Oct. 19, 2013
Alpharetta, Ga. – Defending champion Georgia Tech exploited perfect scoring conditions at The Golf Club of Georgia Friday and grabbed the first-day lead of The United States Collegiate Championship by five shots over Oklahoma State.
The host Yellow Jackets, ranked second in the nation, compiled a team score of 9-under-par 279 on the Lakeside Course, led by their 2012 hero, junior Ollie Schniederjans, whose 6-under 66 shared the individual lead with Virginia senior Ben Rusch.
The 5th-ranked Cowboys finished at 4-under 284, paced by Walker Cupper Jordan Niebrugge, who was in large group at 3-under 69. No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 14 Virginia are tied for third at 3-under 285, while Wake Forest and 2011 Champion UCLA shared fifth at 286.
Coach Bruce Heppler’s Tech team, seeking its third USCC win in four years, played extremely solidly on their home course, with 70’s from junior Anders Albertson and senior Bo Andrews and 73’s from seniors Seth Reeves and Richard Werenski. Albertson and Andrews are tied for 10th place.
Schniederjans, who eagled the final hole last year to secure Tech’s team win, made an eagle, six birdies and two bogies during his round Friday. Also at 69 were Stanford’s David Boote, Ben Crancer of Texas A&M, Ryder Cupper Rhys Pugh of East Tennessee State, Iowa’s Ian Vandersee, Stanford’s Cameron Wilson and Motin Yeung of Duke.
The 2013 USCC Individual Champion receives a tournament exemption to compete in Wichita in the Air Capital Classic on the Web.com Tour in June.
Southern Cal freshman Rico Hoey aced the 192-yard par-3 third hole en route to a 70. The first-round stroke average was 73.33, with 34 players at par or better.
Despite greens softened by rain the day before and windless conditions, defending individual champion Patrick Rodgers of Stanford struggled early with a front-nine 40 and settled for a 75.
The USCC, which boasts one of college golf’s strongest fields, is unique on the schedule with caddies for every player and corporate skyboxes around the 18th green.
The final two rounds of the 54-hole tournament will be webcast live starting at 3 p.m. EDT both Saturday and Sunday. The webcast can be viewed via the tournament website at www.TheUSCC.org or by going to new.livestream.com/2013uscc/webcast.
2013 UNITED STATES COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIPThe Golf Club of Georgia, Alpharetta, Ga.First-Round Scores
TEAM STANDINGS 1 Georgia Tech 279 -9 2 Oklahoma State 284 -4 T3 Virginia 285 -3 T3 Texas A&M 285 -3 T5 Wake Forest 286 -2 T5 UCLA 286 -2 7 Iowa 287 -1 8 Stanford 288 E 9 Southern California 290 +2 10 Duke 291 +3 T11 Washington 294 +6 T11 ETSU 294 +6 13 Kent State 296 +8 14 Auburn 297 +9 15 Clemson 299 +11
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS T1 Ben Rusch Virginia 66 -6 T1 Ollie Schniederjans Georgia Tech 66 -6 T3 Rhys Pugh ETSU 69 -3 T3 Ian Vandersee Iowa 69 -3 T3 Jordan Niebrugge Oklahoma State 69 -3 T3 David Boote Stanford 69 -3 T3 Cameron Wilson Stanford 69 -3 T3 Motin Yeung Duke 69 -3 T3 Ben Crancer Texas A&M 69 -3 T10 Vince Whaley * Georgia Tech 70 -2 T10 Rico Hoey Southern California 70 -2 T10 Brian Bullington Iowa 70 -2 T10 Bo Andrews Georgia Tech 70 -2 T10 Anders Albertson Georgia Tech 70 -2 T10 Davis Womble Wake Forest 70 -2 T10 Matt Pinizzotto UCLA 70 -2 T10 Tyler Dunlap Texas A&M 70 -2 T10 Yaroslav Merkulov Duke 70 -2 T10 Jonathan Garrick UCLA 70 -2
GEORGIA TECH SCORES T1 Ollie Schniederjans (1) 66 T10 Anders Albertson (3) 70 T10 Bo Andrews (5) 70 T35 Seth Reeves (2) 73 T35 Richard Werenski (4) 73
