.T. Higgins said. "Everyone was pretty pumped up to play, but I think we shook off some early nerves and settled down pretty good-we just couldn't get anything going. We made plenty of birdies but gave them right back. I felt like we never got on a roll. It was a solid round, but I think there was a lot lower one out there that we just let slip away. Hopefully tomorrow we can move up the leaderboard, close the gap a little and then make charge in the final round."
Leading the way individually was sophomore newcomer Johannes Veerman, who carded a 3-under 69 and is in a tie for seventh place overall. True freshman Ty Dunlap is tied for 17th after shooting a 1-under 71 in his first collegiate round, while senior Jordan Russell and sophomore Jade Scott both fired a 2-over 74 and are in 45th place. Junior Cameron Peck sits at 5-over following an opening-round 77.
Junior Case Cochran, playing as an individual, is in a tie for 31st following a 1-over 73 on Sunday. New Mexico's John Catlin is the leader in the clubhouse at 8-under 64.
"I was pretty impressed with them, really," Higgins said of his three newcomers in Scott, Dunlap and Veerman. "Part of it today too I think is Jordan and Cam probably pressed a little bit trying to do too much, and they'll have to trust that those guys are going to put good scores up. (Jade, Ty and Johannes) are plenty good players and they showed it today. I think all three of them really showed a lot and they'll do nothing but get better."
Round two will get underway on Monday at 8:30 a.m. The Aggies are paired with Sam Houston State and Weber State and will tee off at 8:30 from the first hole. Live scoring of the Lone Star Invitational can be found at golfstat.com, and fans can also follow along with updates via Twitter at @AggieMensGolf.
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