Spring Break
Golf falls second to OSU in shortened tournament
By: Michael Sullivan
Issue date: 4/20/09 Section: Sports
The third Aggie Invitational golf tournament was a two-team race as No. 20 Texas A&M and No. 2 Oklahoma State slugged it out this weekend at Traditions Golf Course.
The two teams were the only teams in the tournament to shoot under par, with the remaining 10 teams shooting at least 20 strokes above par.
Despite an early run to take the lead in the final day of the tournament, the Aggies struggled down the stretch for a second place finish behind the Cowboys.
"Oklahoma State played very well, but we beat ourselves," said A&M Head Coach J.T. Higgins. "We didn't close very well on the last few holes and Oklahoma State showed why they are a championship team."
The tournament was shortened from 54 holes to 36 holes because rain on Friday night and Saturday morning delayed the tournament starting time. With rainy conditions allowing relief to contestants on Saturday, scores were lower than normal. Half of the teams in the field recorded under par scores.
After the first round of play, A&M carded a team score of 14 under par, five strokes behind tournament leader Oklahoma State, which posted a team score of 19 under par. The rest of the teams in the tournament were at least 10 strokes behind the Aggies.The story of Saturday was the contest between A&M senior Bronson Burgoon and Oklahoma State sophomore Rickie Fowler, who were paired together during the round. Both Burgoon and Fowler carded tournament record-breaking scores of 65, or seven under par.
Fowler, ranked No. 9 nationally, started the round strong, recording birdies on six of the first nine holes he played. Fowler cooled off on the back nine, making one birdie, but completed his round bogey free.
Burgoon's round was similar to Fowler's - it was bogey free - but Burgoon spaced out his birdies, recording three on the front nine and four on the back.
"The course played about as easy as it could but you still had to make putts and hit good shots," Burgoon said. "I knew I had to make some birdies to get on top of the leaderboard. I was a little frustrated at first, and knew I had to step up my game."
The two teams were the only teams in the tournament to shoot under par, with the remaining 10 teams shooting at least 20 strokes above par.
Despite an early run to take the lead in the final day of the tournament, the Aggies struggled down the stretch for a second place finish behind the Cowboys.
"Oklahoma State played very well, but we beat ourselves," said A&M Head Coach J.T. Higgins. "We didn't close very well on the last few holes and Oklahoma State showed why they are a championship team."
The tournament was shortened from 54 holes to 36 holes because rain on Friday night and Saturday morning delayed the tournament starting time. With rainy conditions allowing relief to contestants on Saturday, scores were lower than normal. Half of the teams in the field recorded under par scores.
After the first round of play, A&M carded a team score of 14 under par, five strokes behind tournament leader Oklahoma State, which posted a team score of 19 under par. The rest of the teams in the tournament were at least 10 strokes behind the Aggies.The story of Saturday was the contest between A&M senior Bronson Burgoon and Oklahoma State sophomore Rickie Fowler, who were paired together during the round. Both Burgoon and Fowler carded tournament record-breaking scores of 65, or seven under par.
Fowler, ranked No. 9 nationally, started the round strong, recording birdies on six of the first nine holes he played. Fowler cooled off on the back nine, making one birdie, but completed his round bogey free.
Burgoon's round was similar to Fowler's - it was bogey free - but Burgoon spaced out his birdies, recording three on the front nine and four on the back.
"The course played about as easy as it could but you still had to make putts and hit good shots," Burgoon said. "I knew I had to make some birdies to get on top of the leaderboard. I was a little frustrated at first, and knew I had to step up my game."
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