Oct. 9, 2008
ATLANTA – All-Americans Cameron Tringale and Chesson Hadley lead Georgia Tech’s 15th-ranked golf team to Macon, Ga., this weekend to play in the second annual Brickyard Collegiate, a tournament which in one year has grown to include eight of the nation’s top 25 teams.
Tringale, the nation’s 22nd-ranked player, and Hadley (No. 40) join David Dragoo, John-Tyler Griffin and James White – the same five players who helped Tech finish in a tie for seventh place at the PING/Golfweek Preview two weeks ago – as the Yellow Jackets’ starting five for the 54-hole event at The Brickyard at Riverside golf course.
The 54-hole event opens Friday with a practice round, while competition will begin Saturday morning and conclude Monday afternoon.
The 15-team field includes Augusta State, Clemson (ranked No. 7), Charlotte (17), Duke (15), Florida State (10), Georgia (4), Georgia Tech (15), Hartford, Kennesaw State, Mercer, Oregon, Penn State, UT Chattanooga (9), Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest (25).
“Word spread that the hospitality was terrific, the course was good, and that the community supports the event,” said head coach Bruce Heppler. “They did a terrific job with last year’s event, making people welcome. The par-5’s were reachable, the greens were good, and everybody made some putts.”
The Yellow Jackets finished third in the inaugural Brickyard a year ago, when Tringale (10-under-par) tied for third and Hadley (6-under) finished sixth individually.
Tringale, a senior from Laguna Niguel, Calif., has a tie for seventh (Carpet Capital Collegiate) and a tie for 13th (PING/Golfweek Preview Invitational) to his credit in Tech’s two fall events thus far, and has a 71.50 stroke average in six rounds. Hadley, a junior from Raleigh, N.C., did not make Tech’s travel team, but tied for 17th at the Preview with score of 3-over 217.
Dragoo, a senior from Scottsdale, Ariz., tied for seventh with Tringale at the Carpet Capital Collegiate and slipped to 42nd at the Preview due to one high round. He averages 73.17 over six rounds. Griffin, a sophomore from Wilson, N.C., has played both events, tying for 38th at the Preview, and averages 75.17, and White, a freshman from Acworth, Ga., tied for 71st in his collegiate debut at the Preview.
“We picked four guys (Tringale, Hadley, Dragoo, Griffin) based on the first two tournaments and qualifying, and those four had played significantly better than anybody else, so they earned it,” said Heppler. “We qualified among the remaining six guys for the last spot, and the next two are playing as individuals. The goal this week is to challenge to win the tournament. We’ve moved in that direction, and hopefully we can to that this week.”
In addition to Tech’s starting five, Heppler has entered freshman Minghao Wang and senior Adam Cohan as individual competitors in the event. Wang (pronounced ming-how wong), one of the nation’s top 50 junior players from Reunion, Fla., is making his collegiate debut, while Cohan (Wayne, Pa.) makes his first appearance since last spring’s Yale Spring Opener.
The Brickyard re-opened on June 27, 2005. Mark McCumber re-designed the course, which now features a par-72, 7,128-yard layout. In 2007, Golf Digest ranked the course No. 12 in the state of Georgia.
