April 8, 2012
Tampa, Fla. – All-American James White fired a 2-under-par 70 Sunday and finished tied for fifth place individually, and 11th-ranked Georgia Tech held its position with a 2-over-par 290 and finished second at the Gary Koch Invitational.
North Florida, ranked 17th nationally, won the tournament easily, adding a 4-under-ar 284 Sunday to its 17-under performance from Saturday to finish at 21-under 843. The Ospreys were 20 strokes clear of Tech, which completed 54 holes at 1-under 863.
Ollie Schniederjans shot even-par 70 Sunday, while Anders Albertson added a 73 and Richard Werenski a 74 for the Yellow Jackets. Bo Andrews shot a 79.
The 15-team field included seven teams ranked among the nation’s top 25, and the Yellow Jackets finished ahead of six of them, including No. 6 Auburn (+4, 868) and No. 8 Alabama (+5, 869), who finished third and fourth. No. 23 Florida State (+8) was fifth, followed by No. 24 Florida (+10) and No. 18 Virginia (+14).
“It was a pretty solid day overall,” said head coach Bruce Heppler. “They really hide the hole locations in the corners here, so we had to be very patient. We beat some really strong teams. James and Anders finished strong, and Richy was very solid. We’re looking forward now to the ACC Championship.”
Three of the UNF players finished among the top four finishers in the tournament. Joey Petronio held onto his 36-hole lead with a 2-under 70 Sunday and finishes the tournament at 8-under 208. Teammate Sean Dale tied for second with Alabama’s Hunter Hamrick at 6-under 210, and Kevin Phelan was fourth at 5-under 211.
White, a senior from Acworth, Ga., earned his fifth top-10 finish in his last six events, tying with Alex Edfort of Pacific with a 4-under-par total of 212. He has broken par in 15 of his last 18 rounds and is a collective 33-under-par over that stretch.
Albertson, a freshman from Woodstock, Ga., tied for seventh place at 1-under-par 215, his fourth top-10 of the year. Werenski tied for 18th place at 3-over 219, his best finish of the spring and first top-20 since the Carpet Capital Collegiate in the fall.
Tech returns to action Apr. 20-22 when it will defend its Atlantic Coast Conference Championship at the Old North State Club in New London, N.C. The Yellow Jackets have won the last three ACC Championships and five of the last six.
GARY KOCH INVITATIONALOld Memorial Golf Club, Tampa, Fla.Final Results
TEAM STANDINGS 1 North Florida 288 271 284 843 -21 2 Georgia Tech 289 284 290 863 -1 3 Auburn 298 282 288 868 +4 4 Alabama 292 286 291 869 +5 5 Florida State 297 286 289 872 +8 6 Florida 293 293 288 874 +10 7 Virginia 291 286 301 878 +14 T8 Georgia Southern 295 289 314 898 +34 T8 Pacific 305 289 304 898 +34 10 South Florida 301 295 304 900 +36 11 UNCG 306 295 301 902 +38 12 Wake Forest 304 300 303 907 +43 13 Kentucky 312 298 301 911 +47 14 College of Charleston 307 302 315 924 +60 15 Toledo 308 301 321 930 +66
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS 1 Joey Petronio North Florida 72 66 70 208 -8 T2 Hunter Hamrick Alabama 73 67 70 210 -6 T2 Sean Dale North Florida 72 68 70 210 -6 4 Kevin Phelan North Florida 72 67 72 211 -5 T5 Alex Edfort Pacific 72 69 71 212 -4 T5 James White Georgia Tech 71 71 70 212 -4 T7 Blake Soni * Auburn 71 71 73 215 -1 T7 Lee Bedford Wake Forest 70 72 73 215 -1 T7 Anders Albertson Georgia Tech 74 67 74 215 -1 T10 Justin Thomas Alabama 70 72 74 216 E T10 Doug Letson Florida State 72 71 73 216 E
GEORGIA TECH SCORES T5 James White (1) 71 71 70 212 T7 Anders Albertson (2) 74 67 74 215 T18 Richy Werenski (4) 74 71 74 219 T32 Ollie Schniederjans (5) 76 75 72 223 T42 Bo Andrews (3) 70 77 79 226
