Aggie Golfers Headed to NCAA Albuquerque Regional

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The Texas A&M men's golf team was picked as the No. 5 seed at the NCAA Regional in Albuquerque, N.M., the selection committee announced Thursday morning while revealing the complete field for the 2016 Men's DI Golf Championships.
 
The Aggies will be playing in their 13^th NCAA Tournament in the past 14 seasons as well as their 42^nd overall showing in the NCAA field. Play at the Albuquerque regional will take play May 15-17 on the Championship Course at University of New Mexico, which serves as the home of the Lobo golf teams and officially opened in 1967. The 7,248-yard, par-72 public course has been recognized by Golf Digest Magazine as one of the top-25 public courses in the country.
 
"We're really excited," Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said. "This is what you work for all year. We feel like we've got a team capable of advancing to the NCAA Championship so we're looking forward to getting out there and showing what we can do."
 
Southern California is the top seed among the 14-team regional field in Albuquerque, followed by Arizona State, USF, San Diego State, Texas A&M, North Carolina State, New Mexico, Texas Tech, TCU, Iowa, Liberty, Army, Cleveland State and Wagner College.
 
The tournament will consist of 54 holes of stroke play, with 18 holes each day. The top five teams in the regional advance the NCAA Championship, scheduled for May 27-June 1 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore. Additionally, the highest-placing individual who is not a member of an advancing team will also earn a trip to Oregon.
 
"I've been really pleased with how we have played this spring," Higgins added. "The three seniors (Adrià Arnaus, Ben Crancer and Andrew Lister) have been really solid and provided us great leadership leading by example with their work ethic. The two new guys, Cameron Champ and Chandler Phillips, have been fantastic and played really good golf. Top to bottom we're a really solid team, we don't have any superstars but we've got five guys who could play for just about anybody."
 
Texas A&M enters the postseason ranked No. 27 in both the most recent Golfweek/Sagarin poll and Golfstat Relative Rankings. The Aggies have come on strong during the spring semester, finishing third place or better in five of seven tournaments following the winter break with a team championship at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate in early March and a second-place showing at the SEC Championship in mid-April.
 
Five other sites will host regionals, including Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Ol' Colony Golf Complex), Marana, Ariz. (Gallery Golf Club), Kohler, Wis. (Blackwolf Run Meadow Valleys Course), Stillwater, Okla. (Karsten Golf Club) and Franklin, Tenn. (Vanderbilt Legends Club).
 
A&M is one of 11 SEC schools to make the field, joining Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
 
 
TEXAS A&M NCAA REGIONAL HISTROY
 
Year:  Site  /  Finish
2016: Albuquerque, N.M.
*2014:  Raleigh, N.C. / 4th
*2013:  Tempe, Ariz. / 4th
*2012:  Bowling Green, Ky. / 2nd
*2011:  Tucson, Ariz. / 2nd
*2010:  Bryan, Texas / 2nd
*2009:  Daly City, Calif. / 3rd
*2008:  Columbus, Ohio / 7th
2007:  Sugar Grove, Ill. / T-10th
*2006:  Cleveland, Ohio / 3rd
*2005:  South Bend, Ind. / 3rd
*2004:  West Lafayette, Ind. / 4th
2003:  Manhattan, Kan. / 23rd
2001:  Stillwater, Okla. / 13th
2000:  Victoria, Texas / 13th
1998:  San Antonio, Texas / 11th
*1997:  Norman, Okla. / 3rd
*1996:  Ann Arbor, Mich. / 1st
1995:  Montgomery, Texas / 17th
1994:  Okla. City, Okla. / 12th
1993:  Columbus, Ohio / 11th
1992:  McKinney, Texas / 17th
1990:  Columbus, Ohio / 18th
1989:  McKinney, Texas / 17^th
 
* advanced to NCAA Championship
 
NOTE: A&M advanced to the NCAA Championship 18 times prior to the advent of regionals … the Aggies will be gunning for their 30^th NCAA Championship berth next weekend.