May 17, 2001
Williamsburg, VA – The second-ranked Georgia Tech men’s golf team found the going somewhat difficult over the final nine holes of the day and is part of a tie for eighth place after the first round of play at the NCAA East Regional.
The 54-hole event is being contested at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club’s 7008-yard, par-72 Green Course in Williamsburg, Va. The top 10 teams in the field of 27 at the end of the third day will advance to the NCAA Championships in Durham, N.C., on May 30-June 2.
The Yellow Jackets had their team score as low as 5-under-par at one point in the round, but finished the day with a team total of 3-under-par 285. That total is ten shots off the pace of first-round team leader East Tennessee State, which fired an impressive team round of 13-under-par 275 to claim the 18-hole lead. The Buccaneers are followed closely by Florida, which carded a 12-under-par 276, and top-ranked Georgia at 10-under-par 278.
Tech’s individuals in the field are led by senior Bryce Molder, who birdied the final hole and is part of a four-way tie for fifth place at 4-under-par 33-35-68. He trails individual leader Camilo Villegas of Florida, who fired an 8-under-par round of 31-33-64, by four shots entering Friday’s second round.
Joining Molder in the top 10 is junior Matt Weibring, who was the only other Tech player in red figures on the day as he carded a 3-under-par round of 34-35-69 to stand as part of a seven-way tie for ninth place. The next Yellow Jacket in the field is sophomore Troy Matteson, who is part of a 19-player logjam in 55th place at 1-over-par 38-35-73. Rounding out the Tech contingent in the field are senior Wes Latimer and junior Kris Mikkelsen, both of whom are part of a 16-way tie for 84th place after matching scores of 3-over-par 36-39-75.
The NCAA East Regional will continue on Friday with the second round of play. The Yellow Jackets will be one of the first groups off in the morning, as they will once again play in threesomes with Georgia and Rhode Island, beginning at 7:12 a.m. Live scoring of the event is available at www.golfstat.com.
