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Alpharetta, Ga. – U.S. Amateur champion Andy Ogletree fired a 3-under-par 69 Friday, pacing No. 1 Georgia Tech to a 2-over-par score of 290 and ninth place following the first round of the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational.
The 54-hole event runs through Sunday on the Lakeside Course at the Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta, and admission is free. Competition begins at 9 a.m. each morning.
TECH LINEUP – Other than an eagle from senior Luke Schniederjans (Powder Springs, Ga.) on the par-5 first holes and a 4-under-par front nine from Ogletree, the top-ranked Yellow Jackets struggled out of the gate Friday. But they picked up six birdies on the eighth and ninth holes, and three more at the 18th to finish at 2-over-par.
Ogletree, a senior from Little Rock, Miss., birdied five holes on the front side and recorded another at 18 in fashioning his 69. He is tied for seventh place individually, two shots off the lead.
Tech’s other counting scores came from senior Tyler Strafaci (Davie, Fla.), who carded a 73 and is tied for 33rd place, and junior Noah Norton (Chico, Calif.) and sophomore Connor Howe (Ogden Utah), each with 74s and tied for 43rd place. Schniederjans wound up with a 75 and did not count.
Among the five Yellow Jackets competing as individuals, sophomore Ben Smith (Novi, Mich.) led the way with a 73, tying for 33rd place, while freshmen Bartley Forrester (Gainesville, Fla.) and Andy Mao (Johns Creek, Ga.) each shot 74 and are tied for 43rd place.
Tyler Strafaci is tied for 33rd place after shooting 73.
TEAM LEADERBOARD – West Coast teams ruled the day Friday, with No. 9 Pepperdine opening a seven-stroke lead over Stanford. The Waves has four players under par for the round and posted a 12-under-par total of 276. Stanford finished at 5-under-par 283, paced by individual leader David Snyder at 67.
No. 10 Duke had three under-par rounds to grab third place at 4-under-par 284, while UCLA, with a pair of subpar rounds, and No. 13 North Carolina are tied for fourth place at 3-under-par 285. No. 16 Texas A&M is in sixth place at 286 (-2), with the remaining eight teams over par. Southern California and Wake Forest are tied for seventh place.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD – Stanford’s David Snyder, Southern Cal’s Yuxin Lin and Texas A&M’s William Paysse grabbed the first-round lead after firing 5-under-par 67s, two strokes ahead of a group of three players at 68 that included Pepperdine teammates Joshua McCarthy and Joe Highsmith.
Ogletree is among four players at 3-under-par 69, tied for seventh place, and another five players finished their opening rounds at 2-under-par 70, tied for 11th.
Twenty-one of the 78 players in the field broke par on Friday.
"Not as good a round as we would expect today with conditions being pretty good. We’re keyed up playing on our home course, which happens. As we know well, you’ve got to play, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 well, because it gets harder from there. We got off to a horrific start, and the back nine is hard, especially when the wind was blowing this afternoon. If you don’t get it done (on the early holes), it’s going to be a long day. Pepperdine had a great round, and if you look at their front nine, it’s good. We fought hard all day and made some birdies. Tomorrow is going to be a bear (weather-wise), so hopefully we can make up some ground."
Head Coach Bruce Heppler
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – The Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate, formerly called the United States Collegiate Championship, is contested at the Yellow Jackets’ home club. The tournament is played exclusively on the 7,017-yard, par 72 Lakeside Course, 18 holes each day through Sunday.
The event annually attracts one of the strongest fields in college golf, and this year it is as strong as ever with 12 NCAA championship teams from last spring, including defending NCAA Champion Stanford and NCAA match play participants Texas A&M and Wake Forest, entered along with Clemson, Duke, North Carolina, Pepperdine, Southern California and TCU.
The 14-team field includes four of the nation’s top 10 teams, seven of the top 25 and 12 of the top 50 in the most recent Golfweek/Sagarin Index. The complete field with Sagarin ranking – Georgia Tech (1), Clemson (15), Duke (10), East Tennessee State (27), North Carolina (13), Pepperdine (9), Southern California (30), Stanford (34), Tennessee (29), Texas A&M (16), UCLA (33), Wake Forest (4), TCU and Virginia.
TECH’S GOLF CLUB OF GEORGIA COLLEGIATE HISTORY – Georgia Tech has won the USCC twice in its 13-year history, in 2010 and 2012. James White, who set tournament records for 18-hole score (62) and 54-hole score (204, broken in 2014), won medalist honors in 2010, while Ollie Schniederjans won it in 2013 for Tech’s only individual titles. Clemson, Oklahoma State, Southern California and Texas also have won twice. The Tigers having captured the inaugural title in 2006 and again in 2009, the Longhorns winning on 2014 and shared the title with Virginia in 2016, the Cowboys won in 2013 and 2017, and the Trojans in 2008 and last fall.
The Yellow Jackets tied for third place last fall, and have finished out of the top five just twice in 12 years.
ACC NETWORK HAS LAUNCHED!
The ACC Network is a linear and digital platform dedicated to 24/7 coverage of ACC sports that launched on Aug. 22, 2019. It will exclusively televise approximately 450 live events each year, including 40 football games (beginning with Georgia Tech’s 2019 season opener at Clemson on Aug. 29), as well as 150 men’s and women’s basketball contests.
Don’t get shut out! For more information and to learn if your cable/satellite/digital provider is carrying the ACC Network, visit GetACCN.com. Georgia Tech fans whose cable/satellite/digital providers aren’t carrying the ACC Network are urged to contact their providers and ask for the ACC Network to be a part of their subscription.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH GOLF
Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 25th year under head coach Bruce Heppler, winning 61 tournaments in his tenure. The Yellow Jackets have won 18 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, made 29 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 (@GTGolf) and Instagram. For more information on Tech golf, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
