Sept. 29, 2002
Rocky Face, Ga. — Georgia Tech senior golfer Troy Matteson picked up the 2002-03 tournament season in the same fashion he finished the 2002 season, with an individual title. Matteson shared medalist honors with Wake Forest’s Bill Haas at the Carpet Capital Collegiate. The 54-hole tournament was contested at the 6,906-yard, par-72 Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Ga.
Following an even-par round of 72 on the opening day of the tournament, Matteson blitzed the course for a career-best-tying 8-under-par score of 64 on Saturday, before finishing with a final-round 3-under-par score of 69. The three-day total of 11-under-par, 72-64-69-205 matches Matteson’s career best 54-hole score, set a year ago in a win at the Puerto Rico Classic. The fifth individual title of his career moves him into a tie with Stewart Cink and Charlie Rymer for fourth on Tech’s all-time list. Haas shared medalist honors for the second time this year, matching Matteson with his 11-under-par total of 66-70-69-205.
As a team, the Yellow Jackets were unable to improve on their second round score on the final day, finishing Sunday’s round with an 8-over-par total of 296. For the weekend, Tech finished alone in 15th place at 20-over-par, 304-284-296-884. That total put the Jackets well off the pace of team champion and top-ranked Clemson, which finished the tournament at 14-under-par, 287-282-281-850.
Following Matteson in the individual standings was sophomore Nicholas Thompson, who carded an even-par 72 on Sunday to finish tied with nine other players in 36th place at 4-over-par, 77-71-72-220. Fellow sophomore Wren Fowler wrapped up his collegiate tournament debut with a final-round score of 77, to finish as one of four players tied for 76th place at 78-76-77-231. The final two members of the Tech contingent in the field were senior Adam Cranford (79-73-80-232) and freshman Michael Barbosa, (77-84-78-239) who finished tied for 80th and alone in 88th respectively.
The Yellow Jackets will return to action in just over a week, when they travel to Stillwater, Okla., to compete in the prestigious Ping/Golfweek Preview Invitational at the Karsten Creek Golf Club on October 7-8.
FINAL TEAM SCORES1 Clemson 287 282 281 8502 Augusta State 294 281 277 8523 UNLV 285 287 284 8564 Florida 278 284 295 8575 North Carolina State 288 293 282 8636 Southern California 292 287 289 8687 North Carolina 288 297 284 869T8 Georgia 294 286 290 870T8 Oklahoma, U. of 294 296 280 87010 Texas 295 287 289 87111 Wake Forest Univ. 288 296 290 87412 East Tennessee St. 284 299 294 87713 South Carolina 298 289 292 87914 Arizona 294 296 291 88115 Georgia Tech 304 284 296 88416 Auburn 301 297 295 89317 Tennessee, Univ. of 295 296 303 89418 Purdue 306 304 305 915
TOP-10 INDIVIDUALS T1 Bill Haas, Wake Forest Univ. 66 70 69 205 T1 Troy Matteson, Georgia Tech 72 64 69 205 3 Oliver Wilson, Augusta State 71 67 69 207 4 Jason Hartwick, Texas 70 69 70 209 T5 Ben Duncan, Clemson 73 69 69 211 T5 Camilo Villegas, Florida 67 71 73 211 T5 Justin Walters, North Carolina State 70 71 70 211 T8 Dustin Bray, North Carolina 72 73 67 212 T8 Jason Moon, North Carolina State4 73 71 68 212 T10 Mitch Carlson, UNLV 71 74 68 213 T10 Gregg Jones, Clemson 71 73 69 213 T10 Kevin Kisner, Georgia 72 70 71 213 T10 Michael Maness, South Carolina 70 72 71 213 T10 Doug Manor, Oklahoma, U. of 72 73 68 213 T10 Chris Nallen, Arizona 70 72 71 213
GEORGIA TECH INDIVIDUALS T36 Nicholas Thompson 77 71 72 220 T76 Wren Fowler 78 76 77 231 T80 Adam Cranford 79 73 80 232 88 Michael Barbosa 77 84 78 239
