LIHUE, Hawai'i – The No. 7 Texas A&M men's golf team is back in action this week when the Aggies tee off on the seaside Wailua Golf Course Wednesday morning during the opening round of the John Burns Intercollegiate.
“We always look forward to this tournament but this year we are playing on a new course and on a new island, Kauai, so it is even more exciting,” Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said. “We obviously don't know much about the course except it has hosted three U.S. Publinks Championships and it's considered an excellent public course. The field is strong again and we are anxious to get back out there and compete.”
The tournament is hosted by the University of Hawai'i and will take place on the Wailua Golf Course (par 72 / 6,991 yards) after spending the previous three years at Turtle Bay Resort. The 16-team field will participate in 18 holes per day with the third and final round getting underway on Friday morning.
The Aggies have enjoyed success at the event in recent years as Texas A&M claimed the 2009 team championship and boosted back-to-back individual medalist (Andrea Pavan in 2011 and John Hurley in 2012).
Completing this week for the Aggies will be senior Johannes Veerman, juniors Greg Yates and Ty Dunlap, and sophomores Ben Crancer and Andrew Lister. Senior Jade Scott will compete as an individual.
Yates comes to Hawai'i as the reigning SEC Golfer of the Week after an impressive showing during Texas A&M's first event of the spring semester. The Mansfield, Texas, native finished the Sea Best Invitational on TPC at Sawgrass at even par to claim individual medalist honors for the second time in his A&M career.
Crancer, meanwhile, enters the week ranked No. 4 in the Golf Week Men's Collegiate Individual Rankings. Lister joins Crancer in the top 50 at No. 46.
The tournament's opening round is slated to tee off at noon (CT) / 8 a.m. (HT) with the Aggies, who will be paired alongside golfers from Hawai'i-Hilo, Long Beach State and Washington State, shortly afterward.
Live scoring for the event can be found at GolfStat.com.
John A. Burns Intercollegiate
Feb. 19-21, 2014
Lihue, Hawai'i
(Wailua Golf Course - par 72 / 6,991 yards)
The Field (16 teams): Arizona, BYU, California, Colorado State, Fresno State, Hawai'i "A" and "B", Hawai'i-Hilo, Long Beach State, Nevada, New Mexico, Pacific, Saint Mary's, Texas A&M, UNLV, UTEP & Washington State
Format: Team stroke play, 54 holes
Round 1: Wednesday
Round 1: Thursday
Round 3: Friday
Defending Team Champion: California (850, -14)
Defending Individual Champion: Joel Stalter, Cal (204, -12)
A&M lineup: Ben Crancer, Greg Yates, Andrew Lister, Ty Dunlap, Johannes Veerman
A&M Individual: Jade Scott
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com
Live Updates: Twitter @AggieMensGolf
Up Next: Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters, March 7-9 / Site: Las Vegas, Nev