BRADENTON, Fla. - After two rounds, Georgia Tech is still in the picture at the NCAA golf championships, but the Yellow Jackets haven’t shown peak form, either.
Starting the day at 5-over and tied for sixth, the Yellow Jackets shot a 7-over 295 at the Concession Golf Club. While at one point they were tied for 12th among 30 teams as the afternoon wave made its way through the course, the Jackets improved to seventh place by the end of the afternoon.
Tech will need to stay in the top 15 in Sunday’s third round in order to make it to Monday’s fourth round, after which the top eight teams will advance to match play. The individual champion will also be crowned after the fourth round.
The Jackets will play in the afternoon Sunday with the top 15 teams, joining San Diego State and TCU in their grouping, starting at noon.
A day after a 7-over 79, Vince Whaley led the Jackets with a 1-under 71 with five birdies against four bogeys. All-American Ollie Schniederjans took a double bogey on the par-4 15th – Tech began the round on the back nine – and played even par the rest of the way for a 2-over 73. For the tournament, Schniederjans is 6 over and tied for 60th.
“It’s been really frustrating,” Schniederjans said. “I’ve hit a lot of good shots. My bad shots been penal and I haven’t scored well because I haven’t done what you’re supposed to do to score well.”
The Jackets’ four scorers - Schniederjans, Whaley, Anders Albertson and James Clark - had 18 birdies Saturday but also had seven scores of double or triple bogey. Tech’s low man thus far is Albertson, tied for 17th at 3-over par.
It could be far worse for Tech, ranked No. 12 by Golfstat. The Jackets’ playing partners for the first two rounds, No. 7 Stanford and No. 11 Oklahoma, were 28th and 30th, respectively, at 31 and 35 over par. No. 3 Arizona State, a pre-tournament favorite, was 27th at 29 over par.
“The good news is we’ve played O.K. and (Schniederjans) hasn’t really lit one up yet,” coach Bruce Heppler said.
About the Author
