April 15, 2005
ATLANTA – Shaking off a sluggish start on the front nine Friday, Georgia Tech’s top four golfers came home with eight birdies and an aggregate one-under-par performance and lifted the No. 3-ranked Yellow Jacket into second place, one shot behind Duke, after 18 holes at the 52nd Atlantic Coast Conference Golf Championship at New London, N.C.
Under windy conditions, top-seeded Tech made the turn six shots above par Friday on the 7,102-yard, par 72 Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point. The Yellow Jackets were able to trim a shot off par on the back, led by a one-under-par finishing nines from Roberto Castro and Chan Song to post an 18-hole score of 293, five over par. Tech made up considerable ground to par on the par-5 18th hole by recording three birdies.
Duke, playing in the final group of the day, played the front nine one-over-par, faltered on the back side before its top two players, Ryan Blaum (68) and Nathan Smith (73) each birdied the finishing hole to give the Blue Devils a one-shot edge over Tech at 292.
Castro, a sophomore from Alpharetta, Ga., who this week was named to the United States team for the Palmer Cup matches in June, went out in 36 and home in 35 for a one-under 71 and is tied for third place. Song, a senior from Orlando, Fla., finished with a 74 Friday (39-35), as did senior Nicholas Thompson (38-36) and junior Mike Barbosa (37-37).
Florida State, with a nine-over-par 297, holds third place, followed by NC State and Virginia at 11-over 299. Defending champion Clemson finished the round at 300, with Wake Forest (302, Maryland (302), Virginia Tech (308) and North Carolina (314) bringing up the rear.
Blaum is two strokes ahead of Brad Tilley of Virginia (70) in the individual race, with Castro, Maryland’s Tully Coyle and Clemson’s Jack Ferguson another shot behind. Song, Thompson and Barbosa, are in a group of eight golfers tied for 12th place at 74.
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPOld North State Club, New London, N.C.7,102 yards, Par 72First Round Results
TEAM STANDINGS Duke 292 Georgia Tech 293 Florida State 297 NC State 299 Virginia 299 Clemson 300 Maryland 302 Wake Forest 302 Virginia Tech 308 North Carolina 314
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS Ryan Blaum, Duke 68 Brad Tilley, Virginia 70 Roberto Castro, Georgia Tech 71 Tully Coyle, Maryland 71 Jack Ferguson, Clemson 71 Rusty Mosley, Florida State 72 John Eades, Maryland 73 Brent Delahoussaye, Clemson 73 Kevin O’Connell, Virginia 73 Jerry Richardson, NC State 73 Nathan Smith, Duke 73
OTHER GEORGIA TECH SCORES T12 Michael Barbosa 74 T12 Chan Song 74 T12 Nicholas Thompson 74 T32 Kevin Larsen 78
