Nov. 15, 2012
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech head golf coach Bruce Heppler announced the signing Thursday of Vincent Whaley from McKinney, Texas, one of the nation’s top 30 junior players, to a letter-of-intent.
Whaley Profile on High School Golf Scoreboard
An all-state selection at McKinney Boyd high School, Whaley is ranked 22nd in the class of 2013 by the Junior Golf Scoreboard and 26th in the Golfweek/Sagarin Index. In 2012, he has had a pair of top 10 finishes in five junior events, and qualified for match play at the U.S. Junior Amateur, where he won his first-round match.
He follows a string of Texans – Matt Weibring (1999-02), Troy Matteson (2000-03) and Paul Haley (2008-11) – who have earned All-America recognition at Georgia Tech and gone on to earn PGA Tour cards.
“Vincent has great physical ability, and I was impressed with his ball-striking ability from the moment I first saw him at a tournament last Thanksgiving,” said Heppler, who is in his 18th season at Georgia Tech. “His parents have a strong commitment for him as a student and were impressed with the academic opportunities we have at Georgia Tech. He was impressed with our facilities and the fact that all three of the Texas guys we’ve signed since I’ve been here have gone on to earn PGA Tour cards. I’m excited to have him join our program.”
Whaley won a pair of junior events in 2011 and has nine other top-10 finishes while rising as high as 20th in his class in the American Junior Golf Association rankings. He logged five top-10 finishes in 2010, three in 2009 and seven in 2008.
He will join a program that loses just one senior after the spring season of 2013.
