No. 2 Texas A&M men’s golf traveled to Palm City, Florida this weekend to compete in the Valspar Collegiate where they finished in third at two-under par (850). Oklahoma State went on to win the event by five shots at 12-under par (840) over Florida State (-7, 845).
The Aggies entered the day in a tie for third with Baylor. As conditions toughened throughout the day, teams had to fight to hold their positions on the leaderboard. In the end, the Aggies’ two-over final round was enough to distance themselves and claim the solo-third place finish. 
“We got off to such a great start today and really started to make a big move,” Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said to 12thman.com. “The wind picked up and unfortunately we had some big numbers coming in and didn’t finish it off the way we wanted to. I’m really proud of the fight these guys showed out there.”
Dan Erickson was the top Aggie finisher this weekend, ending in a tie for third at seven-under par (206). Like the team, Erickson entered the day in a tie for third and managed to hold on to his place on the leaderboard, firing a one-under par final round. 
This was the Erickson’s third consecutive top-3 finish and has now carded seven consecutive under-par rounds. The sophomore was tied for second in par 4 scoring (-5) and tied for first in total birdies (16) for the tournament.
Brandon Smith also managed to finish inside the top-10, ending the tournament at one-under par (212) in a tie for ninth to earn his fourth top-10 finish of the season. The sophomore was the only player in the field with multiple eagles this weekend and was tied for fourth in total birdies (14).
Junior Chandler Phillips ended the week in a tie for 13^th at even par (213). The All-American tied for second in par 3 scoring (-2) and was one of only a handful of players to record an eagle this week.
Playing well in the tough conditions, senior Andrew Paysse fired a two-over par final round to jump 10 spots up the leaderboard and finish in a tie for 66^th at 13-over par (226). Sophomore Josh Gliege was having a solid week, sitting at four-over par entering the final round, however a final round score of 85 saw him end the week in a tie for 77^th at 18-over par (231)
Two freshmen competed as individuals for the Aggies’ this weekend. Walker Lee managed a tie for 43^rd at seven-over par (220), while Reese Ramsey finished at nine-over par (222) in a tie for 55^th. Ramsey was inside the top-10 in par 5 scoring, totaling 5-under for the week. 
“The way Dan has been playing all spring is amazing,” Higgins added to his comments to 12thman.com.  “Also, Brandon had a really nice tournament and Chandler really played well too. Third place in a great field on a great golf course is good but we also know we left a lot out there and we have a lot to work on if we want to reach our goals. We have a standard that we like to play to and we didn’t quite live up to it this week, but we are going to get ready for the Aggie Invitational and try to defend our home course. Overall, a pretty positive experience.”
Texas A&M’s next action will come on April 7-8 where they will host the Aggie Invitational at the Traditions Club in their final tune up before postseason play.