Aug. 31, 2004
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s golf team, which finished fifth in last year’s NCAA Championship and returns every player off that team, is ranked in a tie for No. 2 with Florida in the pre-season poll released Tuesday by Golf World magazine.
Tech and the Gators, who finished tied for sixth at the NCAA, are a scant five points behind top-ranked Georgia, who tied for 11th at the NCAA last spring after barely making the 54-hole cut in a playoff. Arizona, third at the NCAA, and Oklahoma State, 13th, round out the top five, followed by Kentucky, UNLV, Texas, defending ACC champion Clemson and Arizona State.
Senior Nicholas Thompson (Coral Springs, Fla.) and sophomore Roberto Castro (Alpharetta, Ga.) are listed among the magazine’s top 50 golfers to watch. Thompson, a third-team All-American and an All-ACC performer last spring, tied for 17th at the NCAAs and advanced to the round of 16 in the U.S. Amateur this summer. Castro, an honorable mention All-American and the ACC Rookie of the Year, tied for 44th at the NCAAs as a freshman and advanced to match play at the U.S. Amateur.
The Yellow Jackets also return senior Chan Song (Orlando, Fla.), an All-ACC performer last spring, junior Mike Barbosa (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and sophomore Kevin Larsen (Santa Barbara, Calif.) from the fivesome that finished fifth at the NCAA, as well as junior Thomas Jordan (Sea Island, Ga.).
Tech opens its fall schedule Sept. 17-19 at the Carpet Capital Collegiate in Rocky Face, Ga.
