No. 16 Texas A&M men’s golf fell short to the No. 8 Florida Gators in the 2025 Southeastern Conference Championship, losing what would’ve been the first SEC title in program history. After advancing to the final round on Sunday, the Aggies got torn up by the Gators 4-1.

A&M headed to St. Simons Island, Georgia for the annual SEC Championship on April 23 to 27. The par-70 course at Sea Island Golf club has hosted nine consecutive SEC championship matches. With a conference title in sight for the Aggies, they were ready to compete in this five-day competition including three rounds of stroke-play followed by the top eight teams advancing to three rounds of match-play. 

Day 1

The Maroon and White came out swinging well on Day 1. Off the first tee was No. 358 junior Jaime Montojo who seemed to have a problem with carding bogeys throughout his first nine, but on the back nine seemed to have his stuff, handling two birdies. However, a triple bogey landed on his card on hole 18 ending his day at 4-over par. 

No. 180 sophomore Aaron Pounds had a steady round shooting one-over on each nine, good for a 72 for Day 1. No. 23 senior Phichaksn Maichon, coming off an individual win in his last tournament, seemed to pack his stealth to Georgia as he turned in a 69 at one-under. Even with four bogeys he found a birdie train on the back nine leaving him in a good position for round two. No. 87 freshman Wheaton Ennis joined Maichon in the one-under club as he scored a 69 as well, highlighted by two birdies. 

No. 143 senior Michael Heidelbaugh stunned the field with a record-shattering performance on Day 1. Teeing off in the No. 2 spot for the Aggies, the underdog broke through and matched the lowest round in Aggie history, previously set by Sam Bennett in 2023. Heidelbaugh also broke the record for the lowest tournament score. Turning in a 61 at the end of Day 1 with nine birdies and owning a bogey-free round, the Dallas native held the sole spot of first place and had a three stroke lead over second place as he entered Day 2. 

As the first round came to a close, the Fightin’ Farmers sat at a tie for second place with No. 7 LSU, both at a team total of  9-under 271. Seven strokes behind No. 2 Auburn, the Aggies were in a perfect position headed into the next two rounds of stroke play.

Day 2

Paired up with Auburn and LSU for round two, A&M found itself taming tigers all day. Montojo off again first for the Maroon and White, still could not find a rhythm to get into as he turned in another above-par round at three-over leaving him at a total of seven-over after two rounds. 

Pounds let loose on the back nine with five birdies as well as opening his round with a birdie on hole one. After his tricky first round, he was able to get it together overnight and score a 67 settling himself in at one-under and sitting in a tie for 28th. Joining him for 28th was Ennis as he shot a steady even-par round, finding a birdie for every bogey he was dealt. 

Heidelbaugh, after his stellar round on Day 1, found himself in a block. With five bogeys and not having enough birdies to keep up he shot 10 strokes above his first round, scoring a 71. Still managing at eight-under for the first 36, he still had time to make adjustments for a shot at the top of the leaderboard. 

Taking hold of the Maroon and White for round two was Maichon with a bogey-free round with an additional four birdies. The Thai prodigy shot four-under and started flirting with the top of the leaderboard as he began to creep his way up. 

The Aggies had another exciting round totaling at 15-under after 36 sitting well into fourth place as No. 6 Oklahoma overtook third place with 18-under and LSU and Auburn tied for first at 26-under. Entering the third round to determine who would make it to the weekend, the Fightin’ Farmers knew what they had to do. 

Day 3

With the bottom eight teams getting cut at the end of Day 3, the Maroon and White needed to maintain their strong play to keep their spot. Montojo was able to find his sweet spot, opening with back-to-back birdies and scoring an even-par round, still sitting at seven-over for the tournament. 

Pounds and Ennis were both able to keep the middle ground stable for the Aggies as they both broke par during round two. Pounds carded four birdies and shot a 69 while sitting at a tie for 26th at two-under. Ennis had some trouble on his back nine as he had a bogey followed by a double-bogey shortly after. Luckily, he found himself four birdies on the front nine and two birdies on the back to shoot a 67 and tie for 16th at four-under. 

Back under the pressure was Heidelbaugh as he still couldn’t manage to find the rhythm he had during his first round. With two double-bogeys, there was little wiggle room to find himself some coverage. He found himself shooting above-par once again with a 73, and managed a tie for 13th with five-under for 54 holes.

Maichon seemed to carry his momentum into Day 3, firing a four-under 66 and finishing with another bogey-free round and going bogey-free for 38 holes. After three rounds he sat in a four-way tie for third place at a total of nine-under. 

As round three came to a close and the final holes of stroke play were being finalized, the Aggies returned to the top once again. Reclaiming their third place spot at 23-under they comfortably secured a spot for the weekend’s match-play. Advancing to the quarterfinals, they were set to face No. 30 Georgia in their first showdown.

Day 4

Starting out the quarterfinals match-play portion of the tournament, A&M battled Georgia who placed 6th after stroke-play. The first match was between Montojo and No. 248 senior George Langham. It wasn’t long before Montojo put the bulldog to sleep, going one-up through 18. 

Next up was Heidelbaugh facing No. 303 junior Carter Loflin who was able to end the match early after just 16 holes. He was up by three and left no possibility of Loflin making a comeback. 

Heidelbaugh wasn’t the only Aggie putting the match to an end early, as Ennis and Maichon both put their competitors’ campaign to an early deadline. Ennis, facing No. 57 sophomore Grayson Wood, was able to catch an early lead, sitting up by six points with only five holes to play to secure his match victory. Maichon followed, as his match with No. 42 senior Buck Brumlow ended after 15 holes by taking a four-point lead. 

The only Aggie falling in their match was Pounds, who after a back-and-forth battle all morning against No. 780 freshman James Earle fell short in his final holes, giving the win to the Bulldog.

A&Measily swept away Georgia in the quarterfinals with four out of five Aggies taking the match victory and advancing to the second half of the day in the semifinals where they would have a showdown against No. 14 Alabama who came in a tie for seventh in stroke play. 

As the second round of Day 4 began, the Aggies were 18 holes away from advancing to the finals held on Sunday. The first pair was Montojo and No. 104 senior Dominic Clemons, which did not end well for the Spaniard. Montojo fell quickly in his match and it came to an end after just 14 holes. Clemons was up by five points and put the first point on the board for Alabama. 

The next pairing between Heidelbaugh and No. 403 junior Connor Brown gave the Maroon and White some hope. After a close race, Heidelbaugh was able to make that final stride in the last five holes, overtaking Brown by two points and closing out the match early on hole 17 with a two-point lead. 

Pounds was once again right behind Heidelbaugh, ending his match against No. 376 freshman Nicholas Gross in the final holes by taking two points on 17 and 18. Maichon, facing No. 91 junior Jones Free, was unable to regain a point on the back nine leaving him stranded on the 17th hole down two points and losing his match. 

With a tie between Alabama and A&M with one pair on the course, every stroke counted. The final pair was Ennis against No. 52 sophomore Jonathan Griz. With a back and forth match all day long, they found themselves tied with one hole to play. Facing the 18th hole, Griz missed his putt for par and opened the door for Ennis to take the match. But with the pressure on to send his team to the finals, Ennis matched Griz with a missed putt for par leaving them tied through 18. 

The pair headed back up the 18th hole for a sudden death playoff. Ennis sent a line-drive down the fairway, putting the pressure on for Alabama. With costly mistakes made by Griz, Ennis was knocking at the doors of the finals for the Aggies. A concession from Alabama on the 37th hole of the day advanced the Maroon and White 3-2 for a chance at the SEC title on Sunday in the final against the Florida Gators. 

Day 5

With 18 holes standing between A&M and the SEC Championship title, the Aggies were hoping to eat some alligator for dinner. 

The first two points went to Florida rather quickly as the match between Montojo and No. 49 junior Luke Poulter ended on the 15th hole as Poulter went up by four points and left no room for Montojo to respond. 

Pounds was only able to get through 14 holes against No. 162 senior Matthew Kress before he was down five points in the match. The second point went to Florida, and A&M’shope began to dwindle. 

In the middle match for A&M was Ennis against No. 159 freshman Zack Swanwick in a competitive battle. With Swanwick winning the point on the 17th hole and going one-up with one to play, Ennis had to win the next hole for a chance to continue the round. Coming down to the last putt on 18, Ennis missed the putt for birdie and the match point went to Florida.

Florida racked in three consecutive points and took the title win. The other two pairs of Maichon against No. 26 sophomore Jack Turner and the final pair of Heidelbaugh versus No. 16 senior Ian Gilligan, conceded in their matches, giving the win to Florida 4-1.

The Aggies now await their NCAA Regional Tournament assignment to determine where they will play on May 12.