Georgia Tech, No. 8 in the latest Golfstat rankings, dominated a rescheduled double-round Thursday
and easily rode the momentum that provided to finish off its 18th
Atlantic Coast Conference championship Saturday at the Old North State Club in
New London, N.C.
It was the second straight ACC crown for the Yellow Jackets,
who drew even with Wake Forest for most conference championships. It was their
13th ACC title under legendary head coach Bruce Heppler.
With a day of rough weather predicted for Friday, tournament
officials made the decision to go with 36 holes Thursday followed by a single
round Saturday. The original plan was for single rounds to be played Thursday,
Friday and Saturday.
With Andy Ogletree firing rounds of 6-under-par 66 and
7-under 65 over the 7,102-yard, par-72 Old North State Club layout Thursday,
Georgia Tech opened with a 12-under 276 and added a sizzling 18-under 270 in
the afternoon to take a commanding 17-shot lead into Saturday’s final round.
The Yellow Jackets finished up with up with a 7-under 281
Saturday for a 37-under 827 total, the program’s lowest score in an ACC
Championship by four shots.
Virginia outperformed its No. 56 ranking, closing with a
9-under 279 for a 22-under 842 total that gave the Cavaliers a runnerup finish.
Wake Forest, at No. 3 the highest-ranked team in the field, couldn’t make up
the 14-shot deficit it faced after an opening-round 290. The Demon Deacons
fired a strong 12-under 276 Thursday afternoon and matched Virginia for the low
team round of the day Saturday with a 9-under 279 to finish third at 19-under
845, three shots behind the Cavaliers.
No. 9 Duke, which rode a huge postseason roll to the NCAA
Championship semifinals last spring at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater,
Okla., had grabbed the lead after opening with a scorching 17-under 271. But
the Blue Devils cooled off with a 4-over 292 Thursday afternoon before
finishing up with a 1-over 289 to share fourth place with No. 20 Florida State.
The Seminoles, behind individual champion Joh Pak, a
sophomore from Scotch Plains, N.J. and the No. 26 player in the World Amateur
Golf Ranking (WAGR), also opened strong with a 10-under 278 and a 3-under 285
in Thursday’s double-round before closing with a 1-over 289 to get their share
of fourth place with Duke at 12-uneder 852.
No. 24 North Carolina State finished up with a 5-under 283
to end up alone in sixth place at 8-under 856.
After his sizzling start, Ogletree closed with a 1-over 73
and was overtaken by Pak for the individual title. Still, Ogletree finished
alone in second place at 16-under 204, a shot behind Pak.
Luke Schniederjans, a junior from Powder Springs, Ga.,
backed up Ogletree as he finished sixth in the individual standings at 8-under
208 after a final round of 4-under 68. Schniederjans is the younger brother of
PGA Tour player and former Yellow Jacket standout Ollie Schniederjans.
Connor Howe, a freshman from Ogden, Utah, sandwiched a
4-under 68 in Thursday afternoon’s second round with a pair of even-par 72s to
finish among the group tied for 14th at 4-under 212. Tyler Strafaci,
a junior from Davie, Fla., added a pair of 1-over 73s to his opening-round 67
to finish among the group tied for 16th at 3-under 213.
One of the keys to Georgia Tech’s team win, though, might
very well have been Noah Norton, a sophomore from Chico, Calif., putting an
opening-round 80 behind him and firing a pair of 4-under 68s that enabled the
Yellow Jackets to hold off the charges from Virginia and Wake Forest. Norton
finished among the group tied for 27th at even-par 216.
Pak had fired a pair of 5-under 67s in Thursday’s
double-round and only trailed Ogletree by two shots going into the final round.
Pak then finished up with a 3-under 69 to become Florida State’s second ACC
individual champion at 13-under 203. The only other Seminole to claim the
conference championship was Jonas Blixt in 2007.
Clemson’s Bryson Nimmer, a senior from Bluffton, S.C. and
No. 20 in the WAGR, was another shot behind Ogletree in third place at 11-under
205 after he closed with a 4-under 68.
A couple of Virginia players, David Morgan, a freshman from
Naples, Fla., and Thomas Walsh, a senior from High Point, N.C., accounted for
the next two spots in the individual standings as Morgan finished alone in
fourth place at 10-under 206 and Walsh took fifth at 9-under 207.
Morgan had rounds of 5-under 67 and 3-under 69 Thursday and
closed with a 2-under 70. Walsh, who captured the ACC individual title a year
ago, closed with a 4-under 68.
Notre Dame’s Miguel Delgado, a senior from Novato, Calif.,
matched par in the final round with a 72 and finished alone in seventh place at
7-under 209.
Wake Forest was led by Alex Fitzpatrick, a freshman from
England and No. 50 in the WAGR who finished alone in eighth place at 6-under
210. Fitzpatrick was the 14-year-old caddy when older brother Matthew, a PGA
Tour performer these days, won the 2013 U.S. Amateur at The Country Club in
Brookline, Mass. Alex Fitzpatrick advanced to the quarterfinals in last
summer’s U.S. Amateur at the Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Fitzpatrick contributed a 5-under 67 to the Demon Deacons’
strong 12-under second round before finishing up with a 1-under 71.
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