Aug. 9, 2004
ATLANTA – Mike Barbosa, whose spring resurgence helped Georgia Tech to a fifth-place NCAA finish in golf, capped a strong summer amateur season by winning the Cardinal Amateur last weekend in Greensboro, N.C.
The St. Petersburg, Fla., junior shot 66-67-72 for a 5-under-par total of 205, then defeated Ryan Blaum of Duke in a four-hole playoff for the title. It is just the second victory in a major summer amateur event for a Georgia Tech golfer since All-American Matt Kuchar won the 1997 U.S. Amateur. Bryce Molder won the individual title while playing for the U.S. team at the 2000 World Amateur in Germany.
The performance highlights a summer schedule in which Barbosa tied for 19th at the Porter Cup (69-73-69-71 — 282), tied for 24th at the Southern Amateur in Ooltewah, Tenn. (73-75-75-71 — 294), and tied for 26th in stroke play and advanced to the round of 32 in the North-South Amateur at Pinehurst, N.C. He advanced in local U.S. Open qualifying May 12 with a 68 (finished 3rd) at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla., and missed by one shot a 10-man playoff for seven spots at sectional qualifying at Columbus, Ohio. He did not qualify for the U.S. Amateur.
“It’s a great confidence boost (to win the Cardinal),” said Barbosa on Monday. “It’s great to be in contention and then be able to close the deal. I’ve played well this summer and been fairly consistent, but this week I got some putts to drop.”
Barbosa, who posted the Yellow Jackets’ second-best stroke average of the spring (72.14), tied for 36th at the NCAA Championship and tied for 15th at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship for Tech in the spring. He finished the spring ranked No. 127 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.
Three Jackets Qualify for U.S. Amateur
Nicholas Thompson, Chan Wongluekiet and Roberto Castro, all of whom made the All-Atlantic Coast Conference golf team in the spring, have qualified for the stroke play portion of the U.S. Amateur golf tournament, which will be played Aug. 16-22 at Winged Foot Golf Club (East Course) in Mamaroneck, N.Y.
Thompson and Wongluekiet each won their sectional qualifying tournaments, Wongluekiet in Buffalo on July 21 and Thompson on July 27 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Castro finished third in the sectional qualifying event at Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta.
