The Aggie men’s golf team will travel more than 700 miles northeast to Nashville, Tenn., Friday to partake in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Collegiate Challenge Cup.
The event is hosted by the Golf Club of Tennessee, which pits two of the south’s most prominent athletic conferences, the SEC and the ACC, against each other. Eleven other teams, five from the SEC and six from the ACC, will join A&M in Music City to compete for a year’s worth of bragging rights for their respective conferences.
The competition consists of a three-round team stroke event followed by an 18-hole match play conference finale, where teams from each conference play and earn match points to be factored into an overall conference championship. The SEC bested its coastal counterparts in last year’s tournament. The Aggies, on the other hand, hope to rebound after a week that saw them struggle under cold and wet conditions at the Fighting Illini Invitational.
Head coach J.T. Higgins said he is optimistic about his team’s ability to turn things around in the more favorable climate that Nashville will bring.
“This is one of our favorite tournaments of the year,” Higgins said. “The Golf Club of Tennessee is an amazing venue and we’ll get a chance to compete in match play as well as experience Nashville, too. It’s always a great trip and we’re excited to get back out there and do a little better this week.”
Rounds one and two of the tournament will take place Friday with the Aggies, kicking off competition at 8 a.m. Round three will be held Saturday, building up to Sunday’s conference match play finale.