Jackets in sixth-place tie at NCAA golf
BRADENTON, Fla. - A birdie spree put Georgia Tech in contention at the NCAA golf championships after a rocky start. However, a shaky finish caused the Yellow Jackets to return strokes back at the close of Friday’s first round.
Going into Saturday’s second round, the No. 12 Yellow Jackets stand in a tie for sixth with Florida at 5-over-par, seven shots back of leader Illinois. Going off in the afternoon at the Concession Golf Club, Tech’s five-man lineup played the first two holes in 6-over par. Over the course of the round, the Jackets’ four-man score dropped to as low as 1-over par before backing up again at the end. Tech piled up 21 birdies, most in the 30-team field. The Jackets also had six double bogeys and two triple bogeys.
All-American Ollie Schniederjans played his final three holes in 4-over-par to finish with a 76 (T79) and two-time ACC champion Anders Albertson bogeyed his final hole to ding an otherwise excellent round of 3-under-par 69 (T3). Regardless, Tech holds strong position to be one of the 15 teams to advance to the fourth round, and one of the eight to make it to the tournament’s match-play portion after the fourth round.
“Obviously, it’s a challenge and it’s a pretty good score for an afternoon round,” coach Bruce Heppler said. “Gave up a few there at the end, but overall pretty pleased.”
After finishing up close to 8 p.m. Friday, the Jackets will tee off Saturday starting at 8:10 a.m.
“Let’s eat real fast and go to sleep,” Heppler said. “This is a quick turnaround here. Just kind of keep moving, don’t say a whole lot and get out here on some fresh greens and they’ll be a little bit softer and maybe the wind won’t blow as much and have a chance to see if we can improve on that.”
About the Author
Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.
