Tech Golf Finishes Fall Ranked No. 5

Nov. 12, 2010

ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s golf team, which finished its fall campaign with a 27-stroke victory at the United State Collegiate Championship, stands at No. 5 in the final fall Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, and No. 6 in the Golfstat national rankings.

The Yellow Jackets, who returned four starters from the team that advanced to last springs NCAA Match Play Championship and won the Atlantic Coast Conference for the fourth time in five years, began the fall No. 17 in the Golfweek pre-season poll and were enjoying a good fall before lighting up the scoreboard against a strong field at the October USCC.

Golfweek/Sagarin Index
Golfstat ranking

Tech had finished third at the Carpet Capital Collegiate, seventh at the Ping/Golfweek Preview Invitational and fourth at the Brickyard Collegiate. Then junior shot a 10-under-par 62 in the opening round of the USCC, sparking the Jackets to a 13-shot lead in the opening round. It grew from there.

UCLA, which remains the nation’s top-ranked team in the Golfweek rankings and third in Golfstat, was the distant runner-up at the USCC, and No. 10 Texas A&M was third.

The Golfweek/Sagarin top 10 includes UCLA, Oklahoma State, Florida, Alabama, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Texas, LSU, Auburn and Texas A&M. Golfstat’s top 10 is slightly different with Florida on top, followed by Oklahoma State, UCLA, Alabama, defending NCAA champion Augusta State, Georgia Tech, LSU, Illinois, Iowa and Texas.

Individually, Tech’s four returning players are all in the top 85 of the Golfweek/Sagarin Index, three of them in the top 29, led by senior at No. 18. White, the USCC medalist, is No. 27, senior is No. 29 and senior is No. 85.

Griffin, from Wilson, N.C., had three top-10 finishes in four events and a tie for 13th in the other. Haley had three top-10s, and Scott had two top-10s, a tie for 19th and a tie for 21st. White struggled in his first two events before tying for 8th at the Brickyard and winning the USCC.

The Jackets open the spring season in early February in the UH Hilo Intercollegiate.