LAFAYETTE, La. — The Texas A&M men’s golf team won the 37th annual Louisiana Classics with a school-record score of 47-under Tuesday at Oakbourne Country Club. The Aggies bested the previous record of 38-under set earlier this season at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate.
The team win was the second this season and the fourth under second-year head coach Brian Kortan. A&M won the tournament over No. 25 LSU by 12 strokes as North Texas (-20), No. 18 Ole Miss (-13) and Houston (-8) rounded out the top five.
Sam Bennett won the individual title at 18-under, which is the second-lowest score in relation to par in school history, and broke the tournament record by five strokes. The win marks the fourth for Bennett in his career, which ties him for third all-time in program history with Ben Crancer (2013-16) and teammate Walker Lee.
“We did so many things well this week, and it was great to see,” Kortan said. “It was great to see the guys play some really great golf. It doesn’t happen very happen when you have the group playing well at that level. That was really great to see. We got home after taking it on the chin for a few weeks at the last couple events, and we got to work. We gained some confidence after putting in the time, and when you work hard, it translates. This week it certainly helped us. We don’t take winning for granted. It is hard in our sport to put scores together to win tournaments. For us to do that this week was exciting.”
Bennett shot a 6-under 66 in the final round of play and carded six birdies and an eagle. The Madisonville, Texas, native was even-par after the first five holes before three-consecutive birdies from holes 6-9. After making the turn, he birdied No. 10, eagled No. 11 and birdied No. 12 before a bogey on hole 13 and five pars to close out the round.
William Paysse tied for third at 11-under after shooting a 2-under 70. Paysse was 1-under after the front nine and closed the round with a birdie on 18. The Belton, Texas, native has finished in the top three four times in his Aggie career.
Daniel Rodrigues tied for sixth at 9-under and was 4-under in the final round. The Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, native tallied four birdies and an eagle on Tuesday. Rodrigues’ finish marks the second of his career in the top 10.
Lee placed eighth at 8-under after a final round 1-under 71. The Houston native has recorded back-to-back top-10 finishes and placed inside the top 10 13 times in his career.
Phichaksn Maichon tied for 31st at 1-over and was even-par in the final round. Evan Myers, who competed as an individual, tied for 49th at 5-over after an even-par 72 Tuesday.
“William, Daniel and Walker played some really good golf,” Kortan added. “It wasn’t just Sam. Those guys played some tremendous golf. Phichaksn was in it every day as well for us. It was a great team effort. Obviously Sam won the golf tournament, but those other guys did a great job. The guys should be proud of themselves. We will continue to do what we have done and that is get back home and get ready to compete again in two weeks.”
The Aggies return to the course March 28-29 at the Valspar Collegiate in Palm City, Florida.
