You can’t really call Georgia and Georgia Tech rivals. The
schools are in different conferences, two of the better golf conferences in the
country. Both are guided by two of the most respected coaches in Division I,
Chris Haack, in his 23rd season in Athens, and Bruce Heppler, in his
24th season in Atlanta.
But they do reside in the same state and both have sent
their share of players on to bigger and better things on the PGA Tour. Pretty
sure there are arguments in the state about which is the better program.
Well, those arguments were not resolved at this week’s
Puerto Rico Classic, which concluded Tuesday with the reigning Atlantic Coast
Conference champion Yellow Jackets and the Southeastern Conference’s Bulldogs
sharing the title, each taking 848 shots over the Rio Mar Beach & Spa
Resort’s River Course in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
No. 4 in the latest Golfstat
rankings, Georgia Tech was steady throughout, opening with a 5-under-par 283
over the 6,9012-yard, par-72 River Course layout, adding a 6-under 282 in the
second round and then finishing up with another 5-under 283 for a 16-under 848
total.
No. 21 Georgia, meanwhile, was one shot better than the
Yellow Jackets following an opening round of 6-under 282, fell three shots
behind with a 2-under 286 in round 2 and then matched the best team round of
the day in Tuesday’s final round with an 8-under 280 to match Georgia Tech’s
16-under 848 total.
It was the 57th tournament title for Heppler and
the 61st for Haack.
Another perennial power, No. 13 Oklahoma, the reigning Big
12 champion, also closed with an 8-under 280 to finish third at 12-under 852,
four shots behind the co-champions.
No. 28 North Carolina State, another ACC entry, fell back a
little with a 2-over 290 in the final round to finish alone in fourth at
8-under 856. The Wolfpack were led by one of the three individual co-champions,
Benjamin Shipp, a junior from Duluth, Ga. who carded a final round of 1-under
71 to finish at 6-under 210.
Also matching the low round of the day Tuesday with an
8-under 280 was No. 59 Purdue out of the Big Ten as the Boilermakers surged
into fifth place at 5-under 859, three shots behind N.C. State.
No. 12 Clemson, another perennial ACC power, was another
four shots behind Purdue in sixth place at 1-under 863 after a final round of 2-under
286. The Tigers were led by another of the three individual medalists, Bryson
Nimmer, a senior from Bluffton, S.C. who fired a 2-under 70 in the final round
to get to 6-under 210.
Another Big Ten entry, No. 40 Iowa, carded a solid final round
of 7-under 281 to surge to a seventh-place finish at 8-over 871. No. 31
Marquette, the Big East runnerup a year ago, was another three shots behind the
Hawkeyes in eighth place at 10-over 874 after a final round of 7-over 295.
No. 54 Ohio State, out of the Big Ten, was two shots behind
Marquette in ninth place at 12-over 876 after a final round of 8-over 296.
I wrapped up UNC Greensboro’s victory in the Martin Downs
Collegiate, hosted by the Spartans in Palm City, Fla. last week in my last
post, so I had to get in their solid 10th-place finish in the Puerto
Rico Classic. UNC Greensboro saved its best round for the final round, a 3-over
291, to finish two shots behind the Buckeyes at 14-over 878.
UNC Greensboro beat, among others, No. 5 Alabama, the reigning
SEC champion which finished a shot behind the Spartans in a tie for 11th
place in the 15-team field with Middle Tennessee State at 15-over 879.
One thing the Georgia Tech and Georgia programs have always
had in common is talent and that was evident as they battled to a deadlock in
Puerto Rico.
Georgia Tech was led by Andy Ogletree, a junior from Little
Rock, Miss. who finished among the group tied for fourth in the individual
standings at 5-under 211, a shot behind the three medalists. Ogletree was
steady throughout on the River Course, adding a final round of 1-under 71 to a
pair of 2-under 70s.
The other two players in that group at 211 were Georgia’s
Phillips brothers out of Inman, S.C., junior Trevor and freshman Trent. After
opening with a 3-under 69, Trevor Phillips matched par in the second round with
a 72 before finishing up with a 2-under 70. Younger brother Trent carded a
3-under 69 in the second round and sandwiched it with a pair of 1-under 71s.
Georgia Tech had two of the six players tied for seventh at
4-under 212 in Noah Norton, a sophomore from Chico, Calif., and Tyler Strafaci,
a junior from Davie, Fla. Norton’s final-round 73 was a throw-out, but he
contributed a 2-under 70 and a 3-under 69 in the first two rounds. Strafaci
finished up with an even-par 72 after carding a pair of 2-under 70s.
The low man in the final round for the Yellow Jackets was
Luke Schniederjans, a junior from Powder Springs, Ga. and the younger brother
of former Georgia Tech standout and current PGA Tour player Ollie
Schniederjans. Luke Schniederjans struggled, at least for him, with a pair of
1-over 73s in the first two rounds.
But he was there when the Yellow Jackets needed him, his
final-round 68 a key to their getting a piece of the team title. It landed
Schniederjans in the group tied for 15th at 2-under 214.
Rounding out the lineup for Georgia Tech was Connor Howe, a
freshman from Ogden, Utah who finished among the group tied for 43rd
at 5-over 221. His even-par 72 in the final round was a huge counter for the
Yellow Jackets.
Georgia also got its low round of the day in the final round
from a player who ended up tied for 15th at 2-under 214 as Spencer
Ralston, a junior from Gainesville, Ga., fired a 3-under 69. Davis Thompson, a
sophomore from Auburn, Ala., finished up with a key 2-under 70 to end up in the
group tied for 23rd at even-par 216.
Will Kahlstorf, a freshman from Watkinsville, Ga., finished
in the group tied for 57th at 225 after a final round of 1-over 73.
Kahlstorf, however, came up big with his opening round of 1-under 71 that counted
for the Bulldogs.
North Carolina State’s Shipp and Clemson’s Nimmer made their
big moves toward medalist honors in the second round. Shipp fired a 4-under 68
that gave him a share of the lead heading into the final round while Nimmer
posted a sizzling 6-under 66, the low round of the tournament.
Nimmer’s final-round 70 enable him to catch Shipp, who had a
closing 71. It was Nimmer’s third tournament title of the 2018-’19 season.
Joining those two in the three-way tie for first at 6-under
210 was Middle Tennessee State’s Marcus Byrd, a senior from Atlanta. Bryd also
put himself in the picture with a strong showing in the second round, a 5-under
67. A final round of 2-under 70 got him a share of the title and proved, if to
nobody else than himself, that he can run with the big dogs.
Georgia Tech’s Ogletree and Georgia’s Phillips brothers comprised
the trio tied for fourth at 211, a shot behind the top three.
Heading the group that included Georgia Tech’s Norton and
Strafaci tied for seventh at 4-under 212 was Ohio State’s Will Grimmer, a
senior from Cincinnati. Grimmer pulled off one of the toughest feats in amateur
golf last spring, advancing out of local and sectional qualifying for the U.S.
Open and then making the cut and playing the weekend at Shinnecock.
Grimmer opened with a 3-under 69 at the River Course, backed
off with a 1-over 73 in the second round and finished up with a 2-under 70.
Joining Grimmer and the Georgia Tech duo in the group tied
for seventh placce were a couple of Oklahoma players, Quade Cummins, a redshirt junior
from Weatherford, Okla., and Garrett Reband, a junior from Fort Worth, Texas,
and Clemson’s Zack Gordon, a freshman from Gaffney, S.C.
Cummins matched par in the final round with a 72 after
getting into contention with a 3-under 69 in the second round. Reband sandwiched
an even-par 72 in the second round with a pair of 2-under 70s. Gordon added a
pair of 1-under 71s to his opening round of 2-under 70.
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