May 17, 2003
AUBURN, AL – Georgia Tech senior golfer Troy Matteson turned in the top performance of his career in carding a 6-under-par 66 on Saturday to win the NCAA East Regional individual title in school-record fashion by seven shots in Auburn, Ala. Matteson blitzed the par-72, 7,207-yard Auburn University Club layout for a 15-under-par 54-hole score in the event, to lead the Yellow Jackets to a second-place team finish.
Tech now advances to the NCAA Championship, which will be held May 27-30 at the Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.
“It feels great to finish second as a team,” said Tech head coach Bruce Heppler. “This is the best we’ve played all year and I’m really happy for the guys because they’ve really worked hard this year. Whenever you have Troy playing so well back there, it really makes us a good team.”
For Matteson, the defending NCAA Champion, his three-round score of 15-under-par, 68-67-66-201 was the best 54-hole score of his career and the lowest score by a Yellow Jacket in the East Regional in school history. The total bettered Matt Kuchar’s score of 202 during his win at the 1998 regional tournament. Matteson also became the fourth Tech player to win the event, as he picked up his sixth career victory. The total was seven shots better than William Ted Brown of VCU (69-69-70-208) and Gregg Jones of Clemson (69-72-67-208), both of whom tied for second. Matteson had only one bogey in three rounds.
“I really got the putts to go my way this week,” said Matteson. “This is a pretty cool feeling. I haven’t played well in regionals during my career, so it feels good to play well and be able to help the team. I didn’t make my first bogey until the 14th hole today and I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to not make a bogey. Once I had one, it really took a lot of pressure off me and that helped down the stretch.”
As a team, the Jackets put together their best outing of the year, shooting three sub-par rounds, including a 7-under-par 281 over the final 18 holes to finish at 16-under-par, 281-286-281-848. That score was 11 shots better than third-place Florida (290-288-281-859), but still nine strokes behind top-ranked Clemson, which blitzed the field for a 25-under-par score of 285-277-277-839.
Tech also got a solid individual performance from sophomore Chan Wongluekiet, who turned in his best tournament of the year, tying with three other players for 12th place at 5-under-par, 70-71-70-211. He was followed in the individual standings by fellow sophomore Nicholas Thompson, who tied for 43rd place at 71-76-73-220. Senior Adam Cranford in 53rd place at 72-78-72-222 and freshman Thomas Jordan in a tie for 76th place with a 54-hole score of 78-72-76-226, rounded out the Yellow Jacket contingent.
Full tournament results from the NCAA East Regional are available at www.golfstatlive.com. Pairings and tee times for the NCAA Championships will be announced following the conclusion of regional play this weekend.
FINAL TEAM SCORES1. Clemson 285-277-277-8392. Georgia Tech 281-286-281-8483. Florida 290-288-281-8594. Tennessee 281-291-291-8635. Duke 286-292-288-8666. Wake Forest 290-288-290-8687. Augusta State 290-290-293-8737. South Carolina 296-285-292-8739. Vanderbilt 293-289-293-87510. Auburn 292-290-295-87711. Georgia Southern 303-289-286-87812. East Tennessee State 297-296-293-88613. College of Charleston 295-292-300-88713. Georgia State 292-292-303-88715. UNC Wilmington 300-299-299-88815. Jacksonville State 302-287-299-88817. Penn State 305-286-305-89618. Rhode Island 310-293-297-90019. Virginia Tech 302-301-301-90420. Alabama 310-298-303-91121. Maryland 311-305-298-91422. James Madison 311-297-309-91722. Binghamton 307-305-305-91724. Liberty 312-307-311-93025. Charleston Southern 317-313-303-93326. Yale 317-316-308-94127. Jackson State 335-332-320-987
TOP-10 INDIVIDUALS & GEORGIA TECH PLAYERS 1. Troy Matteson, Georgia Tech 68-67-66-201 2. William Ted Brown, VCU 69-69-70-208 2. Gregg Jones, Clemson 69-72-67-208 4. Ryan Gildersleeve, S. Alabama 71-69-69-209 4. Matt Hendrix, Clemson 70-67-72-209 4. Lee Williams, Auburn 72-66-71–209 7. Lance Goodson, Vanderbilt 70-70-70-210 7. Ty Harris, Georgia State 70-68-72-210 7. James Heath, Augusta State 69-71-70-210 7. D.J. Trahan, Clemson 73-69-68-210 7. Neel Williams, Yale 69-71-70-210
GEORGIA TECH INDIVIDUALS T12. Chan Wongluekiet 70-71-70-211 T43. Nicholas Thompson 71-76-73-220 T51. Adam Cranford 72-78-72-222 T76. Thomas Jordan 78-72-76-226
-GT-
