Aug. 28, 2008
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s golf team comes in at No. 10 in the pre-season coaches’ rankings announced this week by Golf World magazine, and Yellow Jacket junior Chesson Hadley is ranked No. 8 among the nation’s top individuals by the magazine.
Tech senior Cameron Tringale, a three-time All-American, is listed among the nation’s top 50 players by Golf World, which has published the results of its latest preseason College Coaches’ Polls and its list of the Top 50 male and female “Players to Watch.” The content, which is part of Golf World’s annual College Preview issue, will be featured in the August 29 issue of the magazine and can be viewed online at www.golfworld.com.
Tech returns seven of eight letterwinners from last year’s team, which finished the year ranked No. 9 but did not advance out of the NCAA Central Regional. All five players who started for the Jackets in the ACC Championship and regional return, including Hadley, a junior from Raleigh, N.C., and Tringale, a senior from Laguna Niguel, Calif. Both players were all-ACC choices last year.
Hadley, a member of the 2008 Palmer Cup team and a second-team GCAA All-American last season, led the Jackets in stroke average at 71.09. He also captured the individual title at last year’s Carpet Capital Collegiate, where the Jackets will begin the upcoming fall campaign on Sept. 12-14. Tringale, an honorable mention All-American last year and a second-team All-American twice before that, has played in all 35 events in his Tech career.
Also returning for the Jackets are seniors Taylor Hall of LaGrange, Ga., and David Dragoo of Scottsdale, Ariz., both of whom were key members of Tech’s post-season lineup and ranked third and fourth, respectively, on the team in stroke average. Sophomores Paul Haley of Dallas, Texas, and J.T. Griffin of Wilson, N.C., and senior Adam Cohan of Wayne, Pa., all return with tournament play under their belts.
Also vying for time this year are William Miller of Venetia, Pa., who red-shirted last year, as well as incoming freshmen James White of Acworth, Ga., and Minghao Wang of Reunion, Fla., both of whom ranked among the nation’s top 60 junior players.
UCLA, the defending NCAA champion, is the top selection in the Golf World/Nike Golf Division I Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The Bruins received 11 of 26 first-place votes and return All-American Erik Flores and the other four starters from last year’s team that won five tournaments. Oklahoma State is ranked second in the poll, earning four first-place votes. Georgia (No. 3), Southern California (No. 4) and Stanford (No. 5) round out the top-five.
Rickie Fowler, a sophomore from Oklahoma State and first-team All-American, is number one on Golf World’s list of the “Top 50 Male Players to Watch.” The rest of the top ten includes: No 2. Jamie Lovemark (Southern California); No. 3 Billy Horschel (Florida St.); No. 4 Kyle Stanley (Clemson); No. 5 Jorge Campillo (Indiana); No. 6 Zach Sucher (UAB); No. 7 Sihwan Him (Stanford); No. 8 Hadley; No. 9 Adam Mitchell (Georgia); No. 10 Hudson Swafford (Georgia).
