ALPHARETTA, Ga. – The Texas A&M men's golf team enjoyed an impressive showing Friday during its opening 18 holes of the U.S. Collegiate Championship, ending the event's first round in third place.
Particularly on the back nine at the Golf Club of Georgia where they were eight-under as a group, the Aggies (281, -7) climbed the leaderboard to finished the day at seven-under par and just nine strokes back of tournament leader Virginia (272, -16).
“It was nice to put together a round like that, it's been a while since we've played golf like we know we're capable of,” Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said. “I'm really proud of how we played on the back nine. During our last 10 holes we made 12 birdies and only two bogies to fly up the leaderboard.”
A trio of Aggies rank in the top 13 of the individual standings with junior Adrià Arnaus leading the way in a tie for 10th. Competing on his 20th birthday, Arnaus recorded a bogie on No. 2 but that would prove to be his only blemish on the day as he added birdies on No. 4, 9, 14 and 15 to finish the day at three-under.
Junior Andrew Lister and freshman Andrew Paysse were just a shot back, finishing the day at two under to hold a share of 13th place.
“Andrew Paysse shot 32 on the back which is just fantastic for him,” Higgins added. “Three of our guys (Arnaus, Lister and Paysse) where bogie free on the back so it was a terrific team effort. We played really smart and were disciplined and patient. That was fun to watch. I'm really proud of our effort and we need two more days like that and we'll get out of here with a good tournament.”
Senior Greg Yates finished the day in 24th place with a scorecard of even par 72, while rookie Connor Black fired a 74 Friday to end the round with a share of 46th.
The Aggies are back on the course Saturday morning when they tee off the event's second round at 9:40 a.m. (CT). They will be paired alongside golfers from Texas and Virginia.