Feb. 12, 2002
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech golf team will open its spring season beginning Wednesday by competing in the Taylor Made/Waikoloa Intercollegiate in Waikoloa, Hawaii. The three-day, 54-hole event will be contested at the Waikoloa Resort’s par-72, 6,594-yard Kings’ Golf Course. The Yellow Jackets enter the tournament as the top-ranked team in both major national polls, a ranking they earned following a fall campaign that saw Tech win a pair of tournaments including the Carpet Capital Collegiate and the Long Cove Invitational.
Georgia Tech has found a good deal of success in heading west to the islands of Hawaii, as the Jackets have won two of the past three Taylor Made/Waikoloa Intercollegiate events, capturing the team title in both 1999 and 2000. A pair of Yellow Jackets tied for medallist honors in both of those tourneys, as Matt Kuchar and Carlton Forrester shared the honor in 1999, while Kuchar and Bryce Molder turned the trick in 2000. In 2001, Tech did not find red figures, struggling with blustery conditions and settling for an eighth-place finish.
The 24-team field for the 2002 Waikoloa Intercollegiate will once again be strong, featuring a number of the nation’s top-25 teams, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Index. Included are the Yellow Jackets (No. 1), TCU (No. 7), Southern California (No. 9), Fresno State (No. 10), Washington (No. 14), Oklahoma (No. 15) and Pepperdine (No. 22). The remainder of the field will be made up of Arizona State, Arkansas, UC-Santa Barbara, Hawaii-Hilo (host), Hawaii, Houston, Kansas, Nagoya (Japan) University, Mississippi, UNLV, Nevada-Reno, Oregon, Oregon State, Rhode Island, Stanford, Texas A&M and UTEP.
Thus far in 2001-02, the Jackets have been led by junior Troy Matteson, who has three top-10 finishes and a team-best 71.33 stroke average. His best finish of the fall was a tie for second place at the Long Cove Invitational. Matteson is currently ranked fifth in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.
Joining Matteson in the lineup with week will be senior Kris Mikkelsen, who recorded a pair of top-10 finishes in the fall to go along with three top-20 placements. Mikkelsen is second on the team with a 72.41 stroke average and is the 19th-ranked player in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.
Rookie Chan Wongluekiet will be the third member of the Tech contingent and has been impressive since arriving on the Flats in the fall of 2001. Wongluekiet has two top-20 finishes, including a tie for fifth at the Carpet Capital Collegiate and he holds a stroke average of 72.92, which is third best on the team.
Senior Matt Weibring and freshman Nick Thompson will round out the Yellow Jacket individuals in the field. Weibring is currently fourth on the team with a 73.33 stroke average to go along with a pair of top-20 finishes. He has traditionally been strong in the spring for Tech and will look for just such a performance in 2002. Thompson will be competing in his fourth tournament for the Jackets in his rookie season and is fifth on the team with a 75.00 stroke average.
Full results for the Taylor Made/Waikoloa Intercollegiate will be posted each day at http://vulcans.uhh.hawaii.edu/golf/index.html with Georgia Tech results appearing at www.ramblinwreck.com at the conclusion of play each day.
