The maroon and white hit the links in Placida, Fla., on Monday, Feb. 28 and Tuesday, March 1, looking to build off of a fifth-place finish at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate in Lihue, Hawaii.
With the same quintet that placed seventh in northeast Florida at the Sea Best Invitational about a month earlier, the Aggies faced similar struggles in the peninsula.
No. 18 Texas A&M finished Round 1 tied for 10th with No. 27 South Florida at five strokes over par. The Aggies and Bulls would remain tied after the second round of action at 11-over par. Following the third and final round of play, A&M tied for eighth with Kent State and Toledo at 14-over par for the tournament.
“It is a long season, and we know we have stuff that we need to get better at,” A&M coach Brian Kortan told 12thman.com. “We will get home, we will get to work and get better.”
Junior William Paysse was the only Aggie to finish the first 18 holes under par, as he shot a 3-under 68 highlighted by back-to-back birdies on holes 12 and 13. Paysse carded a 1-under 70 in the second round of the day, finishing his first 36 holes at 4-under par, positioning him in a tie for fourth with senior Johnny Travale of UCF, junior Frankie Capan III of host Florida Gulf Coast and junior Austin Barbin of Liberty.
“It was good to see William [Paysse] put two solid rounds together,” Kortan told 12thman.com on Monday after Day 1. “That is really good to see. He has been working hard, so it is good to see him put scores together.”
Paysse failed to translate his strong play in the first two rounds on Day 1 to a strong finish on Day 2, as he carded a 4-over 75 clouded by five bogeys. He finished the tournament tied for 12th with eight other golfers at an even-par 213.
Freshman Phichaksn Maichon shot a 2-over 73 first round, fifth-year Walker Lee fired a 3-over 74 first round that included five bogeys, freshman Michael Heidelbaugh also put together a first-round 74 and sophomore Daniel Rodrigues finished his first round of play at a 5-over 76. Heidelbaugh was 2-under par for the round with four holes remaining but finished those four holes at 5-over par.
Lee improved his performance in Round 2 by shooting a 1-under 70 along with Paysse. Rodrigues made eagle on the par-5 13th hole and shot a 1-over 72 in Round 2. Maichon struggled throughout with a 7-over 78 in Round 2, and Heidelbaughs poor Round 1 conclusion carried over into Round 2, as he racked up four double-bogeys en route to an 8-over 79.
Lee shot one of two bogey-free rounds of golf by an Aggie in the tournament, carding a 4-under 67 in Round 3. His play improved from the first hole to the 54th, and he finished tied for eighth with sophomore Robbie Higgins of North Florida at a 2-under-par 211.
Maichon was the other Aggie to shoot a bogey-free round along with the aforementioned Lee, finishing tied for 51st at an 8-over-par 221 after his final round: a 1-under 70. Rodrigues placed in a tie for 62nd with an 11-over-par 224 after a Round 3 5-over 76, and Heidelbaugh brought up the rear with a 4-over 75 in Round 3 that landed him in a tie for 72nd with a 15-over 228.
Florida Gulf Coast hosted the tournament, and the Eagles won at 14-under par — 12 strokes better than second-place North Florida at 2-under.
“We are so thankful for our Southwest Florida community,” Florida Gulf Coast coach Andrew Danna told fgcuathletics.com after the invitational. “I’m really proud of our team closing it out today.”
South Alabama fifth-year Mathias Lorentzen finished all alone at the top of the player leaderboard with an 8-under-par 205 for the tournament.
Texas A&M will return to action on March 14-15 in Lafayette, La., at the Oakbourne Country Club for the Louisiana Classics tournament.