AWENDAW, S.C. -- The Texas A&M men’s golf team turned in one of its best rounds of the season on Monday to move the 15th-ranked Aggies into second place and remain in contention at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate outside Charleston.
A&M blistered the course for a 10-under 278, the second-best round of the day and third-best round by the team all season, and sits seven shots back of No. 3 Auburn with a 9-under 567. The Tigers are 16-under for the tournament, and Kentucky is tied with the Aggies at 9-under.
In addition, junior All-American Cameron Peck shot a 67 on Monday to go to 7-under 137 for the tournament and holds a one-shot lead heading into Tuesday’s final 18 holes of play.
“It was a terrific round today,” head coach J.T. Higgins said. “The guys played really solid, they were patient, and they showed a lot of maturity. I thought they did a fabulous job of working their way around the golf course. I’m really pleased with that.”
N.C. State (-6) is three shots back of A&M in fourth, followed by North Carolina (-5), No. 18 LSU (-3), Ole Miss (-2), No. 24 Virginia (E), South Carolina (+5), two-time defending national champion Augusta State (+12), Maryland (+16), Wofford (+16), College of Charleston (+19), Wake Forest (+21) and Wisconsin (+23).
Peck carded seven birdies on the afternoon, five coming on the back nine, to take the overall lead. Teammate and fellow All-American Jordan Russell shot a 68 and is in a tie for third at 5-under 139. Senior Geoff Shaw fired a 72 for the second straight day and is in 18th with an even-par 144, while true freshman Ty Dunlap turned in a 71 and is at 3-over 147 for the week in 36th place. Junior Drew Evans rounds out the Aggie contingent with a 15-over 159.
“Cameron and Jordan were incredible today,” Higgins said. “They just kept the ball in the right spot all day and gave themselves so many opportunities to make birdie. They really took advantage of the par-5s and the shorter par-4s with their wedges, and made a few putts. They’re both in contention to win individually as well. Ty and Geoff played really solid today as well and gave us chance to have a great round. I they’re both on the brink of shooting a really good score.”
The Aggies will join Auburn and Kentucky on the tee box beginning at 9:40 a.m. (ET) Tuesday. Live scoring is available on golfstat.com and aggieathletics.com.
“Auburn played fantastic and have a little lead on us, but seven shots is very manageable,” Higgins said. “We just have to play a great round tomorrow and see if we can catch them. We have 18 holes to go and I like where we’re at.”
