Against grueling competition, No. 16 Texas A&M men’s golf came away with a 13th place-finish in their third tournament of the year. One Aggie stood out, as freshman Shiv Parmar placed inside the top 10 with a tie for 8th individually. 

Following a 12th place-finish last weekend in the OFCC Fighting Illini Invitational, the Aggies had their heads held high going into a two-day, 54 hole tournament. Not too far from home, they made the trip up to Fort Worth, to go head-to-head with 14 teams at the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational.

The course, widely known for hosting the Charles Schwab Challenge, invited a pool of 15 teams to the newly designed par-70 course at Colonial Country Club. 

With a taste of tough competition early in the season last weekend, the Maroon and White faced yet another stacked field. Thirteen of the fifteen teams finished ranked in the top 25 at the end of last season, with the Aggies in the mix as well. 

Day 1

The first 18 holes of the day for the Aggies came in relatively smoothly. Three-of-the-five Fightin’ Farmers finished with a 2-over 72. The trio included junior Aaron Pounds, senior Jacob Sosa and sophomore Wheaton Ennis. With 10 birdies across the board for the group, they had a well balanced first round to start off their day.

Senior Jaime Montojo came in with a 1-over, 71 to cap off his first round. With the help of sinking a birdie on Hole 11, he was able to manage his two bogeys on Holes 2 and 12. 

Matching his 71 was freshman Shiv Parmar who was able to card three birdies. However, with a double bogey on the par-4 Hole 18, he finished at just 1-over. 

As the first 18 wrapped up, A&M was sitting in seventh place at a team total of 6-over 286. The top spot belonged to Virginia, with an impressive team total of 7-under 273. With a gaping 13 stroke lead for Virginia the day wasn’t over and neither was the competition. 

As the Aggies headed out for the second loop of the day, they began to see some inconsistencies in their swings. Sosa endured a disappointing stretch of six consecutive bogeys on the front nine, leading him to a five stroke difference in his second round as he shot a 76 and closed out Day 1, 8-over. 

Ennis also saw some of the same patterns, as he bogeyed three of the same holes Sosa did. Along with a triple bogey on the 442-yard Hole 18, he also added five additional strokes to his Round 2 total. He drew up a 77 putting him at 9-over as he kept it moving into Day 2. 

The Aggie with the most trouble during the second round appeared to be Montojo. He had three bogeys on the front nine and a double bogey on the par 4 Hole 10. He followed that with six bogeys on his next eight holes and shot well above his first round score. After being tied in the top spot for the Maroon and White after Round 1, he shot down to last with an 81, leaving him stranded at 12-over after Round 2. 

Despite high scores there were two Aggies who kept calm in the Texas heat. Pounds managed a one stroke improvement from Round 1 as he shot a 71 with two birdies. He sat at 3-over as he headed into Day 2 in the top 30. 

Parmar with an utterly consistent round handled another 1-over 71 round, putting him in the top spot for the Fightin’ Farmers and right inside the top 20 in a tie for 19th place. 

As the long 36 holes came to a close, the Aggies sat merely at the bottom of the leaderboard. With a team total of 581, they sat in 13th place, seven strokes short of 12th and 22 strokes away from the lead.

Day 2

Teeing off on Hole 10, Montojo got the final round in motion for A&M. However, he wasn’t able to differentiate much from his disappointing round from Monday afternoon. Ending with a 39 on each nine, he carded a 78. While not counting for the team total, he concluded at 20-over at the end of his two-day campaign. 

Sosa matched his six consecutive bogey streak from his second round as he topped off his final 18 with six continuous bogeys yet again. He matched Montojo with a 78 and administered a 16-over three-day total. 

Ennis and Pounds both pulled off an even-par 70s, the combo both broke par on their front nine and matching birdies on Hole 15 and 18. Ennis finished at 9-over while Pounds finished 3-over and aided the Aggie team total from sinking. 

The standout freshman, playing in just his second tournament wearing Maroon, produced the best totals on both days for the Aggies. Parmar posted a 1-under 69, marking his best round during the tournament. He jumped up the leaderboard during Day 2 and closed out the tournament in a tie for 8th with his two-day total of 1-over, just two strokes shy of the top spot. 

Mixed performances across the field for the Aggies left them tied for 13th place with TCU, each posted a team total of 28-over, 10 strokes shy of first place. 

Now that the Aggies have endured back-to-back crushing defeats, they will turn around quickly as they head back to the course on Sunday, Oct. 5, to compete in the three day Marquette Intercollegiate in Erin, Wisconsin.