Anders Albertson fired a 4-under-par 68 Sunday, the best score of the day in extremely difficult weather conditions, and held off all challengers to win the individual title at the 60th Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Golf Championship.
In earning his first collegiate title, the sophomore from Woodstock, Ga., broke the 54-hole scoring record of 202 set in 2008 by Wake Forest’s Webb Simpson. “I did a good job this week of sticking to my game plan,” said Albertson. “I tried to focus each day. Coming into the final round, it didn’t matter if it was the first day or last, it was all the same to me. I was able to stay with my routine the entire tournament.”
Albertson was surprised to hear he had set the Championship scoring record.
“I’m still kind of in shock that I did that,” said Albertson, whose last three finishes have been 4th, t-6th and 1st with a combined score of 23-under-par. “I didn’t know that until they told me after the round. I’ve been playing well for a while now, and it’s awesome to see the results.”
Georgia Tech coach Bruce Heppler was proud of Albertson’s accomplishments, though Tech, the defending ACC champion, finished fourth as a team.
“There’s a lot of great names who have played in this tournament for a lot of years,” said Heppler. “This was actually his first tournament win, and he really made it count. He’s a great kid, a great student. I couldn’t be happier for him. He worked so hard and is so conscientious about everything he does. He just started on the first hole and never let up.”
Ollie Schniederjans, tied for second after 36 holes two shots back of Albertson, faltered on the back nine Sunday and shot 77, tying for 10th place individually at 3-under-par 213. Shun Yat Hak (2-over 218) and Bo Andrews (3-over 219) each shot 75 Sunday to finished tied for 26th and 29th, respectively.
Tech is off until the weekend of May 16-18, when the Yellow Jackets are expected to play in one of the six NCAA regional tournaments held around the country. The fields for those regionals will be announced May 6. Tech is the host institution for the NCAA Men’s Division I Golf Championship, which will be held May 28-June 2 at the Capital City Club’s Crabapple Course in Milton, Ga.