April 16, 2005
NEW LONDON, N.C. – Roberto Castro and Chan Song shot even-par 72 Saturday to lead the way, while Georgia Tech’s 290 was the best score of the second round and pulled the No. 3-ranked Yellow Jackets into a tie with Duke after 36 holes of the Atlantic Coast Conference Golf Championship.
Tech and Duke (291 Saturday), with 36-hole scores of 583 (19-over-par), are nine shots ahead of NC State (293 – 592) and 10 ahead of Clemson (293 – 593) at the Old North State Club heading into Sunday’s final round. Virginia is another eight strokes back at 601, followed by Florida State (603), Wake Forest (605), Maryland (618), North Carolina (619) and Virginia Tech (623).
Nicholas Thompson and Kevin Larsen each shot 73 for Tech, which has not counted a score higher than 74 in two rounds despite windy conditions along Badin Lake.
Tech, Duke and NC State will be the last groups to tee off Sunday (10:50 – 11:30 a.m.). Live scoring is available on Golfstat.com.
“It should be a fun day tomorrow,” said head coach Bruce Heppler, who has guided Tech to three ACC titles in nine years. “We played a good back nine again, which is nice. We had five good scores again.”
Ryan Blaum of Duke, whose 71 was the day’s best score, maintained his lead in the medal race (139), opening a four-shot lead on Castro (71-72 – 143) and Clemson’s Jack Ferguson (71-72 – 143). Virginia’s Brad Tilley (70-74 – 144) is the only other golfer at par or better through 36 holes. Scores were not appreciably better Saturday despite less severe winds and warmer temperatures.
“I was surprised the scores weren’t a lot lower today,” said Castro, who played the front nine in three-under before posting a double-bogey at No. 10 and posting a bogey-6 at the par-5 18th hole. “I thought the scores would be much lower today, and they were higher. I played well in some stretches. I putted well on the front, hit it a little better on the back. I had two or three [bad] swings on those last two holes.”
Despite the nine-shot advantage for the leaders, the course had dried up from rains earlier in the week and could yield low scores on Sunday, Castro said. It may take one for the Yellow Jackets to separate themselves.
“We’ve played well this week,” the sophomore from Alpharetta, Ga., said. “The highest score we’ve counted has been a 74, which is pretty good in this wind. If you want to distance yourself from the field, someone has to shoot low. You can’t be any more consistent than we have.
“It’s going to be fun going at [Duke] head-to-head. No matter where you’re at, once you get on 16 tee, it’s a whole new round. That’s the thing about team golf. You can be 10 strokes back and still win.”
Song is tied for sixth place individually at two-over-par 146, while Thompson, who has tied for second and third in previous years at the ACC Championship, is tied for eighth at 147. Mike Barbosa (75 Saturday) is tied for 13th at 149, and Larsen is alone in 20th place at 151.
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
Old North State Club, New London, N.C.
7,102 yards, Par 72
Second-Round Results
TEAM STANDINGS
Duke 292-291 – 583
Georgia Tech 293-290 – 583
NC State 299-293 – 592
Clemson 300-293 – 593
Virginia 299-303 – 602
Florida State 297-306 – 603
Wake Forest 302-303 – 605
Maryland 302-316 – 618
North Carolina 314-305 – 619
Virginia Tech 308-315 – 623
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Ryan Blaum, Duke 68-71 – 139
Roberto Castro, Georgia Tech 71-72 – 143
Jack Ferguson, Clemson 71-72 – 143
Brad Tilley, Virginia 70-74 – 144
Nathan Smith, Duke 73-72 – 145
Jerry Richardson, NC State 73-73 – 146
Chan Song 74-72 – 146
Tully Coyle, Maryland 71-76 – 147
Brent Delahoussaye, Clemson 73-74 – 147
Song Jeon, Florida State 74-73 – 147
Nicholas Thompson 74-73 – 147
Banks Wood, NC State 75-72 – 147
OTHER GEORGIA TECH SCORES
T12 Michael Barbosa 74-75 – 149
20 Kevin Larsen 78-73 – 151
