Sept. 24, 2015
Tournament official site | Pairings and live scoring via Golfstat
THE FLATS – Ranked ninth in the nation and continuing to get its footing with a nearly-new lineup, Georgia Tech’s golf team heads to Nashville, Tenn., this weekend to defend its 2014 title at the DICK’S Sporting Goods Collegiate Challenge Cup.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION — The DICK’S Sporting Good Collegiate Challenge Cup includes a 54-hole stroke-play tournament Friday and Saturday, followed by an 18-hole match-play finale pitting the Atlantic Coast Conference teams against Southeastern Conference teams in the field to determine “Top Conference” honors. The 12-team field includes Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville and Virginia from the ACC, and Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Vanderbilt from the SEC. Ten of the 12 teams are listed in this week’s Golfweek/Sagarin Index top 50. The tournament is contested at the Golf Club of Tennessee in Franklin Springs, Tenn., outside of Nashville.
TECH’S TOURNAMENT HISTORY — In their first appearance in the event, the Yellow Jackets won the stroke-play portion last fall when senior Drew Czuchry holed a chip from the fringe of the 18th green. The stroke gave Tech a one-shot win over Vanderbilt and a 16-under-par tournament score of 848. Ollie Schniederjans (-8) finished third individually, while Czuchry (-4) tied for ninth, and Anders Albertson (-2) finished 13th. Tech and Vanderbilt tied their Sunday match, 2-2-1.
James Clark (T23) and Vincent Whaley (T29) rounded out Tech’s starting five for the DICK’S Sporting Goods Challenge last fall and are back in the lineup for this weekend.
TEAM UPDATE — Georgia Tech began its fall season with a fifth-place finish at the Carpet Capital Collegiate two weeks ago in Rocky Face, Ga. The Yellow Jackets led after 18 holes and were second after 36, but faltered on the back nine of the final round. Tech is ranked ninth in this week’s Golfweek/Sagarin Index, and it’s schedule strength, based solely on the Carpet Capital field, is rated ninth most difficult.
TECH LINEUP — Head coach Bruce Heppler will take four of the five players who competed at the Carpet Capital Collegiate to Nashville. Clark and Whaley will be joined by Michael Hines, Jacob Joiner and Chris Petefish. Joiner, a sophomore from Leesburg, Ga., captured medalist honors at the Carpet Capital with a 4-under-par total of 212, a one-shot victory, while Clark, a sophomore from Columbus, Ga., tied for 12th place at 220 (+4). Petefish, a sophomore from Danville, Calif., tied for 27th at 226 (+10), while Whaley, a junior from McKinney, Texas, tied for 45th at 229 (+13). Hines, a junior from Acworth, Ga., competed as an individual and tied for 55th place at 233 (+17).
Whaley won the team’s qualifying tournament for this weekend, and has led qualifying for both of Tech’s fall events.
COACH Bruce Heppler SAYS — “Vince was pretty disappointed with his performance at The Farm, so he bounced back in a big way and wiped everybody out (in qualifying). It was interesting to see how Jacob would follow up winning the tournament, and he played solidly and finished second. We qualified at the Golf Club of Georgia, which offers some similar situations and conditions at the Golf Club of Tennessee.”
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH GOLF
Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 21st year under head coach Bruce Heppler. The Yellow Jackets have won 16 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, made 28 appearances in the NCAA Championship and been the national runner-up four times. Connect with Georgia Tech Golf on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on Twitter (@GT_Golf). For more information on Tech golf, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
