With a strong finishing round at its NCAA regional Wednesday in Tallahassee, Fla., the Georgia Tech golf team has secured its place in the NCAA championship field. It is the Yellow Jackets’ 30th appearance in the NCAA championship and the 18th with coach Bruce Heppler.
Needing to finish fifth or better to advance out of the 14-team regional, Tech finished third in the 72-hole event, shooting 3-under-par to finish at 16-under for the tournament. The Jackets had begun the day in third. Florida State won at 34-under on its home course. Georgia (17-under), Liberty (15-under) and TCU (9-under) also qualified. It was Tech’s best finish at a regional since placing third in 2015 in San Diego. In the four regionals since, the Jackets had failed to finish in the top five three times and then were fourth in 2019.
Of the six players whom Heppler used in Tallahassee, only two had previously competed in an NCAA event, Noah Norton and Connor Howe.
“I’m as proud of this group as anyone I’ve ever coached,” Heppler said in an interview with a Tech official. “Because they just work hard and they came so far in five months, it’s amazing. To come down here and roll through this and play great, it’s really, really, really exciting.”
Freshman Christo Lamprecht was Tech’s high finisher, tying for fifth at 7-under-par 209. Ben Smith tied for eighth at 6-under-par 210.
The 30-team NCAA Championship will begin May 28 in Scottsdale, Ariz., at Grayhawk Golf Club.
