Panama City, Fla. – No. 21 Georgia Tech was one of only four teams to finish under par on Thursday and sits in fourth after round one of stroke play at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship. Albert Hansson (Fiskebäckskil, Sweden) and Benjamin Reuter (Naarden, The Netherlands) led the Yellow Jackets, both with subpar rounds, as Tech carded a 1-under-par team total 287 to open its quest for its 20th ACC title at Shark’s Tooth Golf Club.
Hansson and Reuter were two of only 20 golfers to finish under par in the opening round. The pair of Jackets are tied for 14th individually, just five strokes off the individual leader, SMU’s Williams Sides (66, -6). Tech, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, is 12 strokes off the team leader, No. 17 Stanford (275, -13). The Cardinal hold a 10-stroke lead over second-place No. 31 Wake Forest (285, -3).
Fifteen teams are competing for the prestigious ACC title, which includes 54 holes of stroke play to determine eight teams that qualify for match play. Twelve teams entered the tournament ranked among the top 50 in the Scoreboard NCAA Rankings, with five of those, including the Yellow Jackets, ranked in the top 25.
The ACC Championship returns to the state of Florida for the third time in the history of the championship, and will be played at the Shark’s Tooth Golf Club (par 72, 7,199 yards) for the second time in five seasons. Georgia Tech has had success in ACC Championships played in Florida, capturing the title in 2001 and finishing runner-up in 2022.
Round 2 continues on Friday with action beginning at 8 a.m. CT. The Yellow Jackets will tee off hole No. 1 beginning at 9:17 a.m. CT and will be paired with Duke and Florida State.
Albert Hansson and Benjamin Reuter both carded subpar rounds on Thursday and are tied for 14th individually. (Photos by Andy Mead)
TECH LINEUP – Reuter played the back nine (Tech’s opening nine) with just one bogey before gaining ground on the front nine with a trio of birdies to one bogey. Reuter completed the round at 1-under-par 71.
Sophomore Hansson played the back nine even with a birdie and bogey and went 2-under-par with birdies on holes No. 3 and 8 before closing out the round with a bogey on nine for his 1-under-par showing. Reuter and Hansson are in a seven-way tie for 14th entering second round action.
Junior Kale Fontenot (Lafayette, La.) also had a strong showing, playing the Shark’s Tooth Golf Club even on Thursday. After going 2-over-par on the back nine, Fontenot played the first three holes on the front nine, birdie-bogey-birdie to move to 1-over-par. Fontenot closed the front nine birdie-par-par to turn in an even-par 72. He sits tied for 21st.
Senior Hiroshi Tai (Singapore) will look for a strong second round after carding a 1-over-par 73 on Thursday. Tai is tied for 28th individually. Rounding out Tech’s lineup, Aidan Tran (Fresno, Calif.) carded a 2-over-par 74 and did not count for the team score. He is tied for 37th after round one.
LEADERBOARD SUMMARY – With three players sitting in the top five of the individual leaderboard, No. 17 Stanford posted a 13-under-par team total 275 to lead by 10 strokes after 18 holes. No. 31 Wake Forest sits in second place (285, -3), while No. 9 North Carolina is in third (286, -2).
Georgia Tech is the final team under par on Thursday, sitting in fourth place (287, -1). SMU rounds out the top five at even (288).
Sides (SMU) paced the field on Thursday by carding a 6-under-par 66, two strokes ahead of Edan Cui (Stanford), Dean Greyserman (Stanford) and Ben Steinmann (SMU), all tied for second at 4-under-par 68.
Three players are tied for fifth at 69 (-3), while six are tied for eighth at 70 (-2). Another seven golfers are tied for 14th, including Hansson and Reuter, at 71 (-1) to complete the group of golfers under-par on Thursday.
Kale Fontenot shot an even-par 72 and is tied for 21st.
TECH’S ACC CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Georgia Tech has won 19 ACC men’s golf championships, tying the Yellow Jackets with Wake Forest for the most titles in conference history. Tech’s titles have all come from 1985 to the present. Before the Demon Deacons outlasted the Jackets in the championship match in 2022, Wake Forest’s most recent title had occurred in 1989.
Tech has won the ACC Championship 11 times in the last 19 years, most recently in 2023. The 2020 ACC Tournament was not held after the 2020 spring season was cut short due to Covid-19.
Fourteen of Tech’s conference titles have come under head coach Bruce Heppler, 12 of those outright (1999, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2023) and two shared (2006, 2007).The Yellow Jackets have won five championships (1985, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994) under previous head coach Puggy Blackmon.
Twelve of Tech’s ACC titles have been won at the Old North State Club in New London, N.C., site of the event 22 of the last 28 years. The others took place at Bryan Park Golf Course in Greensboro, N.C. (1985), Northgreen Country Club in Rocky Mount, N.C. (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994), Disney’s Magnolia Course in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (2001) and the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst, N.C. (2023).
Georgia Tech has produced 11 ACC individual champions, including Bob McDonnell (1985), David Duval (1991, 1993), Mikko Rantanen (1994), Bryce Molder (2000), Cameron Tringale (2006), Chesson Hadley (2010), Paul Haley II (2011), Anders Albertson (2013, 2015) and Ollie Schniederjans (2014). Albertson and Duval are among five ACC players to have won two championships.
EVENT DETAILS
Atlantic Coast Conference Championship
- Dates: April 23-27 (54 holes of stroke play, low 4 of 5 scores count for team score each day, top 8 teams advance to match play)
- Venue: Shark’s Tooth Golf Club, Panama City, Fla. (par 72, 7,199 yards)
- Participating teams (15): Boston College, California (50), Clemson (32), Duke (27), Florida State (24), Georgia Tech (21), Louisville (35), NC State, North Carolina (9), Notre Dame (29), SMU (46), Stanford (18), Virginia (2), Virginia Tech, Wake Forest (31)
- Tech appearances (appearances): 47th (last in 2025)
- Best finish: 19 titles (most recent in 2023)
- Individual titles: 10 (most recent, Anders Alberton in 2015)
- Schedule (all times Central Daylight Time):
- Thursday – Stroke play round 1 (8 a.m. from No. 1 and No. 10 holes)
- Friday – Stroke play round 2 (8 a.m. from No. 1 and No. 10 holes)
- Saturday – Stroke play round 3 (8 a.m. from No. 1 and No. 10 holes)
- Sunday – Quarterfinal matches (7:30 a.m.) and semifinal matches (following quarterfinals)
- Monday – Championship match (9 a.m.)
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of the development of Yellow Jackets that thrive academically at the Institute and compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH GOLF
Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 31st year under head coach Bruce Heppler, winning 73 tournaments in his tenure. The Yellow Jackets have won 19 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, made 34 appearances in the NCAA Championship and been the national runner-up five times. Follow Georgia Tech Golf on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on X (@GTGolf) and Instagram. For more information on Tech golf, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
