YELLOW JACKETS’ TEE TIMES
No. 2-seed Georgia Tech vs. No. 3-seed Alabama
10:45 a.m.: Anders Albertson vs. Bobby Wyatt
10:54 a.m.: Shun Yat Hak vs. Trey Mullinax
11:03 a.m.: Bo Andrews vs. Scott Strohmeyer
11:12 a.m.: Seth Reeves vs. Justin Thomas
11:21 a.m.: Ollie Schniederjans vs. Cory Whitsett
It was only fitting that Georgia Tech would need to win a dramatic playoff to make the semifinals for the first time since the NCAA men’s golf championships moved to match play.
The No. 2-seeded Yellow Jackets postseason hopes came down to sophomore Ollie Schniederjans versus UNLV’s Kevin Penner on the 19th hole Friday, and Schniederjans delivered at the Capital City Club’s Crabapple Course.
“I can’t remember many times when I had to play under that kind of pressure. I was super-calm, but I knew what I had to do. I just felt super-focused and calm now in that kind of situation. I make better swings, under that kind of pressure. I don’t know why, but it feels good.”
Schniederjans was visibly emotional down the stretch and later said he felt the weight of the entire Jackets fanbase watching him perform.
“The whole Georgia Tech nation is watching the playoff hole to go to the next round, and it was all on me. The whole Georgia Tech nation is on my shoulders. I just felt that. I just feel awesome to get it done. You saw the other guys were like that, too. We love the program, we love this team. It’s how bad we want it.”
Schniederjans says he drew inspiration for his final shot from a win over UCLA early in the year.
“Backslash, file, save. We’re a computer school man, that’s what we say when you do something right, backslash, file, save,” Tech coach Bruce Heppler said. “You do something wrong, its backslash, file, delete. Anyway, I’m just really proud of him.”
Tech started hot with lead-man Seth Reeves making a hole-in-one on the third hole and following that with an eagle. Reeves struggled for the rest of the afternoon, eventually losing his match to UNLV’s Carl Jonson.
In 2010 and 2011, Tech was defeated in the first round of NCAA match play by Augusta State. But Heppler noted that the biggest difference about this year’s team is that they’re a year older and know what it is like to fail. Heppler said that level of maturity helped the team get the victory.
“You take them anyway that you can get them,” Heppler said of the team’s win. “It’s really special to watch this team do special things. The great thing about coaching is getting to watch people do extraordinary things.”
Now, Tech turns it’s attention to No. 3-seed Alabama, who routed No. 6-seed UNLV 4-1 on Friday.
“For the the last three years, (Alabama) has been one of the best teams in college golf,” Heppler said. “They lost in the finals last year with basically the same team. So it’s a huge opportunity for us to see what we can do against a really good team.”
Tech will face Alabama on Saturday. Tee time is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. The winner will meet No. 1-seed California or No. 5-seed Illinois on Sunday.
About the Author
