Tech Golf Finishes 13th at Southern Highlands

LAS VEGAS – Benjamin Reuter fired a 3-under-par 69 Tuesday, pacing 16^th-ranked Georgia Tech to a 3-over-par total of 291, the best scores for the Yellow Jackets this week at the Southern Highlands Collegiate. Still, the Yellow Jackets slipped to 13^th place on the final leaderboard.

Tech finished with a 54-hole total of 896 (+32). Top-ranked Auburn remained the only team in the field under par, taking advantage of more benign conditions to shoot 7-under-par for the day and win the tournament by 10 strokes. Reuter’s score Tuesday was the Jackets’ only under-par round over three days, and the redshirt junior from Naarden, The Netherlands finished in a tie for 13^th place individually at 219 (+3).

The 15-team field for the SHC included nine teams ranked in the Scoreboard Powered by Clippd Top-25 rankings and 13 squads in the top 50. Tech, which made its 20th appearance in this event, won the tournament in 2001 and 2002.

Tech returns to action March 17-18 when the Yellow Jackets play for the first time in the Pauma Valley Invitational in Pauma Valley, Calif.

 

Benjamin Reuter has logged seven-straight top-20 finishes. (photo by Ross Obley)

 

TECH LINEUP – Reuter posted his seventh consecutive top-20 finish for the Yellow Jackets, playing under par on the front and the back nines Tuesday, recording five birdies against a pair of bogeys.

Sophomore Kale Fontenot (Lafayette, La.) shot a final-round 1-over-par 73, with junior Aidan Tran (Fresno, Calif.) adding a 74 and freshman Albert Hansson (Fiskebäckskil, Sweden) a 75 to the Jackets’ closing score. Fontenot tied for 47^th place at 226 (+10), while Tran tied for 61^st and Hansson 63^rd. Junior Hiroshi Tai (Singapore) closed with a 76 and tied for 71^st place.

Sophomore Carson Kim (Yorba Linda Calif.) turned in a closing 77 and tied for 39^th place overall, competing as an individual.

LEADERBOARD SUMMARY – Three Auburn players finished among the top 5 individually, spurring the No. 1-ranked Tigers to a 10-stroke victory over host UNLV. Auburn shot 7-under-par 281 in the final round and finished the tournament at 9-under-par 857. The Rebels were even-par in Tuesday’s round for a 54-hole total of 865 (+1).

New Mexico (+7) and No. 9 Virginia (+10) finished third and fourth, respectively, and No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 11 Florida and No. 24 Pepperdine tied for fifth (+19) in the 15-team field.

Despite a final-round 73, Caden Fioroni of UNLV completed a wire-to-wire victory in the individual race, finishing at 9-under-par 207. That was two strokes better than Auburn’s Carson Bacha (-7). Virginia’s Ben James (-4) and Auburn’s Josiah Gilbert (-4) and Brendan Valdes (-2) rounded out the top five.

 

EVENT DETAILS

Southern Highlands Collegiate

• Dates: March 2-4 (54 holes of stroke play, low 4 of 5 scorer count for team score each round)
• Format: 18 holes each Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, begins 12 p.m. EST each day from No. 1 and No. 10 holes
• Venue: Southern Highlands Golf Club (par 72, 7,510 yards)
• Participating teams (15): 2 Auburn, No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 9 Virginia, No. 11 Florida, No. 12 Illinois, No. 16 Georgia Tech, No. 18 SMU, No. 22 San Diego State, No. 24 Pepperdine, No. 26 Texas A&M, No. 30 Georgia, No. 31 UNLV, No. 50 USC, New Mexico and Washington
• Tech appearances (last appearance): 20^th appearance (tied for 6^th place in 2023)
• Best finish: won championship in 2001 and 2002
• Individual titles: Stewart Cink and David Duval (co-medalists in 1992), Troy Matteson (co-medalist in 2002), Cameron Tringale (2009)

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ABOUT GEORGIA TECH GOLF

Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 30^th year under head coach Bruce Heppler, winning 73 tournaments in his tenure. The Yellow Jackets have won 19 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, made 33 appearances in the NCAA Championship and been the national runner-up five times. Follow Georgia Tech Golf on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on X (@GTGolf) and Instagram. For more information on Tech golf, visit Ramblinwreck.com.