LIHUE, Hawai'i – With 36 holes in the books, the No. 7 Texas A&M men's golf team sits in a tie for second place at the John Burns Intercollegiate.
Texas A&M turned in a second round total of 283 Thursday on the seaside Wailua Golf Course to stand at seven-under par for the event behind only California (560, -16). The Aggies share the No. 2 spot on the leaderboard with BYU (569, -7) while New Mexico (577, +1), UTEP (580, +4) and Arizona (580, +4) round out the top five schools in the team standings.
Aggie junior Greg Yates (72-68=140, -4) carded a four-under 68 during the second round to hold a share of fourth place individually. BYU's Justin Keiley (68-66=134, -10) owns the top spot on the leaderboard heading into Friday's final round.
The Aggies have four golfers in the top 25 of the tournament as junior Ty Dunlap (72-70=142, -2) and sophomore Ben Crancer (72-71=143, -1) both enjoyed rounds under par on the day to move them up to 11th and 14th place, respectively.
Sophomore Andrew Lister (70-74=144, E), meanwhile, represents Texas A&M in a tie for 18th.
“I'm really impressed with how the guys played today,” Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said. “We were really struggling at the turn and things could have went the wrong direction but we just showed a lot of backbone and heart to battle and put together a nice back nine. We had a good stretch of holes that we named 'Aggie Alley' on No. 9-13. There were a lot of birdie opportunities and we really tore that stretch up. That confidence carried over to the last four or five holes and we were able to put together a nice round. I'm pretty happy with where we are at. Individually, I'm excited for Greg. He had a great round today of 68 and really came through for us.”
Seniors Jade Scott (77-73=150, +6) and Johannes Veerman (74-76=150, +6) both stand tied for 56th for the tournament.
“We are in position, tied for second and nine shots back,” Higgins added. “Cal is a great team, we will have to play great to catch them.”
The tournament concludes Friday when the third round begins at 12:30 p.m. (CT). The Aggies will be paired alongside golfers from New Mexico, BYU and California.