May 22, 2004
ATLANTA – ATLANTA – Led by level-par scores of 70 from Nick Thompson and Roberto Castro, Georgia Tech shot 285 Saturday and moved up to a tie for third in the final standings at the NCAA East Regional golf tournament at New Haven, Conn., and will advance to the NCAA Championship in 10 days.
Tech’s 864 total for 54 holes put it in a tie for third with third-seeded Georgia, who was one shot better at 284 Saturday. The fourth-seeded Jackets and the Bulldogs finished eight shots behind Clemson. The No. 2-seeded Tigers ran away with the tournament Saturday with a three-under-par score of 277, the only under-par team round of the event, and finished with a 16-over-par total of 856. Penn State finished second at 16-over 862.
“We came in here with three guys who had never played in this type of event, and did very well,” said head coach Bruce Heppler. “Our freshman played real well today. We played right along with Florida, Clemson and Georgia (the top three ranked teams in the nation). It was good competition, and we handled it well. We’re excited and looking forward to the championship.”
Castro, a freshman from Alpharetta, Ga., finished with a 54-hole total of 212, and tied for ninth place individually with Luke List of Vanderbilt and Aron Price of Georgia Southern. Thompson finished at 215, five over par, tied for 17th. Sophomore Mike Barbosa shot a 71 Saturday for a tournament total of 219 (tied for 31st), and junior Chan Wongluekiet carded a 76 for a finishing total of 220 (tied for 41st). Freshman Kevin Larsen, who struggled the first two days with a pair of 80s, counted for Tech Saturday by shooting 74.
The top 10 teams after 54 holes advance to the NCAA Championship, which is being held June 1-4 at The Homestead resort in Hot Springs, Va. Florida, the top seed, finished fifth at 26-over 866, Auburn sixth at 27-over 867, and Georgia State seventh at 31-over 871. Rhode Island finished eighth at 37-over 877, and Vanderbilt was ninth at 40-over 880.
North Carolina and NC State finished in a tie for 10th at 42-over 882, and the Tar Heels earned the last qualifying spot in a playoff. LSU, Wake Forest and Duke finished one stroke out of the playoff.
NCAA EAST REGIONAL GOLF TOURNAMENT
The Course at Yale, New Haven, Conn.
Final Round Results
TEAM SCORES(Top 10 teams advance to NCAA Championship)
Clemson 288-291-277 – 856 (+16) Penn State 290-285-287 – 862 (+22) Georgia Tech 291-288-285 – 864 (+24) Georgia 287-293-284 – 864 (+24) Florida 286-290-290 – 866 (+26) Auburn 294-286-287 – 867 (+27) Georgia State 288-300-283 – 871 (+31) Rhode Island 292-289-296 – 877 (+37) Vanderbilt 299-291-290 – 880 (+40) North Carolina* 294-283-305 – 882 (+42) *won final qualifying spot in a playoff
(Failed to advance) NC State 299-290-293 – 882 (+42) LSU 304-292-287 – 883 (+43) Duke 294-295-294 – 883 (+43) Wake Forest 296-288-299 – 883 (+43) Georgia Southern 302-292-291 – 885 (+45) Jacksonville St. 306-282-299 – 887 (+47) South Carolina 299-293-297 – 889 (+49) Tennessee 297-292-302 – 891 (+51) Augusta State 304-292-301 – 897 (+57) Maryland 306-298-301 – 905 (+65) Ala.-Birmingham 294-303-313 – 910 (+70) Georgetown 304-307-303 – 914 (+74) Army 310-304-310 – 924 (+84) Binghamton 312-296-315 – 924 (+84) Towson 310-300-315 – 925 (+85) Yale 311-302-315 – 928 (+88) LIU-Brooklyn 321-313-334 – 968 (+128)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Bill Haas, Wake Forest 67-70-70 – 207 (-3) Kenneth Fahey, Rhode Island 67-72-69 – 208 (-2) Camilo Villegas, Florida 68-70-70 – 208 (-2) Brent Delahoussaye, Clemson 70-72-69 – 211 (+1) Jonathan Dismuke, Auburn 72-69-70 – 211 (+1) Stuart Moore, Auburn 70-71-70 – 211 (+1) Greg Pieczynski, Penn State 71-71-69 – 211 (+1) Richard Scott, Georgia 69-72-70 – 211 (+1) Roberto Castro, Georgia Tech 74-68-70 – 212 (+2) Luke List, Vanderbilt 73-69-70 – 212 (+2) Aron Price, Georgia Southern 74-68-70 – 212 (+2)
GEORGIA TECH SCORES
Roberto Castro (T9) 74-68-70 – 212 (+2) Nick Thompson (T17) 72-73-70 – 215 (+5) Mike Barbosa (T31) 73-75-71 – 219 (+9) Chan Wongluekiet (T41) 72-72-76 – 220 (+10) Kevin Larsen (T113) 80-80-74 – 234 (+24)
