The third Aggie Invitational golf tournament was a two-team race as No. 20 Texas A&M and No. 2 Oklahoma State slugged it out this weekend at Traditions Golf Course.
The two teams were the only teams in the tournament to shoot under par, with the remaining 10 teams shooting at least 20 strokes above par.
Despite an early run to take the lead in the final day of the tournament, the Aggies struggled down the stretch for a second place finish behind the Cowboys.
“Oklahoma State played very well, but we beat ourselves,” said A&M Head Coach J.T. Higgins. “We didn’t close very well on the last few holes and Oklahoma State showed why they are a championship team.”
The tournament was shortened from 54 holes to 36 holes because rain on Friday night and Saturday morning delayed the tournament starting time. With rainy conditions allowing relief to contestants on Saturday, scores were lower than normal. Half of the teams in the field recorded under par scores.
After the first round of play, A&M carded a team score of 14 under par, five strokes behind tournament leader Oklahoma State, which posted a team score of 19 under par. The rest of the teams in the tournament were at least 10 strokes behind the Aggies.The story of Saturday was the contest between A&M senior Bronson Burgoon and Oklahoma State sophomore Rickie Fowler, who were paired together during the round. Both Burgoon and Fowler carded tournament record-breaking scores of 65, or seven under par.
Fowler, ranked No. 9 nationally, started the round strong, recording birdies on six of the first nine holes he played. Fowler cooled off on the back nine, making one birdie, but completed his round bogey free.
Burgoon’s round was similar to Fowler’s – it was bogey free – but Burgoon spaced out his birdies, recording three on the front nine and four on the back.
“The course played about as easy as it could but you still had to make putts and hit good shots,” Burgoon said. “I knew I had to make some birdies to get on top of the leaderboard. I was a little frustrated at first, and knew I had to step up my game.”
After the course to dried up Sunday, the playing conditions were more difficult. The 12 teams competing in the tournament combined to score an average of 26 strokes worse on Sunday than Saturday.
Player scores Saturday averaged to 73.04. On Sunday, they were five strokes worse at 78.05.
Tournament leader Oklahoma State recorded a team score of 13 over par on Sunday, 32 strokes worse than their Saturday score. The Cowboys were led by freshman Morgan Hoffman, who posted the low round of the day with a 70, or two under par.
Hoffman’s round was not good enough to catch his teammate, Fowler, who recorded a score of 73, or one over par, capturing the individual title for the tournament with a score of six under par.
The Aggies, who entered Sunday trailing the Cowboys by five strokes, came up three strokes short despite scoring better than the Cowboys as a team Sunday.
The Aggies recorded a team score of 20 over par on Sunday and blew a 10-stroke lead they carried into the final five holes of play. During the final five holes, the Aggies shot five over par, but the Cowboys shot six under par, which was good enough to nip the Aggies for the title.
Sophomore John Hurley and senior Matt Van Zandt led the team. Hurley finished the tournament tied for fourth place
individually after posting a 71 on Sunday to finish the tournament at one under par. Van Zandt finished the tournament tied for eighth place after carding a score of 73 during the final round.
Burgoon, who entered Sunday tied with Fowler, ended up with a second round score of nine over par, finishing tied for 16th individually. Burgoon struggled on the back nine, recording five bogeys and one double bogey to close the round.