The No. 4 Texas A&M men’s golf team cruised to a 9-shot victory at the Shoal Creek Invitational, finishing the tournament at 8-under par.
“Anytime you get a win in this sport it’s exciting, and we’re thrilled to be coming home with the trophy,” head coach JT Higgins said. “I’m proud of the guys for building up such a big lead that we were able to survive a pretty rough back nine. I think there were some valuable lessons learned on that back nine today. So to get a win, and still have some teaching moments is outstanding.”
The Aggies wrapped up an 11-under 277 in the second round, which had been suspended due to lightning, Tuesday morning when play resumed. In the afternoon session at the Shoal Creek Country Club, Texas A&M shot a 3-over 291 to find the winners circle for the first time this season and the seventh time in the past two years. North Florida finished second with a 1-over 865.
“That second round was just really great golf,” Higgins added. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of them. We were playing great, got called off the golf course, then had to come back in the morning and finish that round off. I was really worried that we would not be able to keep that momentum going, but the guys really stepped up and played fantastic this morning to finish off a really good round of golf.”
All five Aggies playing in the tournament finished tied for 17th or better, led by freshman Sam Bennett, who carded a 2-under 214 to tie for fourth. Bennett put the finishing touches on a 6-under 66 when the suspended second round resumed Tuesday morning, then shot a 76 in the final round. Steven Fisk of Georgia Southern and Phillip Knowles of North Florida shared medalist honors at 6-under par.
“All five guys came to play this week, it was a great team effort,” Higgins said. “Sam Bennett had a great week, Brandon Smith had a quadruple bogey and still shot even par, it takes a lot fortitude to do that, to stay in it mentally and keep grinding it out. Everyone contributed this week, everyone had at least one good round, and everyone had at least one round under par, so there are a lot positives. We’re going to try to work on a few things that make us a little bit sharper and a little bit better and take things to the next level.”
Brandon Smith posted his second consecutive top 10 finish with a 1-under 215, shooting a final-round 72, battling back from a quadruple bogey, to finish in a tie for seventh. Chandler Phillips tied for 14th with a 1-over 217 (70-71-76).
Reese Ramsey had the best third-round score in the entire field, firing a career-best 4-under 68 on the par 72 / 7,300-yard course that hosted the 1984 and 1990 PGA Championship. Ramsey, who was 3-over through five holes, battled back with five birdies, an eagle and no bogeys over his last 13 holes. He tied for 17th, along with teammate Dan Erickson (73-70-75) with a 2-over 218.
“Reese Ramsey this afternoon, shot four-under, it was the best round of the day,” Higgins said. “He found something that really gave him control of the golf ball, and put it everything in play and was able to attack and did a great job on the back nine.”
The Aggies return to action October 6-8 at the Westheimer Intercollegiate, hosted by North Texas in Carrollton, Texas.
