San Francisco, Calif. – Bartley Forrester, Christo Lamprecht and Ross Steelman each shot 1-under-par 69 Thursday as 11th-ranked Georgia Tech shot 3-under-par 277 as a team to take third place after the opening round of The Goodwin.
The Yellow Jackets counted four scores of par or better at the par-70 TPC Harding Park and sit four shots behind the host team, 8th-ranked Stanford, which posted a 7-under-par 273, while No. 13 Oklahoma sot 5-under-par 275 to take second place. Round 2 commences at 10 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday.
TECH LINEUP – None of the Yellow Jackets were able to make considerable headway against par on the major championship venue, recording 17 birdies against 14 bogeys among the four counting players, but Tech was the only team among the top three to not count an over-par score. Forrester (Gainesville, Ga.), Lamprecht (George, South Africa) and Steelman (Columbia, Mo.) each shot 69 and are tied for 14th place, while senior Connor Howe (Ogden, Utah) added an even-par 70 to the Jackets’ total.
Only San Francisco and Oklahoma recorded more birdies than Tech on Thursday.
Freshman Hiroshi Tai (Singapore) did not count Thursday after carding a 74 (+4), while sophomore Benjamin Reuter (Naarden The Netherlands) shot 70 competing as an individual.
Ross Steelman is one of three Yellow Jackets tied for 14th place at 1-under-par 69. (photo by Danny Karnik)
TEAM LEADERBOARD – Only three of the 28 competing teams turned in subpar rounds on the difficult TPC Harding Park course. No. 8 Stanford shot 7-under-par 273, counting a 66, a 67 and a 68 to take a two-stroke lead over No. 13 Oklahoma, which had three subpar rounds among its five players to post a 5-under-par 275. Georgia Tech’s 3-under-par 273 was good for third place.
Washington and San Francisco are tied for fourth place at even-par 280, followed by Oregon (281, +1) and California (283, +3). San Diego and Cal Poly are tied for eighth place at 284 (+4), while San Jose State, Saint Mary’s and Florida Atlantic are tied for 10th at 285 (+5).
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD – Washington’s Bo Peng and Stanford’s Barclay Brown grabbed the first-round individual lead by posting 6-under-par 66, while the Cardinal’s Karl Vilips, the Sooners’ Jase Summy and two others are tied for third at 3-under-par 67.
Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen headlines a group of seven players who shot 4-under-par 68. Fourteen players are tied for 14th place at 1-under-par 69, including the Yellow Jackets’ Forrester, Lamprecht and Steelman.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – This is Georgia Tech’s third appearance at The Goodwin, named for legendary head coach who led the Cardinal program from 1987-2000. Stanford’s feature home tournament is being played to one of the country’s elite courses, with TPC Harding Park hosting the event for the second time in school history after serving as headquarters in 2018. TPC Harding Park has played host to numerous PGA Tour events, including the 2009 Presidents Cup and the 2020 PGA Championship. TPC Harding Park will be set up as a 6,939-yard, par-70 layout.
Tech, No. 8 Stanford and No. 13 Oklahoma are the highest ranked teams in the 28-team field, which also includes Brigham Young, California, Cal Poly, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Tech, Howard, Lipscomb, Little Rock, Mercer, Nevada, Northern Illinois, Oklahoma, Oregon, Saint Mary’s, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose State, Santa Clara, Southern California, SMU, UC Davis, UCLA, Utah, Washington and Washington State.
The top 12 finishers this week will be given automatic invitations to the 2024 event.
Host Stanford has won the tournament 16 times since the inaugural event in 1968. Past individual winners include major golf champions Tom Watson and Corey Pavin, as well as veteran PGA Tour pros like Duffy Waldorf and Billy Mayfair, and younger pros like Nick Taylor, Patrick Rodgers, Maverick McNealy and Brandon Wu.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH GOLF
Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 28th year under head coach Bruce Heppler, winning 70 tournaments in his tenure. The Yellow Jackets have won 18 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, made 29 appearances in the NCAA Championship and been the national runner-up four times. Connect with Georgia Tech Golf on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on Twitter (@GTGolf) and Instagram. For more information on Tech golf, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
