The Texas A&M men’s golf team tees up the spring portion of their 2014-15 campaign today at the Sea Best Invitational at the Dye’s Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The Invitational, which is hosted by Jacksonville University, marks one of three trips the Aggies make to the Sunshine State this spring with the possibility of a fourth trip in late May should they reach the NCAA Championships.
The Dye’s Valley course, designed by Pete Dye, Bobby Weed and player consultant Jerry Pate, is a par 72 track that plays 6,864 yards from the tips. Water comes into play on nearly every hole as the course snakes its way through the TPC resort.
This year’s version of the Invitational features fifteen teams, including two top 25 programs, No.3 Florida State University and No. 17 North Carolina, and two other Southeastern Conference foes, the University of Tennessee and the University of Florida.
Texas A&M senior Greg Yates looks to replicate and improve his even par, 216, performance from a year ago in which he finished in a tie for first and helped Texas A&M secure a third place overall position in the tournament. Yates will be joined by juniors Ben Crancer and Andrew Lister as well as freshmen Cameron Champ and Andrew Paysse.
Head coach J.T. Higgins believes his team sits poised for a successful spring slate after what he described as a disappointing opening to their season in the fall.
“I think the guys are really anxious to show that we are lot better than we played in the fall,” Higgins said. “I’m really excited about the team. I think that we are going to have a fantastic spring because they are motivated, they know that we’ve got a lot of work in front of us. We’ve got a little thing on our team, ‘You want to leave it better than you found it,’ and they don’t want this to slip under their watch. [They] are really excited to get going.”
First round action of the Sea Best Invitational tees off with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. this morning and concludes following second round play on Tuesday. For scoring updates, follow @battsports on Twitter.