Waimea, Hawai’i – Noah Norton and
Connor Howe carded season-low rounds of 66 and 67 Thursday, and the No. 20 Yellow Jackets posted a 9-under-par final round of 279 to finish in a tie for third place at the Amer Ari Intercollegiate.
Conditions remained warm and windy, but more consistent Thursday on the 6,875-yard, par-72 Hapuna Golf Course, as Tech equalled its birdie total from the first round (24). The Jackets were not able to gain ground on the leader, No. 10 Arizona State, which shot 12-under-par 276 and won the tournament by 12 strokes over Southern California. Tech finished tied with Oregon State, 27 strokes off the pace.
Luka Karaulic and
Christo Lamprecht carded team-low 74s and the No. 20 Yellow Jackets fell to third place after 36 holes at the Amer Ari Intercollegiate.
Under warm but very windy conditions on the 6,875-yard, par-72 Hapuna Golf Course, Tech shot a 12-over-par 300 in round 2 and finished 36 holes at 2-under-par 574, 24 strokes behind 10
th-ranked Arizona State. The Jackets were holding their own, 1-over-par for their round after four players birdied the par-5 14
th, but lost 11 shots to par over the final four holes.
TECH LINEUP – Four Tech players remain among the top 21 individuals, led by junior
Connor Howe (Ogden, Utah), who followed his opening 67 with a 75 Wednesday and is tied for 11
Connor Howe’s 5-yunder-par 67, and the 20
th-ranked Yellow Jackets shot a 14-under-par 274 Tuesday to take a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the Amer Ari Intercollegiate.
Tech posted its lowest score in seven rounds so far in the spring season, playing in sunny and warm, but windy (15 mph) conditions on the 6,875-yard, par-72 Hapuna Golf Course on the Eastern shore of the Big Island of Hawai’i. Those four Yellow Jackets, Howe,
Noah Norton,
Will Dickson, are among the top 11 individuals after the first round.
TECH LINEUP – Howe, a junior from Ogden, Utah, closed his opening round in strong fashion, playing 4-under-par over his final seven holes for his 67, and recorrded six birdies to share third place after the opening round.
THE FLATS – Georgia Tech’s golf team, which spent last week in California, travels further West this week to play its third spring tournament, taking part in the Amer Ari Intercollegiate beginning Tuesday at Hapuna Golf Course in Waimea, Hawai’i.
Traditionally the opening event on Tech’s spring schedule, Tech will take eight players to the tournament on the Kona Coast of the Big Island to play in the tournament for the 23
rd time. Head coach
Bruce Heppler’s team has already played twice, finishing seventh in the Camp Creek Seminole Invitational in Florida and the Southwestern Invitational in California. The Yellow Jackets’ slate includes seven events prior to the ACC Championship near the end of April, which will be played at the Capital City Club’s Crabapple Course in Woodstock, Ga.
Louisville, Ky. – Back on the road for the third time in four games, Georgia Tech looks to build on an important win over No. 16 Florida State with a 2 p.m. Atlantic Coast Conference matinee Monday against No. 25/23 Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center.
The Yellow Jackets (8-5, 4-3 ACC) sit in seventh place in the ACC standings and a NCAA NET ranking of No. 55 following Saturday’s 76-65 homecourt win over the Seminoles, which kept the Jackets unbeaten at home in ACC games. The win followed a pair of close losses at No. 13 Virginia (64-62) and Duke (75-68) in which they led late, and Tech is looking for its first ACC win on the road. Prior to that, the Jackets had won three straight conference games, including No. 20 Clemson, Wake Forest and North Carolina by an average of 13 points. Tech remains one of the ACC’s highest scoring teams – third at 77.69 points per game overall.