No. 27 Texas A&M men’s golf punched its ticket to the NCAA Championship after finishing second at the NCAA Bryan Regional at Traditions Club in Bryan. The Aggies finished the tournament at 40-under, 824 after posting rounds of 276, 273 and 275 across the two-day event.
The Maroon and White secured a second-place finish behind No. 4 Texas, which captured the regional title at 45-under, 819, while Chattanooga placed third at 23-under, 841.
A&M opened the tournament at the top of the leaderboard after shooting 12-under, 276 in Monday’s opening round. Calm conditions at Traditions Club allowed for aggressive scoring throughout the field, but the Aggies separated themselves early with strong scoring across the starting lineup.
All five Aggie golfers finished Monday’s opening round at even par or better as A&M quickly separated itself from the rest of the field. No. 53 sophomore Wheaton Ennis recovered from an early bogey on Hole 1 and responded with an eagle on the par-5 Hole 5 to help pace the Maroon and White throughout the afternoon.
Ennis led all golfers individually after posting a score of 6-under, 66 in the opening round of the tournament. No. 55 junior Aaron Pounds contributed to the team by adding a 4-under, 68, while junior Kris Kuvaas also finished strong at 2-under, 70 as the Fightin’ Farmers placed three golfers inside the top 10 going into Day 2.
The tournament shifted directions during Tuesday’s second round after Texas posted a tournament best 23-under to move past A&M and take over the top spot. The Aggies responded with one of the strongest rounds of the day as well, shooting 15-under, 273 to remain in contention for first place going into the third and final round.
Despite Texas taking the lead after the second round, the Aggies continued to stay aggressive and stay in contention for the top spot heading into their final round on Tuesday. A&M relied on consistent scoring from all golfers in the starting lineup as multiple golfers stayed under par heading into the final 18 holes.
Four out of the five Fightin’ Farmers finished under par after their second round of golf with Ennis and Kuvaas each finishing their second 18 holes at 5-under, 67, Parmar held onto a 3-under, 69 and senior Jaime Montojo a 2-under, 70.
Ennis continued his aggressive scoring by remaining near the top of the individual leaderboard, while No. 103 freshman Shiv Parmar and Kuvaas helped round off the Aggie lineup with consistent scoring throughout the round.
A&M closed the regional shooting 13-under, 275 during the final round on Tuesday to officially secure the Fightin’ Farmers NCAA Championship berth. The Aggies maintained separation from the rest of the field throughout the afternoon and finished 21 strokes ahead of North Carolina who finished its week at 4th place.
Ennis finished second individually only behind Texas No. 19 senior Luke Potter who finished in the first at 17-under, only beating Ennis by one stroke. Parmar and Kuvaas each tied for eighth place at 9-under, giving the Aggies three top 10 finishers in the regional.
A&M placed three golfers inside the top 20 individually while all four counting scorers finished under par for the tournament. The Aggies also finished 17 strokes clear of third place Chattanooga while securing their spot in the NCAA Championship finals.
Pounds also contributed to the team finish with a 4-under, 212 across the two-day event as the Maroon and White continued to show their depth with strong scoring across the board.
The Aggies stayed consistent and remained one of the top teams throughout the two-day tournament finishing with one of the strongest regional performances in program history at 40-under par.
A&M will now head to Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California to compete in the NCAA Championship finals which will kick off on Friday, May 29.
