Texas A&M
Pacific
Aggies Down Pacific, Fall to Illinois at Match Play Championship
Mar 20, 2011 | Men's Golf
March 20, 2011
BALL GROUND, Ga. - The Texas A&M men's golf team split a pair of matches Sunday on the first day of the Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championships at Hawks Ridge Golf Club outside Atlanta.
The fifth-seeded Aggies took care of a scrappy Pacific squad in the first round, dropping the 12th-seeded Tigers, 3.5 to 1.5. Then, in a quartefinal matchup of top-10 teams, No. 4-seed Illinois held off A&M for a tightly-contested 3-2 victory.
"Overall, I was proud of the boys today," head coach J.T. Higgins said. "Pacific came out excited to play us and pushed us all the way till the end. Illinois is just an outstanding team and it could not have been a more evenly-matched contest. We won two matches early but lost the last two on the 18th hole. Those are tough to take but hopefully you learn from the experience, get tougher and find a way to win next time out."
The Aggies opened play with a strong 3.5-1.5 win over Pacific. Senior John Hurley opened the scoring with a commanding 7 and 5 win over Dan Garcia, and senior Conrad Shindler followed with a 3 and 2 defeat of Alex Johnson to put A&M up 2-0. Sophomore Cameron Peck's 1-up win over UOP's Patrick Kucich iced the team victory and pushed Texas A&M into the quarterfinals.
Against the Illini, Hurley put Texas A&M on the board first again when he closed out Mason Jacobs after 15 holes for the 4 and 3 victory. Shindler followed up one hole later with a 3 and 2 defeat of Scott Langley to put the Aggies up 2-0.
After Illinois' Thomas Pieters held off a comeback from Peck to score a 2 and 1 victory and cut the lead in half, the last two matches went to the final hole with A&M down one on both. Junior Jordan Russell birdied No. 18, but the Illni's Luke Guthrie matched that to score the 1-up victory. Senior Nacho Elvira was unable to catch Chris DeForest, with both players shooting par on hole No. 1 to give Illinois another 1-up win.
"John and Conrad played terrific today," Higgins said. "John is a great weapon in the No. 5 spot. He is a great match play competitor. He hits it so far and applies constant pressure that's more than most No. 5 men can handle. Connie never let his opponent take a lead and anytime his match ever got close he answered with a winning hole."
Higgins was pleased with the things his team took off the golf course after day one of the event, which is a precursor for the NCAA Championships' match-play format in late May.
"This is a great format for us and we gained important experience today," Higgins said. "Our No. 1 player, Jordan Russell, is our least experienced golfer in match play and I cam see him getting more and more comfortable with each match. This will pay big dividends at nationals."
Texas A&M will square off with top-seeded and No. 2-ranked UCLA in Monday's consolation round, with action getting underway at an 8:30 a.m. (ET) shotgun start.
Fans can follow the action through live scoring and updated brackets at golfstatresults.com and collegiatematchplay.com. Twitter updates are also available at @AggieMensGolf.
CALLAWAY COLLEGIATE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
FIRST ROUND: No. 5 Texas A&M 3.5, No. 12 Pacific 1.5
T.J. Bordeaux (UOP) def. Jordan Russell (A&M), 1 up
Conrad Shindler (A&M) def. Alex Johnson (UOP), 3 and 2
Nacho Elvira (A&M) halved Alex Edfort (UOP)
Cameron Peck (A&M) def. Patrick Kucich (UOP), 1 up
John Hurley (A&M) def. Dan Garcia (UOP), 6 and 5
QUARTERFINALS: No. 4 Illinois 3, No. 5 Texas A&M 2
Luke Guthrie (ILL) def. Jordan Russell (A&M), 1 up
Conrad Shindler (A&M) def. Scott Langley (ILL), 3 and 2
Chris DeForest (ILL) def. Nacho Elvira (A&M), 1 up
Thomas Pieters (ILL) def. Cameron Peck (A&M), 2 and 1
John Hurley (A&M) def. Mason Jacobs (ILL), 4 and 3
FIRST ROUND TEAM RESULTS
(1) UCLA def. (16) South Carolina, 5-0
(9) Texas Tech def. (8) Georgia, 3-2
(4) Illinois def. (13) Baylor, 5-0
(5) Texas A&M def. (12) Pacific, 3.5-1.5
(3) Georgia Tech def. (14) Washington State, 2.5-2.5
(11) USC def. (6) Iowa, 4-1
(10) Duke def. (7) Texas, 5-0
(15) East Tennessee State def. (2) Alabama 3-2
QUARTERFINAL RESULTS
(9) Texas Tech def. (1) UCLA, 3.5-1.5
(4) Illinois def. (5) Texas A&M, 3-2
(11) USC def. (3) Georgia Tech, 3-2
(10) Duke def. (15) East Tennessee State, 4-1
CONSOLATION ROUND RESULTS
(8) Georgia def. (16) South Carolina, 4.5-0.5
(12) Pacific def. (13) Baylor, 3-2
(6) Iowa def. (14) Washington State, 3-2
(2) Alabama def. (7) Texas, 4-1
