April 17, 2014
Norman, Okla. – Georgia Tech’s Ollie Schniederjans has been named to participate on the United States team that will compete against Europe in the 2014 Palmer Cup at Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England. The annual Ryder Cup-style competition for collegiate players will be contested June 26-28.
Schniederjans, a junior from Powder Springs, Ga., is ranked sixth in the latest World Amateur Golf rankings, and is No. 4 nationally in the Golfweek/Sagarin Index and No. 7 in the Golfstat rankings for U.S. collegiate players. He has won four tournaments this year, including the Valspar Invitational and the Robert Kepler Invitational this spring, and earned three other top-10 finishes. His stroke average of 69.90 would rank No. 2 in Tech history if the season ended today, and he has a 91.5-percent head-to-head winning rate in 10 tournaments this year.
He was named “Player of the Mid-Season” by Golf World magazine after he won twice and finished on the top five of the other two events in which Tech competed in the fall.
“I’m very excited about this, and honored to be representing the United States,” said Schniederjans. “I’ve hoped to make the team all year, and I felt like I needed to play well the last couple of tournaments to luck up my spot. This is special because you represent Georgia Tech and the USA at the same time. We’re always representing Tech anytime we play, but in this case it’s on an international level, and we’re competing against other great players in Europe. It’s very exciting.”
Schniederjans was one of six automatic picks based on the Palmer Cup rankings (he was ranked No. 2), along with Cameron Wilson of Stanford, Robby Shelton of Alabama, Oklahoma State’s Wyndham Clark, Brandon Hagy of California and Southern California’s Rico Hoey from the ranking. Committee selections were Bryson Dechambeau of SMU, Oglethorpe’s Anthony Maccaglia and Alabama’s Trey Mullinax. Stewart Jolly of LSU was coach Steve Desimone’s coach’s pick.
The Tech junior has represented the United States in international competition before, competing on the American side in the World Junior Golf Team Championship in Japan and the Junior Ryder Cup in Scotland in the summer of 2010. In the Ryder Cup event, Schniederjans roomed with current PGA Tour pro Jordan Speith and played alongside teammates who became successful collegians like Anthony Paolucci of Southern California and Denny McCarthy of Virginia.
Schniederjans becomes the 10th Georgia Tech player or coach to be part of a United States team for the Palmer Cup, joining James White (2012), Cameron Tringale (2009), Chesson Hadley (2008), Roberto Castro (2005, 2006), Kevin Larsen (2006), Bryce Molder (1998. 1999, 2001) and Matt Kuchar (1998, 1999). Tech coach Bruce Heppler served as coach of the U.S. team in 2003, and former assistant coach Christian Newton was an assistant coach for the 2012 USA team.
“We’re excited for Ollie. He’s worked hard and had a very good year,” said Tech coach Bruce Heppler. “We’ve had a history of guys being selected for this team, and that inspires the younger guys to want to do the same thing. I know he’s thrilled to represent his country once again after playing in two events before he came to Tech.”
Jon Rahm of Arizona State (Spain), UCF’s Ricardo Gouveia (Portugal), Erik Oja of Arizona (Sweden), Illinois’ Thomas Detry (Belgium), Pep Angles of Central Arkansas (Spain), and Houston’s James Ross (Scotland) were the six European players selected by the Palmer Cup Ranking. UAB’s Paul Dunne (Ireland) and Grant Forrest of San Diego (Scotland) were committee selections. Louis Tomlinson of UCLAN Myerscough (England) qualified for Team Europe by winning The R&A Foundation Scholars Tournament. Jack McDonald of Stirling University in Scotland was coach Andrew Coltart’s coach’s pick. Seven countries are represented on Team Europe.
The United States leads the Palmer Cup series 9-7-1 and is 2-5-1 on European soil.
About Georgia Tech Golf
Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 19th year under head coach Bruce Heppler. The Yellow Jackets have won 14 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, made 26 appearances in the NCAA Championship and been the national runner-up four times. Connect with Georgia Tech Golf on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on Twitter (@GT_Golf). For more information on Tech golf, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
