Naples, Fla. – The second round of the Calusa Cup was halted twice Monday by lighting and weather, and No. 11 Georgia Tech found itself tied for first place with Wake Forest, and junior Bartley Forrester held a share of the individual lead when the round was called for the day at Calusa Pines Golf Club.
Round 2 will be completed Tuesday morning, with the final round immediately following.
Looking for its fourth victory of the 2021-22 year, the Yellow Jackets had fully completed seven holes, with junior Connor Howe having finished the front nine, and stood even par for the day and 7-under-par for the tournament when the round was suspended. Tech’s playing partners were No. 17 Wake Forest and No. 16 Florida. The Demon Deacons had the day’s best round going, 4-under-par, to gain a share of the lead at 7-under-par, while the Gators were 8-over-par and had fallen to third place at 4-under-par.
The rest of the teams in the limited, but strong field were all over par for the day. Purdue (+5) is in fourth place, followed by No. 22 Clemson (+10), top-ranked Oklahoma (+13), No. 8 Georgia (+13), Iowa (+15) and Marquette (+18).
Forrester, a junior from Gainesville, Ga., looking for his second collegiate victory, is even par for his round, having recorded two birdies and two bogeys through seven holes. He is tied for the individual lead at 6-under-par with Wake Forest’s Michael Brennan, who is 4-under-par through seven holes.
Individually for Tech, Christo Lamprecht is 1-over-par through seven holes, Howe is 2-over-par through nine holes, Ross Steelman is 1-under-par through eight holes, and Ben Smith is level par through seven holes.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – Georgia Tech competed in the inaugural Calusa Cup last spring and earned a runner-up finish behind top-ranked Oklahoma. The event features a small, but strong field with seven of the nine teams currently residing in the top 25 of the Golfstat rankings, including No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 8 Georgia, No. 11 Georgia Tech, No. 16 Florida, No. 17 Wake Forest, No. 22 Clemson, No. 23 Purdue, Iowa and Marquette. Seventeen of the nation’s top 100 players are in the field.
The tournament is contested at Calusa Country Club, which measures 7,320 yards and plays to a par of 72. Play begins at noon Sunday and 1 p.m. Monday, with the final round starting at 7 a.m. Tuesday. Each team will have five players competing with the low four scores counting toward the team total each day, and the tournament will be 54 holes, 18 each on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
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