FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Blessings Golf Club hosted the 2019 NCAA Championships, and even before then, it was known as one of the toughest college golf courses in the country.
The home course for Arkansas requires precision on every shot. Any lapse in concentration will likely result in a big score on any hole.
Yet for the Texas A&M men’s golf team, they were about as precise as you could be Tuesday. The Aggies, ranked 10th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, fired a round of 15-under 273 to vault into the top position of the men’s competition at the 2022 Blessings Collegiate Invitational with 18 holes to go.
Texas A&M was one of only two teams (Mississippi State, 3 under) to shoot under par during the second round at the par-72, 7,700-yard layout.
“We made some timely putts when we needed to and had five guys in it all day,” Texas A&M coach Brian Kortan said. “It makes a big difference when you’ve got five guys that are doing a lot of things right.”
The Aggies are at 11 under after 36 holes, beating host Arkansas by 12 strokes with the final round coming Wednesday.
The Blessings Collegiate Invitational has a different format, with 11 men’s and women’s teams coming together and playing at the same time. In addition to that, all five players for each team play together at the same time instead of facing those from other schools.
So when Texas A&M got on a roll on the back nine, the players fed off one another. The Aggies recorded 15 birdies on the back nine, with every player recording at least two. Sam Bennett, the 2022 U.S. Amateur champion, has four and shot 4-under 68. Daniel Rodrigues had seven birdies on the day and shot 6-under 66. He leads the tournament at 9 under, one shot better than Kansas’ Gunnar Broin, who shot 1-under 71 in the second round after an opening 65.
Broin couldn’t find rhythm with his putter during the second round, but he did have an impressive second shot into the par-4 seventh, his 16th hole of the day.
“I had 220 in, and it was a little bit longer than I anticipated having,” Broin said. “Coach kind of steered my toward hitting a 5-iron in, and I hit it pretty close to perfect.”
The ball tumbled into the cup, earning him an eagle. He also birdied his final hole of the day.
UNLV’s Caden Fioroni sits in third at 5 under after an even-par 72 in the second round. Arkansas’ Segundo Oliva Pinto is two shots behind Fioroni with Ole Miss’ Sarut Vongchaisit rounding out the top five at 2 under.
In the team competition, Texas A&M is the only team under par, and they have a comfortable lead over second-place and host Arkansas at 1 over and third-place Mississippi State, which is at 9 over for the tournament. Ole Miss (12 over) and Clemson (13 over) sit in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Wednesday’s final round will be broadcast on Golf Channel from 4:30-7:30 p.m ET.
