No. 2 Texas A&M was in Stillwater, Oklahoma this weekend competing in the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship. After advancing to the match play portion of the event, the Aggies’ season came to an end on Tuesday afternoon with a 3-1-1 defeat to No. 1 Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals.
“That was such a terrific match,” Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins told 12thMan.com. “It went back and forth the whole time. I’m so proud of our guys, they just never gave up or gave an inch. If a couple breaks go our way then we’re on the other side of things. Everyone is disappointed, but at the same time I think we’re holding our heads really high because it’s been an unbelievably successful season.”
In the semifinals later that day, Oklahoma State went on to beat Auburn, while Alabama topped Duke to set the lineup for Wednesday’s championship match.
“Only one team is going to win a championship when it’s all said and done,” Higgins added. “To make it to the final eight and take the No. 1 team in the nation down to the wire on their home golf course just speaks volumes about this team’s gird, heart and pride. They were playing for the 12th Man and they gave it their all. I hope everybody is as proud of them as I am.”
Oklahoma State was in charge of the match throughout most of the day, leading in four matches with the fifth being all-square. However, Texas A&M applied pressure as the teams were coming down the back nine, taking the lead in two and squaring two of the four remaining matches on course.
After a 19-hole victory for Oklahoma State’s Victor Hovland over junior Chandler Phillips turned the tide back in the Cowboy’s favor, freshman Austin Eckroat sealed the Aggies’ fate with a two-putt birdie on the 18th hole that beat Texas A&M sophomore Brandon Smith.
Andrew Paysse earned Texas A&M’s only point of the day, winning 1&1 over Zach Bauchou, taking the lead with a late birdie on the 16th hole. On the previous day, the Aggie senior sank a birdie on his final hole of stroke play to put the Aggies in eighth place and claim the final match play spot.
In the other two matches, Matthew Wolff won 4&3 over Dan Erickson, while Kristoffer Ventura and Walker Lee halved their match.
Following their defeat, Coach Higgins tweeted the following message from the team’s official twitter account:
“I have nothing but pride, admiration and love for this team. We came up short today but we never gave in. They gave us everything they had this week & all year & every Aggie should be proud of these young men! Thanks for a great season men! #12thMan #AggieGolf”
Despite not winning the championship this year, it was a memorable and record-setting season in multiple ways for the maroon and white. Coming into the national championship ranked second in the nation, Texas A&M won a school-record six tournaments this year and placed inside the top-three in 10 out of 14 tournaments.
In addition to team success over the past year, three individuals won tournament titles. Erickson and Lee each won their first, while Phillips, who was named a PING First Team All-American on Tuesday, won four.
Phillips now has a total of six individual titles to his name, a new school record. The junior also set a new single season scoring average record, with a mark of 70.33. Phillips surpassed his own mark of 71.15 from last season.
“I’m really proud of this season and these guys, it really is a special group for me personally,” Higgins said. “I’m very thankful and proud I got to be their coach.”