Kannapolis, N.C. – Chris Petefish fired a 1-over-par 72 Sunday to pace third-ranked Georgia Tech to a closing score of 9-over-par 293 and a third place finish at the Cabarrus County Irish Creek Collegiate. Petefish and fellow senior Jacob Joiner (74 Sunday) tied for 12th place individually to lead the Yellow Jackets.
TECH LINEUP – Georgia Tech continued to struggle in cold and windy conditions Sunday at the 7,099-yard, par-71 Club at Irish Creek, recording only eight birdies in the final round, five of those coming on the par-5 14th hole. Petefish, a senior from Danville, Calif.) posted a pair of birdies and three bogeys en route to his 72, while fellow senior Jacob Joiner (Leesburg, Ga.) also had a pair of birdies along with three bogeys and a double-bogey for a 74. They were the Yellow Jackets’ highest finishers for the weekend, tying for 12th place at 4-over-par 217.
Sophomores Tyler Strafaci and Andy Ogletree fired a 73 and a 74, respectively, for Tech’s other counting scores Sunday. Strafaci tied for 24th place at 220 (+7), while Ogletree and fellow sophomore Luke Schniederjans (77 Sunday) tied for 30th place at 221 (+8).
TEAM LEADERBOARD – No. 15 Clemson also had its problems Sunday, posting a 10-over-par 294, but was able to withstand a charge from No. 29 North Florida to capture a two-stroke victory. The Tigers finished 54 holes at 7-over-par 859, while the Ospreys, the only team to break par Sunday (287, -3), posted a tournament score of 861 (+9), followed by Tech at 867 (+15).
No. 35 Kansas finished fourth at 874 (+22), followed by UNC Greensboro (+23), West Virginia (+26), Indiana (+32), James Madison (+33), Middle Tennessee State (+35) and Charlotte (+49) in the top 10.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD – Clemson’s Turk Pettit shot 2-over-par 73 Sunday and completed a wire-to-wire victory, winning by three strokes (4-under-par 209) over Indiana’s Jake Brown (1-under 212), who had a hole-in-one at the par-3 18th hole. Daniel Sutton of Kansas, with a finishing 71, finished third along at even-par 213.
COACH BRUCE HEPPLER SAYS – “We just didn’t handle the adverse weather conditions well all weekend. The wind chill was 37 degrees when we got started today, but everybody had to deal with it. We’ve got a 10 days to get in the right frame of mind to be competitive at the conference championship.”
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – Georgia Tech made its first appearance in the Cabarrus County Irish Creek Collegiate, which is in its ninth year. The two-day 54-hole event was played at The Club at Irish Creek (par 71, 7,099 yards).
In addition to the co-hosts Charlotte and Davidson, the 15-team field featured Akron, Clemson (No. 15), Dartmouth, Dayton, Georgia Tech (No. 4), Indiana, James Madison, Kansas (No. 35), Middle Tennessee State, UNC Greensboro, North Florida (No. 29), West Virginia and VCU. Four of the participating teams were ranked in the top-50 of the current Golfstat rankings, while six competitors sat inside the top-100 individually.