A&M Advances to Match Play at SEC Championships

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

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The Texas A&M men’s golf team advanced to match play with a third-place finish in stroke play on Friday at Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course (par 70/7,005 yards). The Aggies tied Kentucky shooting 3-over 843 (281-273-289) en-route to their third-straight quarterfinal appearance. Auburn finished atop the leaderboard, shooting 24-under 816.

“I’m really proud of the guys, it was really challenging out here today. There were some pretty steady 20-mile-per-hour winds throughout the day, but we did a pretty good job of handling it,” said head coach J.T. Higgins. “We had a pretty rough start, we didn’t make any birdies on the front side. The guys were able to get it right and made some birdies on the back side. This golf course was as tough as it could play and the guys really did a good job of battling until the end and giving it everything they had. We made a nice little run at the end and were able to get the third seed in match play.”

Senior Chandler Phillips tied for sixth shooting 4-under (69-65-72=206) in the tournament. After a challenging front nine, Phillips shot even on the back nine until birdieing on two of the final three holes. Freshman Sam Bennett and junior Dan Erickson also earned top-25 finishes as Bennett moved up to 20th (70-69-73=212) and Erickson tied for 24th (71-69-74=214).

“We’re excited to get out and go tomorrow,” Higgins added. “We play Georgia, which is an outstanding team top to bottom. They’ve had a great year, all year, and will be a difficult matchup for us, but I know the guys are excited to go play and compete.”

Match play at the SEC Championships will begin at 6:30 a.m. CT on Saturday, April 27. The Aggies and Bulldogs will tee off at 7:20 a.m. CT. For updates and results, follow along here.

Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics

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