VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. – The Texas A&M men's golf team placed eighth against the all-Southeastern Conference field at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate, which concluded Tuesday at the Old Overton Country Club outside of Birmingham, Alabama.
The Aggies rose two spots in the final round and finished the three-day tournament at 1-over par. On Tuesday, the Aggies used a 1-under 279 to leapfrog Mississippi State and Florida into eighth place. Auburn, Georgia and Vanderbilt claimed the tri-championship at 19-under par, followed by Tennessee (-11) and Ole Miss (-6) to round out the top five.
Junior Sam Bennett was the Aggies' low scorer for the third straight day as he carded a 2-under 68 in a round that featured three birdies and 14 pars and just a single bogey. Bennett, from nearby Madisonville, Texas, finished in a tie for 12th on the player leaderboard (69-69-68, -4).
Also turning counting scores in the final round were senior Dan Erickson with a 1-under 69 and senior Brandon Smith with an even-par 70, while sophomore William Paysse and freshman Daniel Rodrigues contributed scores of 2-over 72.
On the final player leaderboard, Smith tied for 19th at 1-under (69-70-70), Erickson tied for 29th at even par (70-71-69), Paysse tied for 50th at 7-over (75-70-72) and Rodrigues placed 54th at 8-over (74-72-72).
Head Coach Brian Kortan said:
"We didn't play well enough for long enough to really make an impact against this field of teams. We would play well for stretches, but we couldn't get any momentum. We got off to a better start today, which was a positive, and I thought the guys battled hard all three days. We didn't do a good job of putting. We put ourselves in position at times, but couldn't score the ball consistently.
(On finishing the fall schedule) "We played three tournaments against talented fields on some difficult courses. We did a lot of good things that we can build on and found some things that we need to work on. I need to do a better job of preparing the guys in practice to be a great team on the road. We're going to get back to work and look at everything A-to-Z. I know this team is capable of more than we showed this fall and I look forward to spring season."
Aggies on the Leaderboard (Final):
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About Texas A&M Athletics | Home of the 12th Man:
One of the most successful Athletics Departments in the nation, Texas A&M ranked No. 15 in the most recent Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup standings and is one of eight Division I institutions nationally to finish in the top 20 of the prestigious ranking of athletics success for at least 13 consecutive years. For more information, go to www.12thMan.com.
About Texas A&M University:
Texas A&M University, the flagship university within the Texas A&M University System, is a tier-one research institution with nearly $1 billion in research grants and more than 69,000 students. The President of Texas A&M University has strategic oversight for campuses in College Station and Galveston, TX and Doha, Qatar. We include The Health Science Center with the College of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy, as well as The Texas A&M School of Law and Mays Business School. For more information, go to www.tamu.edu.
The Aggies rose two spots in the final round and finished the three-day tournament at 1-over par. On Tuesday, the Aggies used a 1-under 279 to leapfrog Mississippi State and Florida into eighth place. Auburn, Georgia and Vanderbilt claimed the tri-championship at 19-under par, followed by Tennessee (-11) and Ole Miss (-6) to round out the top five.
Junior Sam Bennett was the Aggies' low scorer for the third straight day as he carded a 2-under 68 in a round that featured three birdies and 14 pars and just a single bogey. Bennett, from nearby Madisonville, Texas, finished in a tie for 12th on the player leaderboard (69-69-68, -4).
Also turning counting scores in the final round were senior Dan Erickson with a 1-under 69 and senior Brandon Smith with an even-par 70, while sophomore William Paysse and freshman Daniel Rodrigues contributed scores of 2-over 72.
On the final player leaderboard, Smith tied for 19th at 1-under (69-70-70), Erickson tied for 29th at even par (70-71-69), Paysse tied for 50th at 7-over (75-70-72) and Rodrigues placed 54th at 8-over (74-72-72).
Head Coach Brian Kortan said:
"We didn't play well enough for long enough to really make an impact against this field of teams. We would play well for stretches, but we couldn't get any momentum. We got off to a better start today, which was a positive, and I thought the guys battled hard all three days. We didn't do a good job of putting. We put ourselves in position at times, but couldn't score the ball consistently.
(On finishing the fall schedule) "We played three tournaments against talented fields on some difficult courses. We did a lot of good things that we can build on and found some things that we need to work on. I need to do a better job of preparing the guys in practice to be a great team on the road. We're going to get back to work and look at everything A-to-Z. I know this team is capable of more than we showed this fall and I look forward to spring season."
Aggies on the Leaderboard (Final):
| Place | Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
| 8 | Texas A&M | 282 | 280 | 279 | 841 (+1) |
| T12 | Sam Bennett | 69 | 69 | 68 | 206 (-4) |
| T19 | Brandon Smith | 69 | 70 | 70 | 209 (-1) |
| T29 | Dan Erickson | 70 | 71 | 69 | 210 (E) |
| T50 | William Paysse | 75 | 70 | 72 | 217 (+7) |
| 54 | Daniel Rodrigues | 74 | 72 | 72 | 218 (+8) |
| Pl. | Team | Scores (To Par) |
| T1 | Auburn | 273-272-276=821 -19 |
| T1 | Georgia | 265-279-277=821 -19 |
| T1 | Vanderbilt | 270-272-279=821 -19 |
| 4 | Tennessee | 274-277-278=829 -11 |
| 5 | Ole Miss | 279-281-274=834 -6 |
| 6 | Arkansas | 280-280-277=837 -3 |
| 7 | South Carolina | 279-274-285=838 -2 |
| 8 | Texas A&M | 282-280-279=841 +1 |
| 9 | Mississippi State | 278-276-288=842 +2 |
| 10 | Florida | 280-281-285=846 +6 |
| 11 | Missouri | 281-285-284=850 +10 |
| 12 | Alabama | 276-287-288=851 +11 |
| 13 | LSU | 290-292-283=865 +25 |
| 14 | Kentucky | 283-287-296=866 +26 |
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About Texas A&M Athletics | Home of the 12th Man:
One of the most successful Athletics Departments in the nation, Texas A&M ranked No. 15 in the most recent Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup standings and is one of eight Division I institutions nationally to finish in the top 20 of the prestigious ranking of athletics success for at least 13 consecutive years. For more information, go to www.12thMan.com.
About Texas A&M University:
Texas A&M University, the flagship university within the Texas A&M University System, is a tier-one research institution with nearly $1 billion in research grants and more than 69,000 students. The President of Texas A&M University has strategic oversight for campuses in College Station and Galveston, TX and Doha, Qatar. We include The Health Science Center with the College of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy, as well as The Texas A&M School of Law and Mays Business School. For more information, go to www.tamu.edu.