THE FLATS – Two highly-regarded junior golfers from the class of 2018 – Connor Howe of Ogden, Utah, and Luka Karaulic of Lawrenceville, Ga. – have signed national letters-of-intent to play at Georgia Tech, head coach Bruce Heppler announced Friday.
Howe, ranked as high as 41st nationally in the class of 2018, and Karaulic, ranked as high as No 180, have enjoyed stellar senior years both on the high school and junior levels.
“I’m very excited for these two young men to join our program next fall,” said Heppler. “I am really pleased that they have prepared themselves as students as well as the athletic side of the equation. They valued both the golf and athletic opportunity presented to them.
“Both of them have tremendous golf fundamentals which will give them a chance to succeed at a very high level once they join us. They have both been involved in very successful high school programs and value team success and team dynamics which is a bonus for us. They have also enjoyed success on a national level and are prepared to have very strong summers before joining us next fall. We couldn’t be happier with their decisions to be part of our program.”
Heppler’s Tech program, which have won 51 tournaments and 12 Atlantic Coast Conference championships in the last 22 years, will graduate three seniors in May.
Connor Howe, Ogden, Utah, Weber High School
Howe is ranked No. 41 in the Class of 2018 and 168th overall by Golfweek. He is listed No. 110 in the class of 2018 (No. 2 in the state of Utah) and 190th overall by the Junior Golf Scoreboard. He won the AJGA Hale Irwin Junior this year and recently captured his second straight Class 5A Utah High School State Championship. In 2015, he shot a state-record 62 in that event.
Howe has finished in the top 10 of four of 10 junior golf events over the past year, including a runner-up performance recently in the FCWT Junior Tournament in Phoenix, Ariz. Other top-10 finishes included the AJGA Project Worldwide Championship in Palos Verdes, Calif., and the Golfweek West Coast Junior Invitational. Howe also earned top-10 finishes in the AJGA PING Heather Farr Classic and the FCWT at Grayhawk Raptor. He chose the Yellow Jackets over Stanford, Washington, Arizona State, UNLV, UCLA, BYU and Utah.
Luka Karaulic, Lawrencevile, Ga., Mill Creek High School
Karaulic is ranked No. 180 in the class of 2018 (No. 7 in Georgia) and No. 347 overall by the Junior Golf Scoreboard, as well as No. 378 in Golfweek’s boys rankings. In six junior events over the past year, Karaulic’s best performance was a 10th place finish at the AJCA Under Armour/Hunter Mahan Championship. He had top-25 showings in the AJGA Junior at RiverWatch and the AJGA Davis Love III Junior Open. Karaulic has been an all-county selection and Daily Post Super Six pick the past two high school seasons. He shot 71 and 76 in the 2017 Class AAAAAAA state golf tournament to place fourth individually and help the Hawks to the team championship.