Razorbacks Carry Momentum Into Aggie Invite

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Just five days removed from a 16-stroke win at the Towson Invitational, the No. 32 Arkansas men’s golf team will look to carry that momentum into its final tournament of the regular season this weekend at the 13-team Aggie Invitational held at Traditions Golf Course.

Taking on a field that features 11 top 100 teams and seven in the top 50 of the latest Golfweek rankings, Arkansas has played in the Aggie Invitational each of the last two years. The two-day event will commence on Saturday with 36 holes starting at 7:30 a.m. on the par 72 layout that will measure 7,146 yards.

Arkansas has put together a good spring season, placing in the top five in three of four events, highlighted by the program’s 21st tournament title under head coach Brad McMakin at the Towson Invitational. During the spring, the Razorbacks have a 46-12-1 head-to-head record to sit 12 games over .500 for the year heading into the Aggie Invitational at the SEC Championships. To qualify for an NCAA Regional, teams must have a .500 head-to-head record or better.

Four members of Arkansas’ five-man lineup this weekend played at the Aggie Invitational last year, while junior Taylor Moore has posted a pair of top 10s at the event. Entering the weekend with four straight top 10 finishes to his credit and a team-low 71.7 stroke average, Moore has been the Arkansas’ low-man in four of six rounds the last two years at the Aggie Invitational, tying for sixth in 2014 and eighth in 2013.

Juniors Kolton Crawford and Nicolas Echavarria, along with redshirt sophomore Zach Coats are all coming off top five performances at the Towson Invitational. The leader after the first round, Echavarria finished one stroke off the leader at the Towson Invite for his first career runner-up finish. Crawford tied for fourth, good for his third top five of the spring, while Coats carded a career-low one-under 70 to earn his first career top five.

Live scoring for the Aggie Invitational can be found at www.GolfStat.com or by downloading the Golfstat Live app.

@RazorbackMGolf Lineup (Stroke Average)
Taylor Moore, Jr. (71.7)
Kolton Crawford, R-Jr. (72.6)
Zach Coats, R-So. (74.5)
Nicolas Echavarria, Jr. (73.1)
Alvaro Ortiz, Fr. (73.4)
Emil Soegaard, Fr. (75.3) – Individual

@RazorbackMGolf Quick Nine
• Arkansas is currently ranked No. 32 by Golfweek and No. 34 by Golfstat.
• Arkansas has won at least one team title in each year under head coach Brad McMakin.
• McMakin has a career head-to-head record of 928-403-20 at Arkansas.
• Arkansas has a 58-46-1 record for the year, including 46-12-1 in the spring.
• Fifth straight event with the same starting lineup.
• Five different players have finished in the top 10 of an event this spring.
• Coats has a counting score in a team-best 11 straight rounds.
• Moore and Crawford combined to collect three straight SEC Golfer of the Week awards earlier in the spring.
• Echavarria joined Crawford and Moore last week with a runner-up finish in the spring.

Aggie Invitational Field (Golfweek Ranking)
Arkansas (32)
Bowling Green (184)
California (21)
Kent State (87)
LSU (6)Michigan (47)
New Mexico State (67)
North Texas (78)
Oklahoma (16)
Princeton (190)
Texas A&M (41)
Texas Tech (10)
UTSA (88)

Breaking Down The Field
Top 25 Teams: 4
Top 50 Teams: 7
Top 100 Teams: 11

#ProHogs Update
Arkansas is well-represented in this week’s Shell Houston Open on the PGA Tour, as David Lingmerth is joined by Andrew Landry and Austin Cook. Landry and Cook advanced through the qualifier on Monday to earn a spot in the field. The PGA Tour event is the second for Cook, as he qualified for last year’s FedEx St. Jude Classic the same way and went on to finish in a tie for 13th. Cook got off to a great start on Thursday, shooting a four-under 68 that included birdies in five of his last seven holes to position himself in a tie for 15th place. Monday’s qualifier capped a great March for Landry, who is currently No. 3 on the Web.com Tour money list.