April 17, 2003
ATLANTA — The 15th-ranked Georgia Tech golf team will look to continue its run of dominance in the Atlantic Coast Conference this weekend when it tries to capture its third-straight ACC title at the 50th annual ACC Championships in Badin Lake, N.C. The 54-hole tournament will be contested for the seventh time at the par-72, 7,100-yard Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point.
The Yellow Jackets won the event a year ago at the same site by four shots over a late-charging NC State team. Tech placed four players in the top 10 in 2002, led by Matt Weibring and Nicholas Thompson, both of whom tied for second place at 9-under-par 207. Senior Kris Mikkelsen was the third Jacket in the top 10, as he tied for 10th at 5-under-par 211. Tech also won the ACC title in 2001 at Disney’s Magnolia Course in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Overall, the Jackets have won three of the last four ACC crowns and a total of eight in school history, which ranks third all-time in the ACC.
As has been the case throughout the year, Georgia Tech will join an outstanding field at the Old North State Club, as six of the nine teams are currently ranked in the top 30 of the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. Top-ranked Clemson and third-ranked Wake Forest lead the way, followed by 10th-ranked North Carolina, 16th-ranked NC State and 30th-ranked Duke. Top-ranked DJ Trahan of Clemson will lead 10 golfers currently among the top-50 players in the country as well.
This year’s Tech contingent in the field will be led by senior Troy Matteson, who currently leads the team with a 70.96 stroke average and four top-10 finishes in nine events. Matteson tied for eighth in his last outing at the Augusta State Invitational with a 9-under-par score of 207. He won the season-opening Carpet Capital Collegiate with a score of 11-under-par 205.
Joining Matteson at the top of the Yellow Jacket lineup will be sophomore Nicholas Thompson, who is second on the team with a 72.15 stroke average and has a pair of top 10s and three top-20 finishes on the year. His top finish of the year came in a tie for second at the Nelson Invitational in Stanford, Calif., with a score of 11-under-par 202.
The remaining Tech individuals in the field will be the same as they have been for the last five tournaments, with sophomore Chan Wongluekiet, who tied for 25th in Augusta with a 4-under-par score of 212, and Adam Cranford and Thomas Jordan rounding out the lineup.
Play at the ACC Championships will begin each day at 8:30 a.m., with the Jackets being paired with Virginia and Clemson for the first round. Full tournament results will be available at www.theacc.com, with a recap of Georgia Tech’s daily performance being posted at www.ramblinwreck.com.
