After 54-holes of golf at the Louisiana Classic on Monday and Tuesday, the Aggie Men’s golf team finished in third place despite being in contention throughout the tournament.
As a team, the Aggies finished 11-under par, just three strokes behind Kansas at 14-under par, and four strokes behind first place Illinois at 15-under. At the end of play on Monday, A&M stood in second place, but fell to third after shooting a combined seven-over par on the final three holes during Tuesday’s round.
“Everybody is really disappointed right now,” head coach J.T. Higgins said to 12thman.com. “That was a really tough one to take because we had that tournament. It was ours for the taking, we were in a great spot with three holes to play, but we didn’t handle the situation well. That’s disappointing because we emphasize finishing strong.”
Sophomore Cameron Champ played well on the final day of the tournament, birdieing three holes on the back nine securing himself a fourth place finish. For the tournament, Champ shot a 69 putting him at four-under par.
Senior Adria Arnaus and freshman Chandler Phillips tied for seventh place finishing at two-under par. For Arnaus this was his seventh career top-ten finish, and for Phillips this was his first under-par performance for the Aggies.
Head coach J.T. Higgins said despite the Aggies’ finish, this was a performance the team can grow from.
“It’s been awhile since we’d been in that situation or given ourselves an opportunity like that,” Higgins said to 12thman.com. “We didn’t respond well today this time but I think it was a great learning experience for us. A lot of positives came out of this week that we can build on.”
Other Aggies competing included seniors Ben Crancer and Andrew Lister, who finished in a tie for 19th and 47th place respectively.
Competing individually, sophomore Andrew Paysse shot three-over par and finished in a tie for 19th as well.
The Aggies will return to the course March 5-6 in Scottsdale, Arizona for the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate tournament.
