Texas A&M
NCAA Arizona Regional
Men's Golf Punches Ticket to Nationals
May 21, 2011 | Men's Golf
May 21, 2011
TUCSON, Ariz. - The Texas A&M men's golf team earned its fourth straight trip to nationals on Saturday with a runner-up finish at the NCAA Arizona Regional at Omni Tucson National Golf Resort.
The Aggies shot a 7-under 277 on the afternoon and tied a school record by finishing the regional with a 12-under 840 (281-282-277). A&M's Saturday round matched team champion San Diego State for the best round of any team on the weekend.
With the runner-up finish, the Aggies secured the 27th trip to the NCAA Championships in school history, and seventh in the last eight years under head coach J.T. Higgins.
"I'm obviously pretty happy," Higgins said. "I thought this would be a tough regional to advance out of because the golf course brought all the teams into the race. It was tough to separate from everyone else. At times it was frustrating, but I thought the guys did a great job of handling it. It was a great effort and I'm really proud of them for getting through."
The second-seeded Aztecs won the regional with a 19-under 833, seven shots better than the field. Cal (-9) finished third, while Pepperdine (-8) and host Arizona (-8) snatched up the final two qualifying spots.
Washington (-7) just missed a trip to nationals, placing sixth and one shot out of qualifying, followed by Oregon State (-3), UC Davis (+1), Texas Tech (+6), Liberty (+8), Purdue (+21), UT Arlington (+24), Army (+30) and Loyola-Maryland (+51).
Sophomore Cameron Peck was A&M's top finisher on the weekend, placing third with a 6-under 207 (70-67-70). His score was the second lowest by strokes in school history in the regional round and one shot shy of the school record against par.
"Cam was great all weekend," Higgins said. "He kept the ball in play and converted some opportunities. To finish top five in this field is outstanding. If he plays like that at nationals we'll be in pretty good shape as a team."
Junior Jordan Russell finished 23rd with an even-par 213 (69-76-68), while senior Nacho Elvira finished 34th with a 3-over 216 (73-71-72). Senior Conrad Shindler put together his second straight strong round, firing a team-best 67 on Saturday en route to a 3-over finish as well (81-68-67=216). Senior John Hurley placed 53rd with a 7-over 220 (69-76-75) to round out the scoring.
"Nacho and Cam were probably the most consistent all weekend, but everyone else had at least one bad round," Higgins said. "When it happened though, the other guys covered for them and that's what a good team does. That's why it's important to have five good players, which we do. I think we're peaking actually, we're starting to play pretty well and hitting the ball fantastic."
UC Davis' Matt Hansen took medalist honors and the lone individual qualifying spot by winning the tournament with a 9-under 204 (64-72-68).
Texas A&M now turns its attention to the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships, scheduled for May 31-June 5 at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla. The tournament features three rounds of stroke play, with the top eight teams advancing to match play to decide the national champion.
"We're thrilled to be heading to nationals," Higgins said. "That's been our goal all year. We feel we have one of the best teams in the country and we think we have a good chance to win, but you can't win it if you're not there. This was an important week, and the guys did a great job of handling the stress. We're all really excited to be heading to Stillwater and we can't wait to see what we can do there."
