Fort Worth, Texas – Christo Lamprecht shot a 4-under-par 66 Tuesday to finish 54 holes tied for first place, but finished runner-up after a playoff, while No. 4 Georgia Tech shot a 1-under-par 279 in the final round and finished in eighth place at the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational.
Looking for his second tournament victory of the fall, Lamprecht started the day in ninth place and made his charge to the top with a bogey-free round that included four birdies over the par-70 Shady Oaks Country Club. His 7-under-par tournament total of 203 made him the clubhouse leader when the Yellow Jackets finished their round. But Vanderbilt’s Cole Sherwood birdied four holes on the back nine, including one at the final hole to force a playoff, then won medalist honors with another birdie on the first playoff hole.
Sherwood put his second shot on the par-4 18th hole to 10 feet, while the Tech senior from George, South Africa missed the putting surface with his approach, leaving a 20-foot chip. He barely missed the hole with his chip, while Sherwood drained the birdie putt to win the title. It was Lamprecht’s fourth runner-up finish since last fall to go with two wins.
Tech, meanwhile, made the biggest jump up the leaderboard of any team Tuesday, moving from a tie for 11th to solo eighth with a 9-over-par total of 849. The Yellow Jackets return to action in two weeks when they host the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational on their home course in Alpharetta.
TECH LINEUP – Four the second straight round, Lamprecht was the only Jacket to deliver a subpar round, but senior Bartley Forrester (Gainesville, Ga.) carded an even-par 70, sophomore Hiroshi Tai (Singapore) shot 1-over-par 71, and sophomore Aidan Tran (Fresno, Calif.) added a 2-over-par 72. Freshman Carson Kim (Yorba Linda, Calif.) did not factor after posting a 77.
Tai tied for 25th place at 211 (+1), while Forrester tied for 43rd at 216 (+6). Tran (+11) tied for 63rd, and Kim (+16) tied for 73rd.
Bartley Forrester shot even-par 70 Tuesday and tied for 43rd place. (photo by Mario Terrana)
TEAM LEADERBOARD – Seventh-ranked Vanderbilt rode three subpar rounds to post a 6-under-par 274 Tuesday and won the tournament by a single stroke over No. 1 North Carolina, who had the low round of the day at 10-under-par 270. The Commodores finished the tournament at 16-under-par 824, while the Tar Heels completed 54 holes at 15-under-par 825.
No. 8 Arizona State (827, -13), No. 35 Oregon (828, -12) and No. 24 Oklahoma State (836, -4) rounded out the top five teams on the leaderboard in the 15-team field.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD – Lamprecht’s 66 matched the best round of the day and gave him the clubhouse lead before Sherwood completed his 67 to force the playoff. Both players posted 54-hole totals of 203 (-7).
Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent and Oregon’s Nate Stember tied for third place at 6-under-par 204, while North Carolina’s David Ford and Oklahoma’s Drew Goodman, the 36-hole leader, tied for fifth at 205 (-5).
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – The Yellow Jackets competed in the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational for the second time after posting a 12th-place finish last fall. Hosted by TCU, the tournament consisted of 36 holes on Monday and a final 18-hole round Tuesday. Normally contested at venerable Colonial Country Club, this year’s Hogan event was staged at Shady Oaks Country Club in Fort Worth, a 6,885-yard, par-70 layout, while Colonial is being renovated.
The Ben Hogan event included 14 teams that competed in the 2023 NCAA Championship, including five that advanced to match play (Tech, North Carolina, Arizona State, Florida State, Pepperdine). Five teams in the field are among the current Golfweek/Sagarin top-10, and 14 of the 15 are in the top 50.
The complete field included: North Carolina (1), Georgia Tech (4), Vanderbilt (7), Arizona State (8), Texas (9), Texas Tech (13), Texas A&M (18), Oklahoma (24), Oklahoma State (27), Wake Forest (29), Florida State (30), TCU (34), Oregon (35), Georgia (44) and Pepperdine (52).
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Georgia Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of developing Georgia Tech’s Everyday Champions and helping the Yellow Jackets compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH GOLF
Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 29th year under head coach Bruce Heppler, having won 72 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. Connect with Georgia Tech Golf on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on Twitter (@GTGolf) and Instagram. For more information on Tech golf, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
