Monday, May 16
Albuquerque, N.M.
All Day
Texas A&M
at
NCAA Regional
Cameron Champ
Photo by: Southeastern Conference
Aggie Golfers Fall in Playoff at NCAA Regional
May 18, 2016 | Men's Golf
Sophomore Cameron Champ Advances to NCAA Championship as Individual
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Texas A&M men's golf team saw its season come to a close Wednesday during a playoff against San Diego State following a dramatic concluding round of the NCAA Albuquerque Regional.
"It's always tough when your season comes to an end," Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said. "I'm disappointed because I felt like we were playing well enough to advance. Ultimately, we should have never been in a playoff. We were in great shape at the turn but we lost our composure on 10, 11 and 12 and played those three holes at nine-over, going from a solid position to advance to having to fight just to make a playoff."
After three rounds and 54 holes of competition, Texas A&M (296-307-301=904, +40) stood in a fifth place tie with San Diego State (293-312-299=904) on the 14-team leaderboard with the top five schools in the regional advancing to the NCAA Championship, which is scheduled for May 27-June 1 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore. The tie set the stage for a head-to-head playoff between the squads.
"I was proud of our fight down the stretch," Higgins added. "Cameron birdied the final hole to get us into the playoff, but we certainly left a lot of shots out there today that would have made a difference and changed the whole course of the day."
Unfortunately, during the first tie-breaking playoff hole San Diego State was able to gain the upper hand and eliminate the Aggies from contention by carding a double eagle and an eagle on the par-five, 540-yard No. 1 hole of the UNM Championship Course.
"As far as the playoff, a guy holes out from 215 yards on a par-five for a two and it completely changed our strategy," Higgins said of the deciding hole. "That made it to where a couple of our guys had to play the hole really aggressively and fire at the pin. Unfortunately, we came up empty."
Meanwhile, Arizona State (+12) claimed the team title at the event with TCU (+24), Southern California (+31), South Florida (+35) and SDSU (+40) joining the Sun Devils in advancing to the NCAA Championship.
Aggie sophomore Cameron Champ (75-75-71=221, +5) claimed his fourth top-10 showing of the season with an impressive tie for seventh place on the player leaderboard and squared off against Army's Peter Kim for a chance to advance to the NCAA Championship as an individual. After both players carded birdies on the opening playoff hole, Champ bested Kim, who had carded a birdie, with an eagle on the playoff's second hole.
"It's exciting for Cam to have the chance to play at the national championship, although, I know he'd rather be there with his teammates," Higgins said. "I think this is the best amateur tournament in the world. The U.S. Amateur is obviously a big deal and it's an older event, but the NCAA Championship has a much stronger field. Everyone there is a great player and the competition is fierce."
Texas A&M freshman Chandler Phillips (71-79-75=225, +9) capped off his standout debut season with a 13th-place showing, including an eagle on the par-four fourth hole during Wednesday's final round. The Huntsville, Texas, native finished the campaign with a team-best eight top-20 showings.
"I'm really excited about the future," Higgins commented. "We're going to be a really young team with Chandler and Cameron taking what they've learned this year and being leaders for us next year. A couple of the recruits are going to play a lot for us as well as a few of the returning guys, who are going to get their chance to break into the lineup."
A trio of Aggies concluded their collegiate careers in Albuquerque with Andrew Lister (76-76-75=227, +11),
Adrià Arnaus (74-77-81=232, +16) and Ben Crancer (77-81-80=238, +22) finishing in 22nd, 40th and 53rd places, respectively.
"These three seniors gave us everything they had and they'll always hold a special place in my heart because they're such great people and meant the world to me and this team," Higgins reflected on the seniors. "They are all really talented and are going to go on and be really successful."
"It's always tough when your season comes to an end," Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said. "I'm disappointed because I felt like we were playing well enough to advance. Ultimately, we should have never been in a playoff. We were in great shape at the turn but we lost our composure on 10, 11 and 12 and played those three holes at nine-over, going from a solid position to advance to having to fight just to make a playoff."
After three rounds and 54 holes of competition, Texas A&M (296-307-301=904, +40) stood in a fifth place tie with San Diego State (293-312-299=904) on the 14-team leaderboard with the top five schools in the regional advancing to the NCAA Championship, which is scheduled for May 27-June 1 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore. The tie set the stage for a head-to-head playoff between the squads.
"I was proud of our fight down the stretch," Higgins added. "Cameron birdied the final hole to get us into the playoff, but we certainly left a lot of shots out there today that would have made a difference and changed the whole course of the day."
Unfortunately, during the first tie-breaking playoff hole San Diego State was able to gain the upper hand and eliminate the Aggies from contention by carding a double eagle and an eagle on the par-five, 540-yard No. 1 hole of the UNM Championship Course.
"As far as the playoff, a guy holes out from 215 yards on a par-five for a two and it completely changed our strategy," Higgins said of the deciding hole. "That made it to where a couple of our guys had to play the hole really aggressively and fire at the pin. Unfortunately, we came up empty."
Meanwhile, Arizona State (+12) claimed the team title at the event with TCU (+24), Southern California (+31), South Florida (+35) and SDSU (+40) joining the Sun Devils in advancing to the NCAA Championship.
Aggie sophomore Cameron Champ (75-75-71=221, +5) claimed his fourth top-10 showing of the season with an impressive tie for seventh place on the player leaderboard and squared off against Army's Peter Kim for a chance to advance to the NCAA Championship as an individual. After both players carded birdies on the opening playoff hole, Champ bested Kim, who had carded a birdie, with an eagle on the playoff's second hole.
"It's exciting for Cam to have the chance to play at the national championship, although, I know he'd rather be there with his teammates," Higgins said. "I think this is the best amateur tournament in the world. The U.S. Amateur is obviously a big deal and it's an older event, but the NCAA Championship has a much stronger field. Everyone there is a great player and the competition is fierce."
Texas A&M freshman Chandler Phillips (71-79-75=225, +9) capped off his standout debut season with a 13th-place showing, including an eagle on the par-four fourth hole during Wednesday's final round. The Huntsville, Texas, native finished the campaign with a team-best eight top-20 showings.
"I'm really excited about the future," Higgins commented. "We're going to be a really young team with Chandler and Cameron taking what they've learned this year and being leaders for us next year. A couple of the recruits are going to play a lot for us as well as a few of the returning guys, who are going to get their chance to break into the lineup."
A trio of Aggies concluded their collegiate careers in Albuquerque with Andrew Lister (76-76-75=227, +11),
Adrià Arnaus (74-77-81=232, +16) and Ben Crancer (77-81-80=238, +22) finishing in 22nd, 40th and 53rd places, respectively.
"These three seniors gave us everything they had and they'll always hold a special place in my heart because they're such great people and meant the world to me and this team," Higgins reflected on the seniors. "They are all really talented and are going to go on and be really successful."
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
Burgess Banquet Induction: Duke Butler III
Saturday, September 07
Aggie Invitational Preview: Brian Kortan
Wednesday, April 03
Playing Through w/Brian Kortan Ep. 1
Sunday, September 24
In Their Words: NCAA Regional Comeback
Wednesday, May 24
