No. 12 Texas A&M men’s golf earned their spot to advance to the NCAA Championship by finishing in second place at the NCAA Regional Tournament in Auburn, Alabama. A&M finished with a three-day team total of 859, and three out of five Fightin’ Farmers placed in the top-ten individually.
The Aggies headed to the par-72,Auburn University Club in Auburn, Alabama to battle in the three-day NCAA Regional Tournament. It took a spot in the top five to advance to the NCAA Championship.
After a disappointing second place finish at the SEC Championship over two weeks ago, A&M has since had time to regroup.
The Maroon and White faced a 13-team pool with five teams being ranked in the top 25, including No. 1 Auburn and No. 13 UCLA.
The squad of five representing the Maroon and White included No. 18 senior Phichaksn Maichon, No. 82 freshman Wheaton Ennis, No. 167 sophomore Aaron Pounds, No. 113 senior Michael Heidelbaugh and No. 375 junior Jaime Montojo.
Day 1
Opening up Round 1 was Montojo, who found himself in a rough patch on the front nine with three bogeys, and an additional one on the back nine. With the help of only two birdies he shot a 74 at two-over par on the first day.
Second up for the Aggies was Ennis who opened up with a birdie right off the bat on the first hole. However, with bogeys sprinkled in throughout his day he managed with a one-over par, 73 on Day 1.
Joining him in shooting one-over par was Pounds. Even with three bogeys on the front nine, an eagle on hole 16helped his scorecard tremendously. With a 39 on the front and a 34 on the back he finished right at 73 for Round 1.
Pounds wasn’t the only one to find luck on hole sixteen for the Aggies. Heidelbaugh was also able to score an eagle, shooting 36 on the front and 36 on the back to maintain even par for the round.
The sole Ag to break par on Day 1was Maichon. With a total of four birdies he sat at two-under for the majority of the day and finished up with a solid 70 for A&M, sitting in sixth place heading into Day 2.
As Day 1 began to wind down, A&M had a team total of even-par at 288 and sat in a tie with No. 37 Purdue and New Mexico State at fifth place.
Day 2
Sitting right on the cut line at the start of Round 2, the Aggies needed to move up the leaderboard to position themselves strong for Round 3
Montojo struggled on his back nine, carding a double bogey on the seventh hole. He still only shot two-over par and sat at four-over after two days. Ennis stood steady, shooting one-over in Round 2 and went just two-over before heading into Round 3.
Heidelbaugh and Maichon were able to hold down the middle ground during Round 2for the Fightin’ Farmers, both shooting an even par. Heidelbaugh sat at even par for the tournament in 17th place after the first 36 holes. Maichon sat in a tie for eighth place with a two-under for the two days.
Pounds had an exceptional round on Day 2, breaking par and shooting a 70. Not only did Pounds creep up the leaderboard to a tie for 11th at one-under, but the Maroon and White found themselves shooting up the leaderboard to second place with a two-day team total of 575.
With host Auburn 18 strokes in front of A&M, taking the tournament tile looked to be out of reach.However, the first four teams behind A&M were only a couple strokes out of striking distance. The Aggies had to lock in on day three to maintain their place to be able to advance to the NCAA Championship.
Day 3
With teams such as New Mexico State and UCLA having difficult days on the course, the stagnant movement in the standings made the gap between the Aggies in second place, more apparent between the top teams.
Three out of five Fightin’ Farmers broke par in Round 3. Maichon, with 11 pars in a row to finish his round, ended with a 71. He was three-under for the tournament and tied for seventh place with Pounds who scored a final round of 70 and three-under for the tournament.
Heidelbaugh was able to sneak in the top-10 at 10th place with a two-under performance for the three-day tournament. Ennis showed his consistency throughout the entirety of the tournament, producing another 73 during Round 3. With going one-over in each of his rounds he finished three-over and tied for 25th.
Montojo struggled in his final round, shooting a 76 with eight-over for the tournament as he tied for 39th.
As Day 3 began to come to a close for the Aggies, they sat at five-under in second place. With third place belonging to UCLA, 11 strokes behind A&M, it found itself with a spot in the NCAA Championship secured as teams began to file in the clubhouse.
Earning their spot to advance to the NCAA Championship, the Aggies will play on May 23-28 at Omni La Costa & Spa in Carlsbad, California, for a chance at a national championship.
