PALM CITY, Fla. – Led by a pair of Aggies in the top five of the player standings, The Texas A&M men's golf team tops the 14-school leaderboard after the opening round of the Valspar Collegiate Invitational.
"I feel really good about where we're at after the first round," Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said. "We're well aware it's a 54-hole event and there are no prizes for leading after the first round, but it was it was really challenging today and the course played really tough. The guys handled it so well."
Following a morning practice round at Floridian National Golf Club, the tournament got underway in earnest during the afternoon where the Aggies (+4) surged to the top of the leaderboard. Rounding out the top five in the standings behind A&M are Wake Forest (+7), North Texas (+8), Houston (+11) and Texas (+11).
"We leaked a little bit of oil coming in," Higgins said. "I think that it was fatigue, both mentally and physically, after a 36-hole day. We were out there for a pretty long time today under some pretty adverse conditions, but the guys handled it great and really played with a lot of fight to put us in a good spot."
A pair of Aggies share fourth place in the individual standings with Andrew Paysse (70, -1) and Chandler Phillips (70, -1) just two shots back of leader Cory Churchman from North Texas (-3).
Rookie Dan Erickson (72 +1) stands just outside the top 10 with a share of 11th place after a one-over round Sunday. Junior Cameron Champ (76, +5) holds in a tie for 39th and Kavan Eubank (82 +11) ended the day in 71st to fill out the A&M lineup.
Sophomore Max Miller (78, +7), competing as an individual, is tied for 50th.
"Individually, it was a great job by the bottom of the order which is what we've been looking for," Higgins added. "Andrew and Dan really stepped up and, of course, Chandler was Chandler. Those three guys really put us in a good position. If we can get four guys to put up good scores the next couple days then we're going to have a great chance."
The Valspar Collegiate resumes Monday morning with the Aggies slated to begin teeing off at 8:45 a.m. (CT) paired alongside golfers from North Texas and Wake Forest. Results and live scoring can be found on GolfStat.com and fans can also follow the action with updates via twitter at @AggieMensGolf.
"I feel really good about where we're at after the first round," Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said. "We're well aware it's a 54-hole event and there are no prizes for leading after the first round, but it was it was really challenging today and the course played really tough. The guys handled it so well."
Following a morning practice round at Floridian National Golf Club, the tournament got underway in earnest during the afternoon where the Aggies (+4) surged to the top of the leaderboard. Rounding out the top five in the standings behind A&M are Wake Forest (+7), North Texas (+8), Houston (+11) and Texas (+11).
"We leaked a little bit of oil coming in," Higgins said. "I think that it was fatigue, both mentally and physically, after a 36-hole day. We were out there for a pretty long time today under some pretty adverse conditions, but the guys handled it great and really played with a lot of fight to put us in a good spot."
A pair of Aggies share fourth place in the individual standings with Andrew Paysse (70, -1) and Chandler Phillips (70, -1) just two shots back of leader Cory Churchman from North Texas (-3).
Rookie Dan Erickson (72 +1) stands just outside the top 10 with a share of 11th place after a one-over round Sunday. Junior Cameron Champ (76, +5) holds in a tie for 39th and Kavan Eubank (82 +11) ended the day in 71st to fill out the A&M lineup.
Sophomore Max Miller (78, +7), competing as an individual, is tied for 50th.
"Individually, it was a great job by the bottom of the order which is what we've been looking for," Higgins added. "Andrew and Dan really stepped up and, of course, Chandler was Chandler. Those three guys really put us in a good position. If we can get four guys to put up good scores the next couple days then we're going to have a great chance."
The Valspar Collegiate resumes Monday morning with the Aggies slated to begin teeing off at 8:45 a.m. (CT) paired alongside golfers from North Texas and Wake Forest. Results and live scoring can be found on GolfStat.com and fans can also follow the action with updates via twitter at @AggieMensGolf.