April 4, 2002
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech golf team will look to extend a pair of school records this weekend when it travels to Tucson, Ariz., to compete in the Ping/U.S. Collegiate Championships. The Yellow Jackets have won four tournaments in a row and five tournaments overall on the season, both of which are school records, with the five wins tying the mark held by the 1993 and 2001 teams. The 54-hole U.S. Collegiate Championships will be contested at the par-72, 7,138-yard Tucson National Golf Club, the site of the PGA Tour’s Tucson Open.
The Yellow Jackets are currently ranked atop all four major collegiate golf polls and have won a school-record four-straight team titles, including wins at the Long Cove Invitational to close out the fall and a win at the Taylor Made/Waikoloa Intercollegiate to open the spring. Tech recorded a victory at the Puerto Rico Classic on Feb. 26 and at the Callaway Golf/Las Vegas Collegiate in its past outing.
Tech’s lineup will be the same as it has been for each of the last six tournaments, as junior Troy Matteson, senior Kris Mikkelsen, freshman Chan Wongluekiet, senior Matt Weibring and freshman Nick Thompson will make up the Yellow Jacket contingent. Junior Adam Cranford will also compete as an individual in the event.
Led by Matteson at No. 1, the Yellow Jackets currently boast five individuals ranked among the top-50 players in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. Tech also has three players ranked in the top 20, while no other team has three players appearing in the top 50. Those players in the current top 50 include Matteson (No. 1), Kris Mikkelsen (11th), Chan Wongluekiet (17th), Matt Weibring (30th) and Nick Thompson (50th).
Following this weekend’s event, Tech will have two weeks off before heading to Uwharrie Point, N.C., to compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship at the Old North State Club. The Jackets are the defending champions in the tournament.
