Naples, Fla. – Sophomore Aidan Tran fired a 3-under-par 69 Sunday to grab a share of second place on the individual leaderboard, while 15th-ranked Georgia Tech posted a 5-over-par total of 293 and is tied for fifth place after the opening round of the Calusa Cup at Calusa Pines Golf Club.
The Yellow Jackets, No. 15 in the Scoreboard collegiate rankings, were only able to get one subpar score in Sunday’s opening round and are 10 strokes off the pace of Florida (283, -5), tied with Iowa. The second round tees off at 12 p.m. EDT Tuesday.
Tech is playing the Calusa Cup without its top player, All-American Christo Lamprecht (George, South Africa), who is playing in the Masters this week, an invitation that resulted from winning The Amateur Championship last summer. The senior from George, South Africa, ranked the No. 1 amateur in the world currently, defeated U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap Sunday in the annual Georgia Cup, a match featuring the champions of the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur, at the Golf Club of Georgia, making eagle at the 18th hole for a 1-up victory.
TECH LINEUP – Tran, a sophomore from Fresno, Fla., and the Yellow Jackets started strong Sunday on the first few holes at Calusa Pines Golf Club, with the sophomore making birdie at 1 and 2, freshman Kale Fontenot (Lafayette, La.) recording an eagle at 2 and senior Bartley Forrester (Gainesville, Ga.) birdieing the second.
But only Tran maintained that level throughout his round, adding four more birdies to offset a bogey and a double bogey for his 69, his second-best round of the spring season. Sophomore Hiroshi Tai (Singapore) shot 1-over-par 73, Forrester finished at 2-over-par 74, and senior Aidan Kramer (Oviedo, Fla.) added a 5-over-par 77 for the Jackets’ counting scores. Fontenot shot 7-over 79.
The Jackets also are missing freshman Carson Kim (Yorba Linda, Calif.), who has been in Tech’s starting five for each spring event and stayed home with an injury.
Aidan Tran’s best finish this year has been a tie for 12th at the Linger Longer Invitational. (photo by Clyde Click)
TEAM LEADERBOARD – The defending national champion Gators (283, -5), ranked 16th in the nation, got a pair of 69s from its lineup and lead by four shots over Wake Forest (287, -1). They were the only teams in the limited eight-team field to break par Sunday.
Purdue (289, +1) is in third place, followed by Georgia (291, +3), with Tech and Iowa tied at 293, +5). Miami of Ohio (296, +8) and Nebraska (300, +12) trail.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD – Scotty Kennon of Wake Forest birdied three of his last five holes and posted a 5-under-par 67, taking a two-stroke lead over Tech’s Tran, Georgia’s Ben Van Wyk and Florida teammates Jack Turner and Tyler Wilkes, each of whom shot 69.
Brett Podobinski of Miami and Herman Sekne of Purdue are tied for sixth place at 2-under-par 68, with Michael Brennan of Wake Forest and Iowa teammates Ian Meyer and Noah Kent tied for eighth at 1-under-par 71.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – Georgia Tech has competed in the Calusa Cup twice, winning the event by eight strokes over Florida in 2022, and earning a runner-up finish behind top-ranked Oklahoma in 2021. Bartley Forrester shared medalist honors with the Gators’ Fred Biondi in 2022.
The event features a limited, but strong field with five of the eight teams currently residing in the top 50 of the Scoreboard NCAA Golf rankings, including Florida (16), Georgia Tech (15), Georgia (22), Iowa, Miami of Ohio, Nebraska, Purdue (30) and Wake Forest (34).
The tournament is contested at Calusa Country Club, which measures 7,320 yards and plays to a par of 72. Play begins at 12 p.m. Eastern time Sunday and Monday, with the final round starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday. Each team will have five players competing with the low four scores counting toward the team total each day, and the tournament will be 54 holes, 18 each on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of the development of Yellow Jackets that thrive academically at the Institute and compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH GOLF
Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 29th year under head coach Bruce Heppler, having won 72 tournaments in his tenure. Heppler is the 10th-longest-tenured head coach in Division I men’s golf. 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. 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.
