THE FLATS – Ranked No. 14 in the latest Scoreboard NCAA Golf Ranking, Georgia Tech’s golf team closes out its fall season by competing in the 10th annual East Lake Cup, a prestigious event bringing together the 2024 NCAA Championship semifinal teams, men and women, for a three-day stroke and match play competition.
The tournament, held at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, begins with a stroke-play round of 18 holes Monday, after which an individual medalist will be crowned, and continues with semifinal matches on Tuesday and concludes third-place and championship matches Wednesday. Seeding for the match play semifinals is based on team standing after Monday’s stroke play round.
The Yellow Jackets finished third in stroke play last year, lost to North Carolina in their semifinal match and defeated Florida in the third-place match. Kale Fontenot (Lafayette, La.), a freshman at the time, won medalist honors.
In four events this fall, Tech recorded a victory at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational, where the Yellow Jackets bested No. 2 Arizona State by a stroke and a 15-team field that included 11 other top-25 teams, a seventh-place finish in its home event, the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational last week, and a pair of eighth-place finishes at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate and the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational.
The men’s field for the East Lake Cup also includes defending NCAA Champion Auburn, currently ranked No. 4 in the nation, Florida State (No. 32) and Ohio State (No. 55).
Stroke play begins Monday at 10:30 a.m. for the women’s teams and 11:42 a.m. for the men’s teams. Players are paired in foursomes, one player from each team. Matches begin at 10:40 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. Admission is free.
Head coach Bruce Heppler, in his 30th year at the helm of the Tech program, has returned four golfers who played significant roles in getting the Yellow Jackets to the semifinals of the NCAA Championship for the second straight year in 2024, including reigning NCAA Champion Hiroshi Tai (Singapore), who became Tech’s fourth national collegiate champion with his one-shot victory last May in Carlsbad, Calif.
Kale Fontenot shows off the Charles R. Yates Trophy after winning medalist honors as a freshman at last year’s East Lake Cup. (photo by Clyde Click)
TECH LINEUP – Redshirt junior Benjamin Reuter (Naarden, The Netherlands) has been Tech’s top player this fall, posting a runner-up finish at Olympia Fields, a tie for 14th at the Ben Hogan and a tie for 15th at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational. He is ranked No. 32 in the Scoreboard NCAA rankings.
Tai, listed on the Fall Watch List for the Fred Haskins Award and as a pre-season All-American by Golfweek magazine and Golf Channel, has three top-20 finishes this fall and is ranked No. 84 in the NCAA Scoreboard rankings. leads the five-man contingent for the Yellow Jackets this weekend. The junior from Singapore won twice as a freshman prior to his NCAA Championship.
They are joined in the lineup for the East Lake Cup by Fontenot, the medalist at last year’s Cup, freshman Albert Hansson (Fiskebäckskil, Sweden), who is ranked No. 112 in the WAGR, and junior Aidan Tran (Fresno, Calif.), who stepped in to play three stroke play rounds and win a match at last year’s NCAA Championship.
EAST LAKE CUP INFORMATION – The 10th annual East Lake Cup takes place Monday through Wednesday at East Lake Golf Club, which hosts the final event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs on the PGA Tour each year. The competition includes each of the four men’s and women’s semifinal teams from the previous year’s NCAA Championship. East Lake Golf Club will measure 7,195 yards and play to a par of 72.
Golf Channel and Peacock will provide live coverage of the competition from 3-6 p.m. each day.
Competition Schedule
- Monday, Oct. 28 (stroke play): 10:30 a.m. | Golf Channel coverage: 3-6 p.m. (live); 8-11 p.m. (replay)
- Tuesday, Oct. 29 (match play semifinals): 10:40 a.m. | Golf Channel coverage: 3-6 p.m. (live); 8-11 p.m. (replay)
- Wednesday, Oct. 31 (match play finals and consolation): 10:40 a.m. | Golf Channel coverage: 3-6 p.m. (live); 8-11 p.m. (replay)
Men’s teams: Auburn, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Ohio State; Women’s teams: LSU, Oregon, Southern California, UCLA
Format – The tournament format features 18 holes of stroke play to determine an individual male and female champion, and to set seedings for team match play. There will then be two rounds of match play to determine a team champion, along with a consolation match to determine third place.
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH GOLF
Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 30th 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.
