Alpharetta, G.A. – Freshman Chris Petefish shot a 4-under-par 68, and Ollie Schniederjans added a 69 Sunday October 19th, 2014, leading Georgia Tech to a final-round 281 (-7) total and a seventh-place tie at the United States Collegiate Championship (USCC) at The Golf Club of Georgia.
The 15th-ranked Yellow Jackets also counted a 71 (-1) from freshman Jacob Joiner and a 73 (+1) from senior Anders Albertson on Sunday, improving their position by five places. Tech completed a gallant rally from its opening-round struggles Friday by playing the weekend rounds at 10-under-par and finish 54 holes at 862 (-2).
“We’ve got guys on this team who have never played before, and they’re not going to be good every day. That’s something they have to grow into,” said Tech coach Bruce Heppler. “They’re not ready to play well every single round. Everybody had some good stuff going on individually this weekend. The last two days were really good. They showed some resolve and realized that it’s a 54-hole tournament and continued to play. At the end of the day, this is a world-class field, and you have to play really well to win the tournament. We shot ourselves in the foot the first day, but the last two days were really positive.”
Virginia and Texas, who stood 1-2 on the leader board the entire weekend, withstood challenges from Texas A&M, Wake Forest and LSU Sunday to make it a two-horse race on the back nine. Texas emerged a one-stroke victor at 21-under-par 843, while Virginia finished at 20-under-par 844. The two teams were tied as their last two groups played the final hole, and the Longhorns’ Gavin Hall made birdie to give his team a one-stroke advantage. Virginia’s Denny McCarthy and Texas’ Kramer Hickok each parred the last hole.
Schniederjans rallied from an opening-round 73 to finish 68-69 on the weekend and finished in a sixth-place tie individually at 210 (-6). Virginia’s Derek Bard and Denny McCarthy battled each other down the stretch for medalist honors, and Bard (201, -15) pulled away on the back nine to defeat his teammate by six shots. Hall, with a closing 67, tied for third with Clemson’s Cody Proveaux and Washington’s Cheng-Tsung Pan at 7-under-par 209.
Heppler found encouragement from the play of the Jackets’ four individuals this weekend. Sophomore Michael Hines shot 71 Sunday and finished the tournament at 1-under-par 215 and in a tie for 21st place. Freshman James Clark also carded a 71 Sunday and finished at 217 (+1) and tied for 25th. Vincent Whaley closed with a 69 Sunday to tie for 44th.
“Those young guys had some really good rounds today,” said Heppler. “Eventually, you hope you can put it all together and build some consistency as the year goes along. You forget that the three guys who left after last year played 50 or 60 tournament amongst them, and these guys have played five or six. It’s part of growing up.”
Tech returns to action the first weekend of November at the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational in Princeville, Hawaii.