BREMERTON, WA -- Sophomore Greg Yates and freshman Ben Crancer each completed top five individual finishes on Tuesday as the No. 10 Texas A&M men’s golf team wrapped up play at the Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational in second place overall.
Playing for the second straight day on the Olympic Course at Gold Mountain Golf Complex, the Aggies (292-287-292=871) finished just nine shots behind host school Washington (283-290-289=862).
“It was a good tournament for us and we had a great front nine,” Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said. “We actually caught them (Washington) with about 10 holes to finish, but we just made too many big numbers on the back nine. You just can’t do that and beat a team like Washington.”
Yates (72-71-73=216) carded a birdie on the 11th hole before consecutive bogies on his next two holes left him with a 73 on the day and in a tie for fourth place overall.
Sharing fourth place with Yates was Crancer (74-68-74=216), who fired the Aggies’ best round of the tournament with a 68 in Monday’s second round.
A&M’s low round of the day was turned in by senior All-American Cameron Peck (74-76-71=221), who fired a 1-under par 71 to end play in a tie for 15th. Peck’s final round featured birdies on three of his final four holes but a double bogie on the 17th prevented a round of multiple strokes below par.
“Overall, I thought we played really well but we’ve got some things that need to work on and we need to get a little bit tougher mentally,” Higgins added. “It was a really good event for us and a great way to start the season. I like where we’re at and I think this team has a chance to be really special.”
After back-to-back rounds of even par, sophomore Ty Dunlap (72-72-78=222) turned in a six-over 78 on Tuesday to finish in a tie for 18th, while junior Johannes Veerman (76-78-74=228) finished play in a tie for 38th.
Washington’s Cheng-Sung Pan finished as the individual medalist as he shot a 5-under three-round total of 208 to win by three strokes.
Individual Championship
While the Team Championship took place on the Olympic Course, the Aggies had four players competing in the individual championship on the nearby Cascade Course.
Senior Drew Evans (71-66-71=208) completed play as the top medalist in the Individual Championships, finishing with a 5-under par three-round total of 208 to win by three strokes. It was the first career victory for the Dallas native.
Fellow senior Case Cochran (71-72-73=216) ended play in a tie for fifth while teammates Ryan Kelley (75-72-74=221) and Andrew Lister (72-76-73=221) finished tied for 17th.
