LAFAYETTE, La. – The Texas A&M men's golf team opened play at the Louisiana Classics on Monday, owning third place after 36 holes of competition on Oakbourne Country Club.
The 13th-ranked Aggies (294-290=584) stood at one-under par for the day and are slotted behind leaders Kent State (-15) and second-place LSU (-9). The squad held a share of fourth place after the morning round and passed third-ranked Illinois and tournament-host Louisiana-Lafayette during the afternoon round.
"We did a lot of things well," Aggie head coach J.T. Higgins said. "We hit the ball well off the tee and we were pretty good up-and-down but we also did some things really poorly. We had a lot of opportunities on par-5s that we didn't take advantage of and we were really careless with our approach shots. We missed too many greens with wedges in our hands and you just can't do that against this kind of competition. We should be up there with the leaders."
Sophomore Chandler Phillips (70+70=140, -4) maintains his familiar place in contention by holding down a share of fifth place after 36 holes, four back of leader Ian Holt of Kent State. Phillips, coming off a victory at the John Burns Intercollegiate, shot in the red during both sessions to give him par or better performances in 13 of his last 14 rounds. The second-year standout will try for his fifth straight top-10 finish on Tuesday.
Junior Cameron Champ (71+72=143, -1), meanwhile, shot par or better in each round to finish the day at 11th. Rookie Dan Erickson (73+73=146, +2) joins Champ and Phillips in the top-20 after carding a pair of one-over rounds.
Senior Jake Goodman (81+73=154, +10) rebounded after a tough first round, shooting a 73 for the afternoon to climb 23 spots into a share of 59th. Junior Kavan Eubank (73+82=155, +11) fell off during the sounds round ending the day in a tie for 66th. Competing as an individual, freshman Josh Gliege (77+75=152,+8) sits in a tie for 48th.
"Chandler was solid again." Higgins added. "Cam had two decent rounds, but I think he can shoot even lower on this type of course. Hopefully, tomorrow, as a team we can do something a little bit better."
The tournament resumes Tuesday morning with the concluding 18 holes. The Aggies are paired alongside LSU and Kent State on the event's final day of competition and tee off at 8:50 a.m. A stream of select holes will available at www.ragincajuns.com. Live scoring from and results from Lafayette can be found on Golfstat.com as well as live updates via twitter at @AggieMensGolf.
The 13th-ranked Aggies (294-290=584) stood at one-under par for the day and are slotted behind leaders Kent State (-15) and second-place LSU (-9). The squad held a share of fourth place after the morning round and passed third-ranked Illinois and tournament-host Louisiana-Lafayette during the afternoon round.
"We did a lot of things well," Aggie head coach J.T. Higgins said. "We hit the ball well off the tee and we were pretty good up-and-down but we also did some things really poorly. We had a lot of opportunities on par-5s that we didn't take advantage of and we were really careless with our approach shots. We missed too many greens with wedges in our hands and you just can't do that against this kind of competition. We should be up there with the leaders."
Sophomore Chandler Phillips (70+70=140, -4) maintains his familiar place in contention by holding down a share of fifth place after 36 holes, four back of leader Ian Holt of Kent State. Phillips, coming off a victory at the John Burns Intercollegiate, shot in the red during both sessions to give him par or better performances in 13 of his last 14 rounds. The second-year standout will try for his fifth straight top-10 finish on Tuesday.
Junior Cameron Champ (71+72=143, -1), meanwhile, shot par or better in each round to finish the day at 11th. Rookie Dan Erickson (73+73=146, +2) joins Champ and Phillips in the top-20 after carding a pair of one-over rounds.
Senior Jake Goodman (81+73=154, +10) rebounded after a tough first round, shooting a 73 for the afternoon to climb 23 spots into a share of 59th. Junior Kavan Eubank (73+82=155, +11) fell off during the sounds round ending the day in a tie for 66th. Competing as an individual, freshman Josh Gliege (77+75=152,+8) sits in a tie for 48th.
"Chandler was solid again." Higgins added. "Cam had two decent rounds, but I think he can shoot even lower on this type of course. Hopefully, tomorrow, as a team we can do something a little bit better."
The tournament resumes Tuesday morning with the concluding 18 holes. The Aggies are paired alongside LSU and Kent State on the event's final day of competition and tee off at 8:50 a.m. A stream of select holes will available at www.ragincajuns.com. Live scoring from and results from Lafayette can be found on Golfstat.com as well as live updates via twitter at @AggieMensGolf.