Oct. 31, 2015
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech’s golf team, coming off a strong finish against a strong field in its last outing, closes out its fall schedule at the Kiawah Classic by Aramark Sunday through Tuesday.
Pairings and live scoring via Golfstat
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – Georgia Tech is making its first-ever appearance in the Kiawah Classic, played at the 7,100-yard, par 72 Turtle Point Golf Club at Kiawah Island, S.C. The tournament is a 54-hole event, 18 holes each day, with play beginning at 6:30 a.m. Sunday and Monday and 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The field includes No. 22 Virginia and Virginia Tech (86) from the Atlantic Coast Conference as well as host Charleston Southern (61), Augusta (33), Coastal Carolina, Gardner-Webb, Georgia Southern (77), Jacksonville State, Louisiana-Monroe, Loyola of Maryland (88), Maryland (84), Missouri (71), Presbyterian, Radford, Richmond and USC Upstate.
TEAM UPDATE – Georgia Tech is ranked No. 9 in the latest Golfstat rankings and the Golfweek Sagarin Index after finishing fifth at its home tournament, the United States Collegiate Championship, against a field stacked with seven top-10 teams and five others in the top 25. Tech finished strong with four subpar rounds on Sunday for a 6-under-par total of 282 and finished ahead of No. 13 Texas, No. 8 Stanford, No. 7 Southern California, No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 2 Oklahoma State. The Jackets are 13-13-1 this fall against top-25 teams and has faced the most difficult schedule in the nation according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Index.
Tech also finished fifth in the season-opening Carpet Capital Collegiate and seventh in the DICK’S Sporting Goods Collegiate Challenge Cup this fall.
TECH LINEUP – Head coach Bruce Heppler will take the Yellow Jackets’ top three finishers at the USCC, sophomore Jacob Joiner (Leesburg, Ga.), junior Vincent Whaley (McKinney, Texas) and sophomore Michael Pisciotta (Alpharetta, Ga.), who finished 15th, 25th and 31st, respectively. Whaley, with a high finish of third at the DICK’S Sporting Goods Challenge, leads Tech in stroke average at 72.89 and is Tech’s highest ranked individual nationally at No. 45. Joiner, ranked 51st, has a tournament title under his belt from the Carpet Capital Collegiate and a 73.00 average.
Sophomores James Clark (Columbus, Ga.) and Chris Petefish (Danville, Calif.) grabbed the other two spots on the travel squad for this weekend. Clark, ranked 90th, tied for 12th at the Carpet Capital Collegiate and 36th in each of the other two events, while Petefish (No. 130) has come in between 27th and 41st in Tech’s three events.
COACH Bruce Heppler SAYS – “I’m looking forward to see if we have built anything from our finish at the USCC. We’ve been told that the golf course is very good, and if the wind blows, it can be very difficult. It comes at a good time for our fall schedule. Sometimes it’s more about the golf course than who the opponents are, and this will challenge our guys. We’ve got some more pep in our step. We had a late night after the last round of the USCC, and the guys came right back to work with our early-morning workout the next day, so I know our guys are committed to doing what it takes.”
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.
