Eatonton, Ga. – Ross Steelman fired an 8-under-par Tuesday, Christo Lamprecht added a 5-under-par 67, and No. 11 Georgia Tech played a stellar closing round and earned a second-place finish at the Linger Longer Invitational.
Tech, which began the day in fourth place, closed with a 7-under-par round of 281 Tuesday, a score bettered only by 20th-ranked Alabama, which pulled away from the field on the back nine, posted an 8-under-par 281 and won the tournament by eight strokes. The Yellow Jackets did, however, overtake Georgia and Vanderbilt, finishing six strokes clear of the top-ranked Commodores to finish as a runner-up for the fourth time in 2022-23.
The Yellow Jackets return to action March 30-April 1 at The Goodwin in Stanford, Calif.
TECH LINEUP – Lamprecht, who won the Inverness Intercollegiate in the fall, earned his second runner-up finish this spring and a top-10 showing in his fourth straight tournament. The junior from George, South Africa, made only one bogey and birdied six on Tuesday for his 67, and posted a 54-hole total of 208 (-8), two shots off the lead.
Steelman recovered from an opening round of 80 to shoot 72 Monday and a bogey-free 64 Tuesday, earning the senior from Columbia, Mo., a tie for 10th place at even-par 216, his third top-10 in five tournaments in 2022-23. Connor Howe, who shared the first-round lead with a 68, was 7-over-par through eight holes Tuesday, but made a dramatic turnaround, playing his final 11 holes 7-under-par with no bogeys to post a 72. The senior from Ogden, Utah, also tied for 10th place at even par, his best finish since a tie for third at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate in September.
Freshman Hiroshi Tai (Singapore) provided the Yellow Jackets’ fourth counting score Tuesday with a 78, while senior Bartley Forrester (Gainesville, Ga.) shot 79 and finished in a tie for 24th place.
Sophomore Benjamin Reuter (Naarden, The Netherlands) and freshman Aidan Tran (Fresno, Calif.), competing as individuals, shot 69 and 72, respectively, on Tuesday. Reuter also tied for 10th place individually at even par, while Tran tied for 49th.
Connor Howe rolls in a putt for an eagle-2 at the par-4 11th hole Tuesday.
TEAM LEADERBOARD – Alabama and Georgia, each with five victories in the previous 16 years of the Linger Longer Invitational, occupied the top two spots on the leaderboard, separated by one shot when the final round began and remained close through the front nine. But the Crimson Tide pulled away from the field on the back nine and finished the tournament at 14-under-par 850, eight strokes ahead of the Yellow Jackets (858, -6).
No. 1-ranked Vanderbilt struggled to a 4-over-par closing round of 292 and finished the tournament in third place at even-par 864, while Clemson matched Tech’s final round of 281 and took fourth place at 867 (+3). The Bulldogs shot 9-over-par 297 Tuesday and fell all the way to fifth place at 868 (+4), tied with Chattanooga.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD – Nick Dunlap gave Alabama both the team and individual titles, holding on to his 36-hole lead with a final-round 70 and a 54-hole total of 206 (-10), two shots clear of the Yellow Jackets’ Lamprecht and Vanderbilt’s William Moll (208, -8).
Chattanooga’s Garrett Eagle and Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent, the nation’s No. 1-ranked player, tied for fourth place at 211 (-5). Alabama’s J.P. Cave and Georgia’s Connor Creasy tied for sixth place at 213 (-3), while the Crimson Tide’s Thomas Ponder and Clemson’s Kian Rose finished in a tie for eighth at 215 (-1).
Steelman, Howe and Reuter were joined in a tie for 10th place at even-par 216 by Mateo Fernandez De Oliveira of Arkansas.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – The Yellow Jackets have competed three times in the Linger Longer Invitational, finishing fourth in 2013 and second in 2021 prior to this week’s event. Georgia and Alabama have each won five times in the 16-year history of the event. The tournament is contested at Great Waters at Reynolds Lake Oconee, which measures 7,436 yards and plays to a par of 72.
The format is 54 holes, 18 each day from both the first and 10th tees, with the low four individual scores of five each day counting toward the team total.
The 16-team field for 2023 included Alabama (20), Arkansas (44), Augusta, Charlotte, Chattanooga, Clemson, Georgia (34), Georgia Tech (11), UNC Greensboro (37), Kennesaw State, Mercer, South Alabama, South Florida, Vanderbilt (1), Virginia (16) and Wofford.
Tech (from left: Hiroshi Tai, Aidan Tran, Benjamin Reuter, Connor Howe, Bartley Forrester, Ross Steelman and Christo Lamprecht) finished as a runner-up for the fourth time this year.
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 28th year under head coach Bruce Heppler, winning 70 tournaments in his tenure. The Yellow Jackets have won 18 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, made 29 appearances in the NCAA Championship and been the national runner-up four 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.
