Staff and Wire Reports
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Texas A&M is tied for 12th place after an opening round 14-over-par total of 298 Tuesday at the NCAA Men's Golf Championship at Inverness Golf Club.
Top-ranked Georgia and fourth-ranked Oklahoma State share the lead at 288.
This is the first year the tournament is being played under a combination medal and match play format. All 30 teams and the six individual players will compete in three days of medal play. Those 54 holes will determine the medalist and will winnow the field down to a final eight teams for match play. The teams will then play quarterfinal and semifinal matches on Friday, with the championship match set to start at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
The 12th-ranked Aggies are four shots out of eighth place.
Aggie sophomore Conrad Shindler had the shot of the day with a hole-in-one on the 186-yard, par-3 third hole, which played as the toughest hole on the course in the first round. He used a 5-iron for his first career ace.
Illinois' Scott Langley, North Carolina State's Matt Hill and Northwestern's Jonathan Bowers share the individual lead at 2-under 69.
Bronson Burgoon led the Aggies with a 72 (tied for 16th). Shindler and John Hurley had 75s (tied for 56th), while Andrea Pavan and Matt Van Zandt carded 76s (tied for 75th).
The Aggies were 12-over on holes four through seven, including 6-over on the 481-yard, par-4 seventh. A&M came back to play the final 11 holes in 2-over.
"We played very solid today and with so much heart," A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said. "The back side of this course is two or three shots harder than the front and it took a lot of poise, heart and determination to keep us in the game. We played the back well and because of that we are still in contention. I like where we stand. We are in a great spot with a good chance to advance to match play."
Oklahoma State didn't count the 74 of Kevin Tway, playing on the same course where his father Bob holed a sand shot on the 72nd hole to stun Greg Norman and win the 1986 PGA Championship.
Cowboys coach Mike McGraw watched his team get to 7 under midway through the round only to have a bad series of holes cost the Cowboys.
"We had it going backwards," he said. "I think we lost about nine shots total on that four- or five-hole stretch. So I'm pleased, though, that we survived it."
Notice about comments:
TheEagle.com is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. TheEagle.com does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not theeagle.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "report abuse" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website.
Full terms and conditions can be read here.
The blame game
