ATLANTA (Nov. 9) – Georgia Tech’s golf team end the fall slate of its 1999-2000 season as the No. 1-ranked team in the Golfweek computer ranking, which was released today. The Jackets, who have been ranked in the top five all season, moved to No. 1 for the second time this year after finishing second at the prestigious Golf World/Palmetto Dunes Invitational.
“We have played much better this fall than last year,” said fifth-year head coach Bruce Heppler. “Our team was disappointed how last season ended at the NCAA Championship and came back with a desire to have a good year. The key has been the return of Matt Kuchar to his outstanding play along with the all-America consistency of Bryce Molder. The rest of our lineup has really battled for the right to travel and as a result we have used three different lineups this fall. We only won one time, but were very competitive in three out of our four tournaments. I don’t know if we are No. 1 or not, but we have played very well.”
In addition to placing second at the Golf World Invitational, Tech won the Carpet Capital Collegiate and placed fourth in both the Golfweek Preview Invitational and Iron Duke Golf Classic. Since the 1997-98 season, Tech has now registered 26 top-5 finishes in 30 tournaments, including six victories under Heppler. The Jackets ended the 97-98 fall campaign No. 1 in the MasterCard Collegiate Golf Foundation poll and went on to place third in the NCAA Championship.
Currently, Molder is No. 4 in the Golfweek individual ranking and has a 70.45 stroke average, while Kuchar is ranked No. 8 and has a 70.67 stroke average.
Tech returns to action February 11-13 at the Waikoloa Intercollegiate in Waikoloa, Hawaii.
Golfweek Team Top 10 Rankings (11/9/99)Rk,Team Rating Overall Record1. Georgia Tech 70.34 56-72. Clemson 70.47 59-10-33. Oklahoma St. 70.48 52-15-14. Northwestern 70.57 58-55. Arizona St. 70.59 33-116. Georgia 70.70 43-14-17. BYU 70.84 41-78. Houston 70.91 45-279. UNLV 71.09 41-1710. Stanford 71.17 36-2Georgia Tech's Individual Golfweek Rankings:Rank, Name, Rating Overall Record4. Bryce Molder 68.69 296-28-68. Matt Kuchar 69.27 214-25-753. Troy Matteson 71.26 208-114-1875. Carlton Forrester 71.56 151-90-1578. Kris Mikkelsen 71.59 98-48-1288. Matt Weibring 71.75 140-96-10373. Wes Latimer 73.85 25-52-7
