By: Brad Marquardt, Assistant AD / Athletics Communications
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The No. 11 Texas A&M men’s golf team stands in a tie for ninth after the first round of the 2021 Southeastern Conference Championship on Wednesday at the Seaside Course of Sea Island Golf Club.
The Aggies posted a 6-over 286 with just a single golfer carding an under-par score. No. 10 Georgia grabbed the lead with a 5-under 275, followed by Tennessee (-3), Arkansas (-2), LSU (+1), Vanderbilt (+1), Auburn (+2), Alabama (+4), South Carolina (+5), Missouri (+6), Florida (+6) and the Aggies round out the top 10. The top eight teams after 54 holes advance to the match play portion of the Championship.
Posting the Aggies’ lone under-par round was senior Dan Erickson, who used four birdies to offset two bogeys on his way to a 2-under 68. He stands in a tie for fifth on the individual leaderboard. Arkansas’ Segundo Pinto took the first day lead with a 6-under 64 and was trailed by Tennessee’s Spencer Cross and LSU’s Connor Gaunt with 5-under scores of 65.
Other Aggies contributing counting scores were senior Walker Lee with an even par 70 (t15th) and junior Sam Bennett and sophomore William Paysse with 4-over scores of 74 (t48th). Freshman Daniel Rodrigues was tied for 58th after posting a 6-over 76.
The Aggies start their second round at 6:30 a.m. CT from the first tee and are paired with Alabama and South Carolina.
Head Coach Brian Kortan said:
“We were in position to have a good round, but we didn’t take care of the par 5 on the back and then didn’t finish on 16-17-18. You have to play all 18 holes, and we’ll learn from today and be ready for the second round. We have to be more efficient. It’s a tight field and I don’t think there will be a lot of movement. Every shot is going to matter, and as the wind starts to blow and the greens firm up, pars are going to have enormous value. We still have a lot of golf ahead of us before match play so time is on our side. The guys know what they have to do and I’m confident that they will come out ready to execute on Thursday.”
Aggies on the Leaderboard (Rd. 1):
Place Team/Player Rd. 1
T9 Texas A&M 286
T5 Dan Erickson 68
T15 Walker Lee 70
T48 Sam Bennett 74
T48 William Paysse 74
T58 Daniel Rodrigues 76