April 21, 2007
New London, N.C. –
Cameron Tringale birdied his last two holes to finish off a 4-under-par 68 Saturday, helping lift Georgia Tech into a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the Atlantic Coast Conference men’s golf championship.
The top five teams stand within five shots of one another after 36 holes at the 7,100-yard Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point. Half the field broke par Saturday, but Tech’s 5-under 283 was the best score of the day.
The 12th-ranked Yellow Jackets, trying to win this championship for the second straight year and 10th time in their history, threw out an even-par 72 and edged ahead of the tightly-packed leaderboard. Tech’s 6-under tournament total of 570 is two strokes ahead of Duke (-4), three ahead of first-round leader Clemson (-3) and five ahead of North Carolina and Virginia Tech (each -1) heading into Sunday’s finale.
“They’ve made [the golf course] a little more challenging, because the conditions are absolutely perfect,” said Tech coach Bruce Heppler. “That was a good round by Cameron after yesterday, I know he was a little frustrated. Taylor Hall hung in there all day, then made an eagle at 18, which saved us a couple of shots. Roberto is disappointed with an even-par round, but we’ve got everybody in the top 25, which bodes well for tomorrow. Everybody is playing well, and we’ll see what happens.”
Tringale, defending the 2006 title he won as a freshman, moved within one shot of the individual lead, while four other Yellow Jackets are among the top 25 individuals after 36 holes. The sophomore from Laguna Niguel, Calif., has a 36-hole score of 140, four shots under par and one back of North Carolina’s Martin Ureta (70 Saturday, 139 total). First-round leader Kyle Stanley of Clemson shot 72 and dropped into a tie for second with Tringale.
“If was a good finish,” said Tringale, who saved par out of the trees at No. 16 before his finishing birdies. “Yesterday, I hit my driver terribly. Today, I stayed clean with the driver and hit most of the fairways, so that helped.”
Roberto Castro stands at 3-under 141 following an even-par 72, tied for fourth place, while freshman Chesson Hadley carded his second straight 72 and is tied for 14th place at 144. Taylor Hall fired a 1-under 71, with a closing eagle at 18, and moved into a tie for 18th place at 145.
Tech will be paired Sunday with Duke and Clemson, same at Saturday, teeing off at 11:10 a.m.
“If we shoot a low round of the day tomorrow, we can’t lose,” said Heppler. “To be ahead is only a good thing, because that means somebody has to beat us tomorrow. As you can see here at 18, there are a lot of birdies and eagles, and this tournament will probably be won here again. This year is as even as it’s been in a long, long time.”
Exclusive coverage of the ACC Men’s Golf Championship will be available for fans to watch live beginning at 1 p.m. ET at ACCSelect.com.
ACC Select’s exclusive coverage will include a recap of First and Second Rounds of competition, live Final Round coverage and the Awards Ceremony. Viewers can watch the Championship live or on-demand with an All Event Pass ($9.99 per month) or on a per-event basis ($3.99 per event).
Live scoring of the championship is available at Golfstat.com.
ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPOld North State Club at Uwharrie Point, New London, N.C.Second-round Results
TEAM STANDINGS 1 Georgia Tech 287 283 570 -6 2 Duke 286 286 572 -4 3 Clemson 285 288 573 -3 T4 North Carolina 287 288 575 -1 T4 Virginia Tech 289 286 575 -1 6 Florida State 298 286 584 +8 T7 Virginia 293 292 585 +9 T7 Wake Forest 293 292 585 +9 9 NC State 295 295 590 +14 10 Maryland 300 303 603 +27 11 Boston College 310 307 617 +41
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS 1 Martin Ureta, North Carolina 69 70 139 -5 T2 Kyle Stanley, Clemson 68 72 140 -4 T2 Cameron Tringale, Georgia Tech 72 68 140 -4 T4 Roberto Castro, Georgia Tech 69 72 141 -3 T4 Nick MacDonald, Virginia Tech 71 70 141 -3 T6 David Holzworth, North Carolina 70 72 142 -2 T6 Clark Klaasen, Duke 71 71 142 -2 T6 Bob Reed, Boston College 71 71 142 -2 T6 Michael Schachner, Duke 69 73 142 -2 T10 Jonas Blixt, Florida State 73 70 143 -1 T10 Tanner Ervin, Clemson 72 71 143 -1 T10 Adam Long, Duke 72 71 143 -1 T10 Ryan Sypniewski, Virginia Tech 68 75 143 -1 T14 Chris Gold, Maryland 71 73 144 E T14 Chesson Hadley, Georgia Tech 72 72 144 E T14 David May, Clemson 72 72 144 E T14 Nathan Spoon, NC State 72 72 144 E T18 Barden Berry, North Carolina 72 73 145 +1 T18 Andrew Byrd, NC State 73 72 145 +1 T18 Taylor Hall, Georgia Tech 74 71 145 +1 T18 Eamonn McLoughlin, Virginia 72 73 145 +1 T18 Sean Moore, Wake Forest 76 69 145 +1 T24 Kevin Larsen, Georgia Tech 74 72 146 +2
