Top photo by Clyde Click | Front page photo by Danny Karnik
THE FLATS – Roberto Castro has been deeply involved in the development of the TGL golf tour … Ollie Schniederjans will compete in 2025 on the Asian Tour and as a LIV Golf reserve … Matt Kuchar and Vince Whaley open 2025 PGA Tour season in Hawai’i … Five Jackets open Korn Ferry Tour season in the Bahamas … More details below in this week’s Georgia Tech #ProJackets Report.
FORMER TECH STAR ROBERTO CASTRO SEES FRUIT OF HIS TGL LABOR
The new TGL golf league is the first of its kind, and former Georgia Tech All-American and longtime PGA standout Roberto Castro has enjoyed a unique view of its development.
Castro is the director for CapTech Ventures, the league’s technology provider, and has seen the TGL go from a concept to reality. He worked with TMRW Sports to set up the cadence for the matches and repeatedly tested them to make sure they were accurate, interesting and worked within the time slot.
“It was really the perfect combination of my sports background, my Georgia Tech engineering degree and a couple of other things,” said Castro, who decided to walk away from competition after COVID-19 hit. “A lot of our team that has worked on the project are software developers, computer engineers, data engineers and data architects. And then it’s like, would you happen too be interested in former PGA Tour payer help on the game’s strategy side. It’s been an absolute blast.”
The league, which was conceptualized by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, made its debut last week. It combines traditional golf with the technology of indoor simulated golf. Castro has spent many hours of testing at the facility and was on site for the first match.
More from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Heading to Palm Beach for the first-ever TGL match. A few thoughts:
I’ve been consistently amazed at the work and commitment required to bring something like TGL to life. I was frequently reminded of this John Collison post:
“As you become an adult, you realize that things…
— Roberto Castro (@cicioCASTRO) January 5, 2025
The August ’22 rendering for TGL –> how it looked on Night 1 pic.twitter.com/3bV6jEed4Q
— Sean Zak (@Sean_Zak) January 8, 2025
TECH ALL-AMERICAN SCHNIEDERJANS TO BECOME LIV GOLF RESERVE
US pro Ollie Schniederjans has confirmed where he will ply his trade in the 2025 season – and it won’t be on his regular circuit, the Korn Ferry Tour. Instead, he will be a LIV Golf reserve player, while he will also play on the Asian Tour.
The 31-year-old confirmed the news via X, writing: “Gearing up for 2025 and excited for the great opportunity to be a @livgolf_league reserve player and to play the @asiantourgolf international series this year!”
Schniederjans, who is rarely seen wearing a hat on the course, shot to prominence when he finished T12 at the 2015 Open, and turned professional soon after. However, any hopes the Georgia Tech graduate had of establishing himself on the PGA Tour have proved hard to realize.
The former World No.1 amateur earned his PGA Tour card after his maiden Korn Ferry Tour season (then the Web.com Tour), and held the status between 2017 and 2019. However, after finishing outside the top 150 in the FedEx Cup standings at the end of the 2018/19 season, he returned to the developmental circuit, where he has remained ever since.
Gearing up for 2025 and excited for the great opportunity to be a @livgolf_league reserve player and to play the @asiantourgolf international series this year! pic.twitter.com/ruAhQheLXK
— Ollie Schniederjans (@ollie_gt) January 10, 2025
KUCHAR RECIPIENT OF NCAA SILVER ANNIVERSARY AWARD
Matt Kuchar was a four-year letterwinner for Georgia Tech, winning seven collegiate tournaments and earning All-America honors three times from the Golf Coaches Association of America. The 1997 U.S. Amateur Championship winner, Kuchar was named the 1998 Fred Haskins Player of the Year and finished his career with 25 top-10 finishes, ranking him among the best in program history. Kuchar helped Georgia Tech capture the 1999 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship and reach the NCAA championship three times. He was inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. Kuchar has enjoyed an illustrious professional golf career, with nine PGA Tour victories and a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics. A veteran with more than 560 PGA Tour appearances, Kuchar has amassed over $60 million in career earnings.
Former @GTGolf golfer and #NCAA Silver Anniversary Award recipient Matt Kuchar talks about how NCAA competition allowed him to chase his dreams! ⛳
🔗 https://t.co/ST6gXS8ckQ pic.twitter.com/HrMHCsuDiY
— NCAA (@NCAA) January 7, 2025
