Chapel Hill, N.C. – Hiroshi Tai fired rounds of 65-68 Monday to pace Georgia Tech and grab a share of fifth place individually, while Yellow Jackets navigated the Finley Golf Club in 10-under-par 550 over 36 holes and are tied for fifth place with 18 holes to play at the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional.
The top five teams on the leaderboard after 54 holes will advance to the NCAA Championship, but the third-seeded Yellow Jackets hold just a two-stroke cushion over sixth-place Long Beach State heading into the final round, which will begin sometime Tuesday. Tech was in third place, just two strokes off the lead, after 18 holes, but No. 4 seed East Tennessee State and 10th-seeded Clemson surged to the front of the leaderboard in round two, while top-seed North Carolina and sixth-seed Baylor took over the third and fourth positions.
Play was suspended at 8:15 p.m. due to darkness, with four of the 13 teams and all 10 individuals (seven threesomes) unable to complete their second rounds. The tournament schedule was altered in advance of Monday’s play due to the forecast of inclement weather for the next two days. The teams who were unable to finish the second round will return to the course at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning to complete the round, and the third and final round will begin no earlier than 9:30 a.m.
Tech has made it through the NCAA regional round each of the last four years (the NCAA Championship and regionals were not conducted in 2020 due to COVID-19), and 27 times since the NCAA went to the regional qualifying format in 1989. Tech shared the regional title in 2022 in Columbus, Ohio and won the 2023 regional in Salem, S.C., by eight strokes. The Yellow Jackets are playing in an NCAA regional for the 26th straight year and for the 33rd time in the 35 years the NCAA has used a regional qualifying format for its championship.
Highlights from Monday
ROUND 1 RECAP – Tech finished the first round in third place at 7-under-par 273 behind a 5-under-par 65 from Tai and a 4-under-par 66 from Bartley Forrester. Tai played a clean round with five birdies Monday morning, and the sophomore from Singapore matched his career-low round. Forrester collected seven birdies against three bogeys at the Finley Golf Club to match his best round this year, and was tied for eighth.
Senior Christo Lamprecht (George, South Africa) and freshman Kale Fontenot (Lafayette, La.) each contributed a 1-over-par 71 to the Jackets’ team total, while freshman Carson Kim (Yorba Linda, Calif.) carded a 77.
ROUND 2 RECAP – Tai and Kim set the pace for the Jackets, each carding 2-under-par 68s, while Forrester followed his opening 66 with an even-par 70, and Lamprecht added a 1-over-par 71. Fontenot didn’t factor after posting a 73.
Tai sits in a tie for fifth place after 36 holes at 7-under-par 133, seven shots off the pace, while Forrester is tied for 15th at 136 (-4). Lamprecht is tied for 36th place at 142 (+2), with Fontenot tied for 51st at 144 (+4) and Kim tied for 56th at 145 (+5).
Photos by Andy Mead
TEAM LEADERBOARD – ETSU posted four subpar rounds in the afternoon, with Algot Kleen firing a 7-under-par 63 to lead the way, as the Buccaneers shot 15-under-par for the round. They finished 36 holes at 21-under-par 539, and lead by three strokes over Clemson (-15), which was 13-under-par for the round with holes left to play, and eight over host North Carolina (547, -13), which finished the round.
Baylor (549, -11) sits in fourth place at 549 (-11), with Tech and Long Beach State tied for the fifth position at 550 (-10), and Alabama in seventh at 553 (-7). All four teams completed 36 holes.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD – Though Clemson’s full team was unable to finish its second round Monday, Calahan Keever was able to complete his second consecutive 65 and has the individual lead at 10-under-par 130, one stroke clear of North Carolina’s Austin Greaser and Baylor’s Johnny Keefer, both at 9-under-par 131.
NC State’s Nick Mathews, competing as an individual, is alone in fourth place at 8-under-par but has three holes left to play in round 2. Tech’s Hiroshi Tai is in a four-way tie for fourth place at 133 (-7), all four players having completed 36 holes.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – Eighty-one teams and 45 individuals are competing for spots in the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship finals in six regional qualifying tournaments. The top five teams and one individual from each regional will advance to the finals (30 teams and six individuals total), which will be conducted May 24-29 at the Omni LaCosta Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
Each NCAA regional is a 54-hole, stroke-play event with 13 teams and 10 individuals, or 14 teams and five individuals, competing. Tech is part of a regional field that includes 13 teams and 10 individuals. The other regional sites and their top seeds are Tennessee at Austin, Texas (The University of Texas Golf Club), Auburn at Baton Rouge, La. (University Club), Arizona State at Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (The Farms Golf Club). Florida State at Stanford, Calif. (Stanford Golf Course) and Vanderbilt at West Lafayette, Ind. (Birck Boilermaker Golf Course).
The Chapel Hill Regional is being played at Finley Golf Club on the campus of the University of North Carolina. The course is set up to play to a par 70 over 7,084 yards.
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of the development of Yellow Jackets that thrive academically at the Institute and 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 29th year under head coach Bruce Heppler, having won 72 tournaments in his tenure. Heppler is the 10th-longest-tenured head coach in Division I men’s golf. The Yellow Jackets have won 19 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, made 33 appearances in the NCAA Championship and been the national runner-up five 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.
