Feb. 11, 2003
ATLANTA – The Georgia Tech golf team will open its 2003 spring campaign on Wednesday, when it opens play at the Taylor Made/Waikoloa Intercollegiate at the King’s and Beach Courses in Waikoloa, Hawai’i. The 54-hole event will consist of 18 holes of play each day over the 7,074-yard, par-72 King’s and 6,566-yard, par-70 Beach layouts. Tech is the defending team champion in the tournament and has won the event in three of the past four seasons.
The Yellow Jackets will once again be part of a strong field on the Big Island, as Tech will be one of 12 top-50 teams in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin ratings that will be competing in the tournament, including seven from the top 25. The Jackets enter the event ranked 21st in the latest poll, while third-ranked TCU, No. 12 UCLA, No. 18 Pepperdine, No. 20 Arkansas, No. 23 Baylor and No. 25 Washington are the other top-25 teams.
The field will also feature eight of the nation’s top-25 individuals players, including Georgia Tech senior Troy Matteson, who is currently ranked 15th and Jacket sophomore Nicholas Thompson, who is the 20th-ranked player in the country. Fresno State’s Nick Watney headlines the group, rating as the third-ranked player in the nation.
Matteson and Thompson were Tech’s top performers in the fall, recording stroke averages of 71.09 and 71.63 respectively and notching five top-20 finishes and four top-10 placements between them. Matteson won the opening tournament of the year, sharing medalist honors at the Carpet Capital Collegiate, while Thompson tied for second at the Nelson Invitational in Stanford, Calif.
Joining that duo in the Yellow Jacket lineup will be sophomore Chan Wongluekiet, who finished the fall with a 74.63 stroke average and had a top-20 finish at the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate. Rookie Thomas Jordan will make his fourth start of the season, finishing the first half of the year with a 75.25 stroke average and a top-20 at the Nelson Invit. Senior Adam Cranford will be the final member of the Tech contingent in the field.
Tournament results will be available each day at www.ramblinwreck.com, along with a recap of the Yellow Jackets’ daily performance.
