NCAA Championship

The 2009 NCAA Championships featured a new twist with the team champion determined via match play, the first time the winner hasn’t been awarded by total strokes since 1965. The top eight teams after 54 holes of stroke play advanced to match play with the quarterfinals and semifinals being held on Friday, May 29 and the championship held on Saturday, May 30. During the match-play portion of the championships, each match will be worth one point with all five players participating. The first team to win three points within the team match will advance or, in the case of the championship match, be declared the national champion.

The Aggies won the NCAA title in a thriller.

Senior Bronson Burgoon watched as his Pro V1 sailed into the sky above Inverness Club’s 18^th hole and dropped down on the middle-right portion of the green, on top of a ledge sloped down to a tucked-left pin position. The second he saw the ball begin rolling left, right about the same time the fans surrounding the 18^th green started screaming, Burgoon lost it.

How else to react after hitting the shot of your life – as Burgoon saw it, a 120-yard 18^th hole approach from scraggly rough to “about 4 or 5 inches” for a chance to end his deciding match with Arkansas senior Andrew Landry and win his Aggies their first NCAA Championship? Especially after standing on the 14^th tee about an hour earlier with a 4-up lead only to miss four consecutive fairways and greens and lose four consecutive holes.

Just like that, euphoric turned to historic. All factors considered, Burgoon’s shot will go down as one of the best in college golf history.