April 4, 2015
Franklin, Tenn. –
Freshman Chris Petefish fired a 2-under-par 69 Saturday to pace Georgia Tech, and the 15th-ranked Yellow Jackets are tied for second place, three shots off the pace, after the second round of the Mason Rudolph Championship at the Vanderbilt Legends Club outside Nashville, Tenn.
Live Scoring, Results and Tee Times via Golfstat
TECH LINEUP — Petefish (Danville, Calif.), who shot 75 Friday and did not count for the Yellow Jackets in the opening round, recorded three birdies and one bogey on his card for his third sub-70 round of the year. He moved into the top 20 at 2-over-par 144. All-American Ollie Schniederjans (Powder Springs, Ga.) improved to a 1-over 72 Saturday and moved into a tie for seventh place with sophomore Vincent Whaley (McKinney, Texas), who added a 2-over 73. Both players have 36-hole totals of 142, even par. All-American Anders Albertson (Woodstock, Ga.), who received the Byron Nelson Award earlier in the week, also shot 73 and is tied for 10th place at 143 (+1). Sophomore Michael Hines (Acworth, Ga.) shot 75 Saturday and did not count for Tech. He is tied for 39th place individually.
TEAM LEADERBOARD — Scores were much higher than Friday across the board despite mild weather conditions, but host Vanderbilt, Alabama and Tech separated themselves from the rest of the field after 36 holes. The sixth-ranked Commodores (565, -3), with a 3-over-par 287 Saturday, maintained its three-shot lead over Tech (570, +2), which also shot 287 Saturday, and Alabama, which posted the only team round under par (1-under 283). The Yellow Jackets closed well, recording eight birdies in the last six holes.
No. 21 Kennesaw State is in fourth place at 578 (+10), followed by Louisville and East Tennessee State, who are tied for fifth at 579 (+11).
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD — Louisville’s Robin Sciot-Siegrist (137, -5) posted the day’s best round of 67 and took a one-stroke lead over Vanderbilt’s Hunter Stewart (138, -4). Adrian Meronk of East Tennessee State, Dru Love of Alabama and first-round leader Kelby Burton of Kennesaw State are tied for third place at 3-under 139. Tech’s Schniederjans and Whaley are tied for seventh at even-par 142.
COACH Bruce Heppler SAYS — “We made some course management errors early in the round, but the guys continued to compete and played the last six holes in six-under-par.”
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION — The Mason Rudolph Men’s Championship is a 54-hole collegiate event, with the low four scores out of five counting each round. The final 18 holes will take place Sunday with tee times beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. The event is played at the Vanderbilt Legends Club South Course (7,100 yards, par 71) in Franklin, Tenn. The 14-team field features eight teams in the current Golfweek/Sagarin top-50, including No. 6 and host Vanderbilt, No. 16 Georgia Tech, No. 21 Kennesaw State No. 28 Alabama, No. 32 SMU, No. 40 Georgia Southern, No. 44 East Tennessee State and No. 47 Louisville. Ball State, College of Charleston, Indiana, Liberty, Mercer and Notre Dame round out the field
TOURNAMENT HISTORY — Georgia Tech is playing in the Mason Rudolph Championship for the second time, having finished fourth among 17 teams in the 2009 event, which was held in the fall. Tech’s lineup for that event includes current PGA Tour pro Chesson Hadley, John-Tyler Griffin, Paul Haley, Kyle Scott and James White.
TEAM UPDATE — Georgia Tech is ranked No. 16 in this week’s Golfstat ranking and No. 11 in the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings. The Yellow Jackets finished 10th at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational in their last outing two weeks ago after finishing second at the Puerto Rico Classic and fourth in the Seminole Collegiate. Anders Alberton paced the Yellow Jackets by tying for 11th place individually. All three spring tournaments have featured at least eight teams which were ranked among the top 50 in the nation, against whom the Jackets have a 42-25-1 record this year. Tech’s schedule is ranked the 11th-most difficult in the nation according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Index.
