News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
GREENSVILLE, S.C. – Michael Heidelbaugh fired a 5-under 66 for Sunday’s third round, helping the No. 18 Texas A&M men’s golf team fend off the host and claim the title at the Furman Intercollegiate.
The Maroon & White carried a one-stroke lead into the final round and trailed late in the loop before the Aggies combined to shoot 6-under on hole No. 15, including eagles from Phichaksn Maichon and Jack Usner to leapfrog Furman for the lead.
The Aggies shot 10-under 274 for the day and finished the tournament at 23-under 829 to win their first title of the 2024-25 season. Furman (-21) finished two strokes back and Wake Forest (-19) was four strokes back in third place.
Maichon finished as the tournament runner-up with an 8-under 205. Leading heading into the final round, he carded a 1-under 70, but was unable to hold off Wake Forest’s Scotty Kennon who shot 5-under 66 the last round to finish at 11-under 202.
The Aggies had three players finish in the top five. In addition to Maichon, Aaron Pounds tied for third place at 7-under 206 and Jacob Sosa, playing as an individual, tied for fifth at 6-under 207. Pounds registered career bests for tournament finish and three-round score.
Wheaton Ennis and Usner both recorded rounds of 2-under 69 Sunday. Ennis finished in 13th place at 2-under 211 and Usner was two strokes back in 19th place at even 213.
Heidelbaugh was the biggest mover Sunday with his round vaulting him up 33 spots on the leaderboard to 28th place at 2-over-215. Jaime Montojo, who was playing as an individual, also finished in 28th, moving up 17 spots the last round with his 3-under 68.
It was the last tournament of the fall for the Aggies. Their next competition is the Sea Best Invitational February 3-4 in Atlantic Beach, Florida.
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TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Brian Kortan
On getting the win and taking momentum into the break…
“When we leave town, we want to win golf tournaments. So obviously when we came here our intention was to win. The guys did a heck of a job this week. And we finished it off with a strong back nine. We were behind a handful of shots with eight or nine holes to play and the guys made a bunch of shots and dug deep. We beat a quality team (Furman) on their home golf course along with a really good team from the ACC (Wake Forest).”
On the effort on No. 15…
“That was obviously huge. It was a par-5 that was playing a little bit short today. The guys all hit great tee balls and drove it in the fairway. That was a good momentum deal for us. We were the only team driving it in that fairway. It’s a tough fairway to hit, but we had five balls in the fairway. That gives us a really good chance to be successful.”
On Michael Heidelbaugh’s round…
“It was a great round. It’s the kind of round you need to get from your guys with experience. He and P (Phichaksn Maichon) are the ones with the most experience for us. He played a great round from the first hole to the last. And he birdied the last hole as the first guy coming in which gave us a boost. That’s what you need from leadership guys – Mike is definitely that.”
On finishing with three golfers in the top five and building depth…
“I really like who we are. I like our guys. I like our depth. We probably didn’t have the fall we wanted to have, but we put them through the gauntlet. We played some high-level championship golf tournaments against some really good golf teams so I think we learned a lot about who we are. I know that helped us today. We knew were going to need the fall to develop as a team and I think we did that. There is definitely positive momentum coming off this trip.
TEAM STANDINGS
|
1 |
Texas A&M |
-23 |
274-281-274=829 |
|
2 |
Furman |
-21 |
277-279-275=831 |
|
3 |
Wake Forest |
-19 |
282-277-274=833 |
|
4 |
Richmond |
+7 |
298-279-283=859 |
|
5 |
Western Kentucky |
+8 |
298-279-283=860 |
|
t-6 |
Campbell |
+10 |
293-286-283=862 |
|
t-6 |
Davidson |
+10 |
295-281-286=862 |
|
8 |
USC Aiken |
+12 |
295-281-288=864 |
|
9 |
James Madison |
+13 |
288-291-286=865 |
|
10 |
Francis Marion |
+22 |
293-294-287=874 |
|
11 |
Georgia State |
+26 |
298-296-284=878 |
|
12 |
Wofford |
+28 |
297-285-298=880 |
|
13 |
High Point |
+29 |
297-289-295=881 |
|
14 |
Georgia State |
+35 |
301-288-298=887 |
|
15 |
Western Carolina |
+36 |
299-301-288=888 |
TEXAS A&M SCORES
|
2 |
Phichaksn Maichon |
-8 |
65-70-70=205 |
|
t-3 |
Aaron Pounds |
-7 |
68-68-70=206 |
|
t-13 |
Wheaton Ennis |
-2 |
68-74-69=211 |
|
t-23 |
Jack Usner |
E |
73-71-69=213 |
|
t-28 |
Michael Heidelbaugh |
+2 |
77-72-66=215 |
|
|
INDIVIDUAL |
|
|
|
t-5 |
Jacob Sosa |
-6 |
71-65-71=207 |
|
t-28 |
Jaime Montojo |
+2 |
74-73-68=215 |