Consistency Pays Off as Golfers Place Fifth at Border Olympics

Consistency Pays Off as Golfers Place Fifth at Border Olympics

Aaron Watkins Leads the Way for K-State

Aaron Watkins lead the Wildcats in Laredo, placing 11th individually.

April 5, 2003

LAREDO, Texas - The Kansas State men's golf team posted an even-par 288 Saturday to move up the leaderboard to fifth place with a score of 869 in the 52nd annual Border Olympics, hosted by Texas A&M at the par-72, 7,125-yard Laredo Country Club. The Border Olympics is the country's second oldest college tournament, and has been Wildcats' largest this year, featuring 20 teams, including seven top-50 teams in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.

Junior co-captain Aaron Watkins paced the 'Cats at Laredo, posting a tournament total of 1-under-par 215 to tie for 11th. Following up Watkins was junior Greg Douglas, who carded a 217 to tie for 22nd. Freshman Josh Persons tied for 28th with a 219, junior A.J. Elgert tied for 38th with a 220 and sophomore Matt Van Cleave tied for 56th with a 224.

"It really was a good tournament for us," said K-State head coach Tim Norris. "We played very consistently on a golf course that was not easy by any means, and competed against a very good field."

Host Texas A&M shot a sizzling 10-under-par 278 to jump up out of a tie for sixth place after day one and take the team title after defeating Arkansas in a playoff. The Razorbacks' Andrew Dahl claimed the individual medal by four strokes at 11-under-par 205.

The Wildcats will be back in action on April 12-13 when they travel to Columbus, Ohio, for the Kepler Intercollegiate, hosted by Ohio State on its Scarlet Course, site of last year's NCAA Championship. For complete results of the Borker Olympics, please visit Texas A&M's web site at www.aggieathletics.com.

Team Scores: 1. Texas A&M 859. 2. Arkansas 859. T3. San Diego State 861. T3. Baylor 861. 5. Kansas State 869. 6. SMU 871. 7. BYU 874. 8. UAB 875. 9. Colorado State 876. 10. Iowa State 877. 11. Lamar 879. 12. Texas-Arlington 880. 13. Washington State 884. 14. Notre Dame 885. T15. Rice 887. T15. Texas-San Antonio 887. 17. Texas Tech 888. 18. Southwest Texas St. 890. 19. Rhode Island 894. 20. Louisiana-Lafayette 910.

Top Individuals: 1. Andrew Dahl, Arkansas, 205. T2. Stephen Reed, Texas A&M, 209. T2. Ryan Baca, Baylor, 209. 4. Lars Johansson, San Diego State, 211. 5. Daniel Summerhays, BYU, 212.

Wildcat Individuals: T11. Aaron Watkins 215. T22. Greg Douglas 217. T28. Josh Persons 219. T38. A.J. Elgert 220. T56. Matt Van Cleave 224.