Pebble Beach, Calif. – Georgia Tech’s 6th-ranked golf team finished off a dominant performance over two days at Cypress Point Golf Club by shutting out 5th-ranked Duke, 5-1, Tuesday in the championship match of the Cypress Point Classic.
The Yellow Jackets, seeded No. 2 behind Duke, lost only one individual match in the two-day event against three teams ranked 33rd or higher nationally. In the championship match, which featured six singles matches as the format, three of the Jackets finished off their opponents by the 14th hole.
Junior Noah Norton (Chico, Calif.), who went out first for Tech Tuesday, set the tone for the day with a 5 and 4 victory over Blue Devil senior Steven Dilisio. After Duke’s Adrien Pendaries scored a 5 and 4 victory over Tech sophomore Connor Howe (Ogden, Utah) in the No. 5 match, redshirt sophomore Ben Smith (Novi, Mich) routed junior QiWen Wong, 6 and 4, to get Tech its second point.
Senior Andy Ogletree (Little Rock, Miss.), the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, downed sophomore Quinn Riley, again by a 5 and 4 score, before senior Luke Schniederjans (Powder Springs, Ga.) defeated Duke senior Chandler Eaton, 3 and 2, to earn the Jackets’ clinching point.
Unlike the previous day’s competition, all matches were played to their conclusions. Senior Tyler Strafaci (Davie, Fla.), playing the Jackets’ anchor match, prevailed in the closest contest of the day, 2 and 1 over junior Evan Katz, to close out the match.
It was a gratifying result and a thrilling finish to the fall season for the Yellow Jackets, who won three of their four events. The exception came 10 days earlier when Tech finished 10th in the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational, while watching the Blue Devils capture the title on their home course.
Ogletree and Smith won every match they played, teaming up to win their fourball and foursomes matches Monday before earning singles victories for the Jackets Tuesday.
Third-seed UCLA captured a 4-2 victory over host and No. 4 seed Stanford in the third-place match, while sixth-seed Illinois routed No. 8 Alabama, 5-1, in the fifth-fifth-place match, and seventh-seed California beat No. 5 Southern California, 5.5-0.5 in the seventh-place match.
U.S. Amateur champion Andy Ogletree won all three of his matches over two days, teaming with Ben Smith to win their fourball and foursomes matches Monday and winning in singles Tuesday.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – The Cypress Point Classic is a bracketed match play event hosted by Stanford and featuring Alabama, California, Duke, Illinois, Southern California and UCLA, six of whom are ranked among the top 30 teams in the nation by Golfstat. The eight teams competing were pre-seeded No. 1 through No. 8 in order by average ranking between the latest Golfstat and Golfweek rankings. No. 1 seed will play No. 8 seed, etc., in the first round of bracketed play. Winners go forward in bracket, losers move to a consolation bracket. Each team is guaranteed three matches under each format.
The first two rounds were played Monday. Round one featured fourball, or best ball, matches. Teams compete in foursomes, or alternate shot, matches in round two. Round three on Tuesday featured singles matches.
Each match won is worth one point for his team. In the event a team match is tied 1.5-1.5, total holes won were used to break the tie and determine the winning team.
The Yellow Jackets made their second appearance in the event and first since the fall of 2016, when seniors Luke Schniederjans and Tyler Strafaci were freshmen. They helped Tech knock off Stanford and Georgia in the first two rounds. The Jackets lost to Southern California in the final round.
Georgia Tech at Cypress Point
Georgia Tech at Cypress Point
ROUND THREE (SINGLES)
CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET – CHAMPIONSHIP
1 Duke vs. 2 Georgia Tech // GEORGIA TECH WINS 6-0
Duke – Steven DiLisio (6)
GT – Noah Norton (6) 5&4
Duke – Adrien Pendaries (5) 5&4
GT – Connor Howe (5)
Duke – QiWen Wong (4)
GT – Ben Smith (4) 6&4
Duke – Quin Riley (3)
GT – Andy Ogletree (3) 5&4
Duke – Chandler Eaton (2)
GT – Luke Schniederjahns (2) 3&2
Duke – Evan Katz (1)
GT – Tyler Strafaci (1) 2&1
CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET – THIRD-PLACE MATCH
3 UCLA vs. 4 Stanford // UCLA WINS 4-2
UCLA – Bryan Teoh (6)
Stanford – Nate Menon (6) 3&2
UCLA – Devin Bling (5) 6&5
Stanford – Ethan Ng (5)
UCLA – Hidetoshi Yoshihara (4) TIED
Stanford – Daulet Tuleubayev (4) TIED
UCLA – Eddy Lai (3) 2&1
Stanford – Henry Shimp (3)
UCLA – Chaz Aurilla (2) TIED
Stanford – Barclay Brown (2) TIED
UCLA – Sean Maruyama (1) 3&2
Stanford – David Snyder (1)
CONSOLATION BRACKET – FIFTH-PLACE MATCH
6 Illinois vs. 8 Alabama // ILLINOIS WINS 5-1
Illinois – Giovanni Tadiotto (6) 4&3
Alabama – Prescott Butler (6)
Illinois – Adrian Dumont de Chassart (5) 3&2
Alabama – Davis Shore (5)
Illinois – Brendan O’Reilly (4) 4&3
Alabama – Thomas Ponder (4)
Illinois – Varun Chopra (3)
Alabama – Frankie Capan (3) 6&5
Illinois – Tommy Kuhl (2) 3&2
Alabama – Simms Abney (2)
Illinois – Michael Feagles (1) 6&5
Alabama – Wilson Furr (1)
CONSOLATION BRACKET – SEVENTH-PLACE MATCH
5 USC vs. 7 Cal // CAL WINS 5.5-0.5
USC – Leon D’Souza (6)
Cal – Kento Yamawaki (6) 5&4
USC – Cameron Henry (5)
Cal – James Song (5) 1 UP
USC – Kyle Suppa (4)
Cal – Finigan Tilly (4) 1 UP
USC – Issei Tanabe (3)
Cal – Jamie Cheatham (3) 2 UP
USC – Kaito Onishi (2) TIED
Cal – Connor Golembeski (2) TIED
USC – Yuxin Lin (1)
Cal – Kaiwen Liu (1) 2 UP
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 62 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.
