Texas A&M
U.S. Collegiate Championship
Veerman Wins U.S. Collegiate
Oct 25, 2011 | Men's Golf
Veerman (Sugar Land, Texas) was the only player in the field to shoot below par in every round. He finished with a 6-under 210 (71-70-69), collecting 14 birdies on the week, and topped the leaderboard along with Auburn's Dominic Bozzelli.
"This was a great win for Johannes," head coach J.T. Higgins said. "He's proven he can play with anybody in the country. The great thing is he really didn't do anything exceptional. He just played his game, kept the ball in play off the tee and gave himself lots of birdie opportunities. He was really patient and put together three really strong rounds. I think 6-under in this tournament is something to be real proud of."
As a team, the eighth-ranked Aggies turned in the field's second-best round of the afternoon, a 4-under 284, and finished in ninth place (300-290-284=874, +10).
"I was pleased with today," Higgins said. "I thought the guys battled hard and put together a great final round. We're never going to be satisfied with a ninth-place finish, but when you get off to a bad start you have to change your goals and I think we achieved those. We just got better in every aspect and that's what we are trying to do. I know we have a young team and we will have ups and downs-hopefully more ups than downs-but it's a process and we'll get better as the year goes on."
No. 3 UCLA posted a three-shot victory, finishing the week with a 12-under 852. No. 13 Washington and No. 1 Auburn tied for second, three shots back (-9). Host and fifth-ranked Georgia Tech (-1) finished fourth, followed by No. 12 Clemson (+4), Iowa (+4), No. 11 USC (+7), No. 21 Duke (+9), A&M (+10), Kent State (+10), No. 18 Florida State (+18), Wake Forest (+26), No. 23 Virginia (+43) and East Tennessee State (+44).
The Aggies, who shot a combined 7-over par on the course's four par 5s in Monday's second round, went 9-under on those same holes on Tuesday. Included in that total were a pair of eagles-Jordan Russell on the 540-yard ninth hole and Ty Dunlap on the 564-yard 18th.
"It's a big key for our team," Higgins said. "We have excellent length off the tee, and on this golf course we were able to reach three of the four par 5s in two. The guys did a great job of adjusting and making sure they took advantage of their opportunities today. It was just a lot better."
Individually, Russell finished 46th with a 7-over 223 (76-73-74), juniors Case Cochran (76-71-77=224) and Cameron Peck (77-76-71=224) placed 49th at 8-over and Dunlap wrapped play in 64th at 13-over (82-77-70=229).
Texas A&M is back in action on Monday when the Aggies open play in the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate at Royal Oaks Country Club in Dallas.
Players Mentioned
