Aggie Golf Holds Off Florida for Sea Best Crown

(Source: Texas A&M Athletics)
(Source: Texas A&M Athletics)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Texas A&M men’s golf team opened the 2020 portion of its schedule with an impressive victory at the Sea Best Invitational, which concluded on Tuesday at the TPC at Sawgrass – Dye’s Valley Course.

After tallying four top five finishes last fall, the No. 12 Aggies tallied their first team victory of the season with a two-stroke victory over runner-up Florida. Texas A&M carded a final round 6-under par 274, which was the low round of the day, to hold off the Gators and finish the tournament at 13-under par (281-272-274=827). The Aggies and Gators were the only two teams in the field to be under par for the tournament.

“This was probably one of the best team wins I’ve ever been a part of,” Aggie head coach J.T. Higgins said. “To see all five guys finish in the top 20 is pretty impressive and the worst round we had was a 72. They competed so hard and they pushed each other through the tournament. It was a total team effort.”

Four Aggies posted under-par rounds on Tuesday to get the Aggies to 6-under for the day with senior Dan Erickson and junior Walker Lee leading the way with 2-under 68s. Also under par were sophomore Sam Bennett and freshman Jimmy Lee with 1-under 69s. The Aggies separated from the Gators on the back nine when Erickson and Walker Lee combined to tally eight birdies in a five-hole span on holes 12-16.

On the individual leaderboard, Walker Lee and redshirt freshman William Paysse tied for third at 4-under, Erickson tied for eighth at 2-under, Jimmy Lee tied for 12th at even par and Bennett tied for 19th at 1-over. Senior Brandon Smith competed as a non-scoring individual and tied for 40th at 6-over.

Aggies on the Leaderboard (Final):

1 Texas A&M 281 272 274 827 (-13)
T3 Walker Lee (Jr.) 70 68 68 206 (-4)
T3 William Paysse (rFr.) 71 63 72 206 (-4)
T8 Dan Erickson (Sr.) 69 71 68 208 (-2)
T12 Jimmy Lee (Fr.) 71 70 69 210 (E)
T19 Sam Bennett (So.) 71 71 69 211 (+1)
T40 +Brandon Smith (Sr.) 72 72 72 216 (+6)

+ Competed as an individual

In the Standings:
The Aggies tallied a two-stroke victory over runner-up Florida at 13-under par. Trailing the Aggies and Gators were Liberty (+1), No. 13 North Carolina (+2), North Florida (+7), NC State (+11), Lipscomb (+15), Campbell (+20), UNLV (+22), Jacksonville (+25), USC Upstate (+28), East Carolina (+32), No. 21 Arkansas (+32) and McNeese State (+45).

Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics