Aug. 11, 2005
ATLANTA – With four top-five finishes in the last five years, a top-flight on-campus practice facility and “the best young coach in college golf” as its most important factors, Golf Digest magazine has rated Georgia Tech the No. 1 school in college golf.
Read the Golf Digest story online
In its September, 2005 issue out now, Golf Digest produced its first college golf guide, an 18-page report which attempts to provide advice to junior golfers on the recruiting process and what to expect in college, as well as rankings of the best schools.
The magazine rated each school in four categories, academics, climate, coach/facilities and golf performance. The academics rating used is the school’s Admissions Selectivity Rating from Princeton Review’s 2006 edition of its best-selling guidebook, The Best 361 Colleges. Golf Digest further created three categories of rankings: Golf First, Academics First and Balanced. For each category, it weighted the values of the four ratings to correspond with what student-golfers are looking for.
“There are a lot of people who work hard to try and have good teams, so it’s a huge honor to be recognized for what we’ve done,” said Tech coach Bruce Heppler. “It’s one of the nation’s most influential golf publications, and it’s nice to see them commit so much space to college golf. It’s a huge compliment to acknowledge the people who’ve raised the money, administrators who supported the program, and the players who’ve spent countless hours practicing to produce great results. We’ve been fortunate to have some wonderful players here.”
Georgia Tech has played in the NCAA Championship each of the last eight years Heppler, whom the magazine calls “the best young coach in college golf.” The Yellow Jackets have finished in the top five of the NCAA Championship six times in those eight years, including runner-up finishes in 2000, 2002 and 2005.
The program has also captured three Atlantic Coast Conference championships, produced three National Players of the Year and eight different players who earned All-America honors 25 times. Six different players have been named All-America Scholars, and three players have represented the United States in Walker Cup competition.
Furthermore, Tech’s golfers benefit from having playing privileges at East Lake Golf Club and North Druid Hills Golf Club in town, as well as The Golf Club of Georgia and Ansley Golf Club’s Settindown Creek, all rated among the state’s top golf courses. The Yellow Jackets also hone their skills in all facets of the game on campus at their own practice facility.
Tech was rated No. 1 in the Golf First category, which is focused toward the best junior players who hope to play professionally after college. “These schools provide the best facilities and competition, and are training grounds for future pros. Golf performance was 60 percent of the final index, coach/facilities 20 percent, and academics and climate 10 percent each.”
“Although Atlanta is a golf-rich city, there are few options for golfers downtown, where Georgia Tech’s campus is located,” the magazine says. “Coach Bruce Heppler sought donations to build an eight-acre, 320-yard long, Tom-Fazio designed, team-only facility on campus. It’s one of many reasons Tech is Golf Digest’s No. 1-ranked college for golf. The others are four top-five finishes in the NCAA Championships in five years, including a runner-up finish … in 2005, 16 All-Americans in the that same period, great academics, East Lake Golf Club, and in Heppler, the best young coach in college golf.”
Six Tech alumni have had member status on the PGA Tour in the last two years, including David Duval, winner of 13 Tour events including the 2001 British Open, Stewart Cink, winner of four Tour events who is among the top 30 money earners this season, and Matt Kuchar, who has one Tour victory.
Tech is ranked ahead of Texas, Florida, UCLA, Clemson, Oklahoma State, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada-Las Vegas and New Mexico, the rest of the top 10.
Tech is ranked No. 2 in the Balanced category, aimed at junior players who are looking for a combination of top-notch golf and a quality education. “These schools, many of which are also ranked in the Golf First category, provide student-golfers a healthy balance between academics and athletics. Only colleges that had an academic rating of 90 or higher (according to the Princeton Review) were considered. Golf performance was 45 percent of the final index, academics 40 percent, coach/facilities 10 percent, and climate 5 percent.”
A measure of the tremendous balance the Yellow Jackets have achieved in golf is the fact that three of their five starters – Roberto Castro, Chan Song and Nicholas Thompson – earned All-America honors last year by the Golf Coaches Association of America and three – Mike Barbosa, Song and Thompson – were named All-America Scholars by the same organization. The only reason Castro (3.86 GPA in Industrial Engineering) was not named an All-America Scholar is that he was a sophomore, and one must be a junior to be eligible. He was, however, named a third-team Academic All-America by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
All four golfers were named to the 10-man all-Atlantic Coast Conference team.
Only UCLA is rated ahead of Tech in this category, which also includes Florida, Texas, Southern Cal, Duke, California, Wake Forest, Georgia and Pepperdine among the top 10.
