Feb. 12, 2005
Waikoloa, Hawaii – No. 2-ranked Georgia Tech continued its rally Friday with a school-record 26-under-par team score of 262 in the final round, but made up only five shots on leader Oklahoma State and finished second by seven strokes to the third-ranked Cowboys at the Taylor Made/Waikoloa Intercollegiate Invitational.
Scores were extremely low all three days over the par-72 Waikoloa Village Golf Course. Tech sophomore Roberto Castro shot an eight-under-par 64 Friday, while senior Chan Song carded a 65, senior Nicholas Thompson a 66 and junior Mike Barbosa a 67. All but Thompson’s 66 either matched or established career lows for the Tech players.
Tech’s 808 tournament total (58-under-par) beat its former school record, an 829 score at the 2000 Golf World Invitational, by 21 strokes. Its Friday score of 262 was eight shots better than the 270 the Yellow Jackets posted at the 1999 Waikoloa Intercollegiate, which was played at a different golf course.
Castro’s 54-hole total of 199 (17-under-par), the second best score ever posted by a Tech player, left him in third place. Song and Thompson both finished at 13-under 203, which was a career low for Song, and Barbosa also established a career low with a seven-under-par total of 207. Sophomore Kevin Larsen, who carded an even-par 72 Friday, had a four-under-par tournament total of 212.
Oklahoma State claimed the team title with a 63-under-par 801 and also the medalist honor with Tyler Leon shooting a 21-under-par 195 (64-66-65). Teammates Alex Noren tied with Washington’s James Lepp for second place at 198.
The Yellow Jackets were followed in the team standings by USC (810), Washington (810), Arkansas (826), TCU (827), Arizona State (831), Stanford (831), Texas (832), UC Davis (833), Kansas (833), UCLA (834), Pepperdine (835), Oregon (836), Colorado (840), Fresno State (844), Oklahoma (845), Hawaii Hilo (853), Rhode Island (855) and Hawaii Manoa (861).
