Top-25 finishes from all of the No. 10 Texas A&M men’s golf team led to the Aggies’ second tournament win of the season at the 44th John A. Burns Invitational on Saturday.
The Aggies’ hit 19-under par (845), which had them five strokes clear of the field that saw second place New Mexico’s sophomore Sam Choi take home the individual win.
Leading the Aggies was sophomore Sam Bennett who shot 6-under to place third, his highest collegiate finish. Also in the top 10 out of the field of 124 from 21 teams was freshman Jimmy Lee, who, also notched his highest collegiate finish, placing seventh at 4-under.
“I think our young guys just get better every week,” A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. “Every week they get better and better. More consistent. More confident. You can see them start to believe in themselves. We’ve got some great leadership from the upperclassmen.”
Among the Aggies’ underclassmen was freshman William Paysse who placed 15th, shooting 2-under. Right behind at 1-under was junior Walker Lee and senior Dan Erickson, both placing 22nd. These solid placements from the entire Aggies’ lineup went unrivaled by the field, which did not see another team have all five players in the top-50.
“We’re really deep this year and talented as well,” Higgins said. “ I think we could have went with just about any lineup. We had seven guys in the top-30, because we brought a couple of individuals over, too. It’s just a really deep, close team that’s pushing each other to get better everyday.”
Three Aggies competed as independents in the meet. Among them, two Aggies placed higher than the other 17 independents. Senior Brandon Smith tied for 15th with Paysse, and senior Josh Gliege, who led the Aggies in birdies with 14, placed 30th at 1-over. Junior Reese Ramsey placed 47th at 4-over.
“They (the upperclassmen) like that they’ve got young guys pushing them to get better and to get in the lineup,” Higgins said. “They like the challenge. I think whoever we put in, they expect to play well. The competition at home is driving everyone to play better on the road to be able to keep their spot on the line”
Having won back-to-back meets, the Aggies are starting off the spring hot. Coach Higgins said the winter break is a source of the success for A&M this spring.
“I think what really helped was making the team trip to Portugal during the winter break,” Higgins said. “We got to spend some time together, and between the extra week of practice and the bonding, the fellowship and camaraderie has gone a long way to help us get off to a good start this spring.”
Hoping to make a streak out of the last two wins, the Aggies have a quick turn around to the Cabo Collegiate on March 1.
“Hopefully we will get a little rest,” Higgins said. “This trip takes a lot out of you. It’s paradise. It’s an amazing trip to go on, but it’s a long way.”