No. 1 Texas A&M men’s golf team won its third consecutive tournament at the Marquette Intercollegiate in Hartford, Wisconsin on Tuesday. The Aggies dominated, winning with a total score of 2-over-par 866, 11 shots better than runner-up UCLA. It has been a strong start to the year for A&M as the Aggies also won their first two events of the season, the Badger Invitational and the OFCC Fighting Illini Invite.
The Aggies started this weekend slower than usual, firing a 5-over-par 293 in round one, leaving them in fourth place. However, scores of 1-under-par 287 and 2-under-par 288 in the closing rounds saw A&M climb to the top of the leaderboard by tournament’s end.
“These guys were amazing today,” A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said to 12thMan.com. “Erin Hills was tough – the greens were dried out, firm and fast and the wind was howling. We didn’t have our best stuff early and we got off to a rough start, but they kept it together and had a great back nine to pull away and win again. Eight-under on the home stretch of a U.S. Open course is great golf and I could not be more proud of this effort.”
Josh Gliege led the Aggies this weekend, finishing in a tie for third at 2-over-par. The sophomore shot a team-best 4-under-par 68 in the final round to jump nine spots on the leaderboard. Gliege was first in par 5 scoring this weekend at 7-under-par and was one of only eight players to record an eagle. He also recorded the third-most birdies this week with 13. Gliege has now shot par or better in eight of his last nine rounds.
Junior All-American Chandler Phillips impressed again, finishing in a tie for sixth at 1-over-par. He led par 4 scoring this weekend at 3-under-par and was tied for sixth in birdies, recording 11.
Also sharing the sixth spot was Andrew Paysse who showed consistency this week, carding rounds of 72, 73 and 72. The senior was fifth in par 4 scoring for the tournament at 1-under-par and was also one of the eight players to hole an eagle along with teammate Gliege.
Rounding out the team was sophomore Brandon Smith, who jumped 17 spots on the leaderboard with a 2-over-par 74 on Monday to finish in a tie for 42nd. Smith was fourth in par 3 scoring this week at even par.
“Once again it was a team effort with everyone contributing throughout the week,” Higgins said. “Hats off to Josh Gliege for his great play but especially today, four-under was a phenomenal round in tough conditions. Paysse and Phillips were fantastic today as well. They were both three or four over par on the front and battled back to shoot even. Just another terrific showing.”
Freshman Reese Ramsey had a promising start to his tournament and came into the final round sitting in a tie for fifth at even par. However, a final round score of 84 saw him tumble 33 positions on the leaderboard where he ended his tournament in a tie for 38th.