Aggies Top Day One Leaderboard at SEC Championship – Texas A&M Athletics

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The Texas A&M Aggies showcased a deep lineup Wednesday to lead the SEC Men’s Golf Championship after the first round.
 

The Maroon & White fired 11-under 269 at the par-70, 7,005-yard Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club to top the leaderboard. The Aggies have Auburn (10-under) and Alabama (9-under) nipping at their heels. More importantly, Texas A&M is nine strokes clear of the cutoff to advance to the eight-team match play bracket after Friday’s third round of stroke play.
 
The Aggies were the lone team to boast all five players shooting under par. Ol’ Sarge’s charges led the field with 24 birdies, including 14 in their first nine holes.
 
Sam Bennett paced the Aggies with a 5-under 65, including three birdies in his last six holes. The native of Madisonville, Texas, sits in third place, one stroke behind leaders Caleb Surratt of Tennessee and Thomas Ponder of Alabama.
 
William Paysse fired six birdies on the day, including four in his first seven holes. He heads into round two tied for fifth place at 3-under 67.
 
Phichaksn Maichon birdied two of his last three holes to join a 12-golfer logjam tied for 11^th place at 2-under 68.
 
Daniel Rodrigues and Vishnu Sadagopan both carded 1-under 69 and are knotted with 10 other golfers in 23^rd place.
 
The Aggies open day two of the SEC Championships with their first tee time at 8:40 a.m. CT on hole No. 1.
 
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Brian Kortan
On the round…
“The guys were ready to go from the start. They were ready to go when the week started. They got off to a really nice start on the first nine holes we played. The golf course had some teeth, the greens were pretty fast and firm, so they did a great job managing the golf course.”
 
On the balance of the lineup…
“It was great to have five guys in it all day. When we do that we’re a really strong team. We could have finished it off a little better, but all-in-all I was really excited for the start. There’s a lot of golf ahead of us, so we’ll get rested up and get ready for tomorrow.”
 
 
 
TEAM SCORES