Texas A&M Wins NCAA Title; Burgoon Birdies 18th Hole with Dramatic Shot
5/30/2009 8:45:00 PM | Men's Golf
TOLEDO, OH - Texas A&M senior Bronson Burgoon birdied the 18th hole in dramatic fashion on Saturday afternoon to give the Aggies a 3-2 triumph over Arkansas at the par-71, 7,255-yard Inverness Club in the finals of the 2009 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship hosted by the University of Toledo. It was Texas A&M's first national title in men's golf.
Burgoon let a big lead slip away against Arkansas senior Andrew Landry, losing four straight holes to square the final match of the day going into the 18th hole.
“I was struggling the last four holes,” Burgoon said. “I put more pressure on myself than I should have. The last hole something happened for me and seemed to click. I couldn't have drawn it up any better. I love this team. That was the hardest thing when it was slipping away. I was more discouraged for the guys on the team than for myself.”
Landry hit a perfect drive down the middle of the par-4 18th hole, but Burgoon pushed his tee shot into the right rough. Landry's approach came to rest on the front fringe about 30 feet from the hole.
After Burgoon slashed his second shot out of the rough, the ball landed on the green and trickled toward the hole, almost going in before stopping six inches from the cup. Landry had a chance to force a sudden-death playoff, but pulled his long birdie putt left.
“It was 125 yards and I hit a gap wedge,” Burgoon said. “I hit it full. Our assistant coach (Jonathan Dismuke) told me to hit it at this rail, and it just kept feeding right down to the hole. Right when it cleared the hill, I knew it was going to go down pretty close to the hole.”
Texas A&M Head Coach J.T. Higgins said he was glad that it came down to Burgoon on the 18th hole with the national championship on the line.
“He dominated his matches and played great golf all week,” Higgins said. “It's funny, he talked to me about it earlier this week. He wanted to be on 18 with a chance to win the national championships coming up the last fairway. What a way to come through. That's all I said to him on 18. I wouldn't rather have anybody else playing this hole than you right now even after losing four straight. I knew he was a clutch performer. I knew he'd come through and he did. I'm so proud of him.”
The match came down to the No. 1 players for both teams after Arkansas' No. 4 and 5 players (Jamie Marshall and Jason Cuthbertson) won their matches and Texas A&M's No. 2 and 3 players (Andrea Pavan and John Hurley) emerged victorious.
2009 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships
Championship Match
No. 7 Texas A&M 3, No. 4 Arkansas 2
No. 5 Jamie Marshall (Ark.) def. No. 5 Conrad Shindler (Texas A&M), 3 & 2
No. 4 Jason Cuthbertson (Ark.) def. No. 4 Matt Van Zandt (Texas A&M), 3 & 1
No. 3 John Hurley (Texas A&M) def. No. 3 Ethan Tracy (Ark.), 6 & 4
No. 2 Andrea Pavan (Texas A&M) def. No. 2 David Lingmerth (Ark.), 7 & 6
No. 1 Bronson Burgoon (Texas A&M) def. No. 1 Andrew Landry (Ark.), 1 up
Texas A&M Head Coach J.T. Higgins
“The last four or five holes was pretty stressful but actually I wasn't feeling it until the last one. I kept figuring that by the last one Bronson was going to win one of them. He saved the best for last. What can you say. That was fantastic. What a great tournament.”
“I came up and looked at the green and the pin and I said this is the exact same pin as the final round when we watched Georgia make three birdies right here, playing it off this hill and rolling right down it. Anything to the right is going to funnel right to the hole and assistant coach Jonathan Dismuke picked the right club for him and he hit a great shot.”
(on Landry)
“What a gutsy performance by him and the whole Arkansas team. Those guys were awesome, so disciplined and such a great golf team. Brad's a great coach and they're a great team.”
(on what winning the national title means)
“A lot goes through my mind. It's been a long road. When we started here eight years ago we were a long way from being national champs. It was a long process to get great players like Bronson, John, Andrea, Conrad and Matt. Just putting together a team that has a chance to compete. I was really just happy for the kids. I love them, they're like my own.”
(on Burgoon)
“He dominated his matches and played great golf all week. It's funny, he talked to me about it earlier this week that he wanted to be on 18 with a chance to win the national championships coming up the last fairway. What a way to come through. That's all I said to him on 18. I wouldn't rather have anybody else playing this hole than you right now even after losing four straight. I knew he was a clutch performer. I knew he'd come through and he did. I'm so proud of him.”
“When he lost the 14th hole it was no big deal, even 15. I thought he could probably get 16 using a 3 wood wedge. He pulled the 3 wood a little bit and had a horrendous fly over there. He couldn't get it to the green and then the next thing you know the momentum had shifted.”
Texas A&M Senior Bronson Burgoon
“After it started rolling I was like please go in. I was struggling the last four holes. I put more pressure on myself than I should have. The last hole something happened for me and seemed to click.”
“It was 125 yards and I hit a gap wedge. I hit it full. Just a punch. Our assistant coach told me to hit it at this rail and it just kept feeding right down to the hole. Right when it cleared the hill I knew it was going to go down pretty close to the hole.”
“ I couldn't have drawn it up any better. I love the team. They battled their butts off all day and I just tried bringing it up. That was the hardest thing when it was slipping away. I was more discouraged for the guys on the team than for myself.”
(on this match topping the Oklahoma State-Georgia match)
“I sure think so. I wasn't there to watch it but I don't see how it could get much better than this.”
“This is great. To finish off my senior year with a national championship is incredible. I couldn't be happier.”
Arkansas Head Coach Brad McMakin
“Andrew (Landry) made a run at the end and Bronson (Burgoon) hit a great shot. That's what golf is and these kids will remember it for the rest of their life.”
“Andrew came up a little bit short and he was being a little cautious because he didn't know what the lie was like over there. He pulled off the best shot of the tournament. Hats off to him. I'm sure proud of our guys and they did a great job all week. Hopefully Andrew can someday get his on the last hole.”
Arkansas Senior Andrew Landry
“I'm just really pumped up how it came down to the final hole. I just knew I had to dig down a little bit to come back. I felt I could get this whole match back to square and I did. He just hit a great shot and there is nothing I can do about that.”
“Bronson (Burgoon) is a great player. I have played with Bronson quite a bit. He can do stuff like that to you. I figured he hit a great shot when the crowd started yelling and I knew I had to make a putt.”
“It was a great experience. The gallery was awesome and whenever you hit a great shot and people start screaming and yelling. It was fun.”
