Oct. 8, 2005
ATLANTA – All-American Roberto Castro and fellow junior Kevin Larsen lead Georgia Tech’s golf team, ranked third in the nation, into the Yellow Jackets’ second tournament of the fall, the Jerry Pare National Intercollegiate.
The two-day event at the Old Overton Golf Club in Birmingham, Ala., kicks off with 36 holes of play on Monday, and concludes with 18 holes Tuesday. The golf course plays to a par of 71 and measures 6,936 yards.
Tech finished a distant second to defending national champion Georgia in its first outing two weeks ago at the Ping/Golfweek Preview Invitational, which brings together the nation’s top 15 teams to play on the course which will host the national championship in the spring.
The Yellow Jackets, with two freshmen playing their first collegiate event, were one of three teams to post a subpar score for 54 holes, coming in at minus-four. Castro (Alpharetta, Ga.), the nation’s No. 3-ranked player, shot eight-under-par 208 and finished third, three shots off the pace. Larsen (Santa Barbara, Calif.), ranked No. 15 in the nation, carded three 71s to tie for ninth and post the second-best finish of his career.
It was Castro’s 13th top-10 finish in 25 career events. Larsen, who has played No. 5 for the Jackets in nearly every spring event in his first two years, won the team’s qualifying tournament for this event and has emerged as one of Tech’s leaders.
They will make the trip to Old Overton along with Mike Barbosa, a senior from St. Petersburg, Fla., freshman Cameron Tringale of Laguna Niguel, Calif., and Taylor Hall of LaGrange, Ga. It is the same quintet that played at the Preview.
Barbosa and Tringale each contributed to Tech’s performance at the Preview by finishing in the top 30 individually. Barbosa posted a second-round 69 to finish at four-over-par 220, and Tringale shot 69 in the final round to finish at 221. Hall tied for 64th, but improved each day and shot 74 in the final round to count for the Jackets.
“Our performance in Oregon was very encouraging,” said head coach Bruce Heppler, who has watched Tringale and Hall take the early lead among the team’s four freshmen vying for spots on the travel squad. “The freshmen are challenging well in qualifying and will give us some help.”
Tech finished second in this event last fall, four shots behind Augusta State, which is ranked 13th in the country and part of the 12-team field this time. Other top-25 teams in the field include top-ranked Georgia and No. 15 Brigham Young.
Castro and Barbosa each have one top-10 finish at the Jerry Pate, tying for 10th last fall at five-under-par 208. Larsen produced his best collegiate score there two years ago (five-under 208), tying for 17th.
