Tech golf finished its fall slate of team play this weekend, placing no worse than sixth in all four of their tournaments. Following a season in which the team placed 15th nationally after making the NCAA Finals, the Jackets have secured two first-place finishes.
Tech opened the year at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona on Sept. 10–12. The team moved into first on the opening day of play with a combined score of 264, good for 16-under par, and never relinquished the lead. The second day saw the Jackets post a combined score of 262, good for the lowest round of any team for the weekend and a whopping 18-under par day. Tech shot 270 for the final round for a minus-10 day and held off second-place Clemson with a minus-44 total to the Tigers’ minus-43.
Sophomore Christo Lamprecht finished with a minus-16 score across three rounds (65-63-66), good for second overall at the event. Two more Tech golfers finished in the top ten. Redshirt junior Bartley Forrester finished tied for sixth, shooting minus-13 (64-70-63) as an individual, while junior Ross Steelman shot minus-11 (62-67-70) and finished tied for ninth.
Junior Connor Howe and redshirt senior Ben Smith were Tech’s other two scorers, shooting minus-6 and minus-4 respectively. Sophomore Aidan Kramer played as an individual, shooting minus-3, while freshman Benjamin Reuter was Tech’s final team player, though his plus-2 score was not counted as only the top four scores for each team were summed.
The Jackets headed to Illinois for the Windon Memorial Classic on Sept 27–28. They secured another top-five finish, holding the fifth spot with a combined score of minus-5. Their three daily scores were 281, 281 and 285, and Tech held a tie for third after day two.
Howe was Tech’s top scorer, finishing tied for seventh overall after shooting minus-5 (71-69-68). Lamprecht secured another top-ten finish, shooting minus-3 (68-72-70) and securing a tie for tenth. Forrester and Steelman were the Jackets’ other two counted scorers, both shooting plus-6, while junior Andy Mao shot plus-7 as an individual and Smith shot plus-8 as Tech’s fifth.
At Tech’s following tournament in New York for the Hamptons Intercollegiate on Oct. 4–5, they finished tied for first with Virginia and Northwestern with combined scores of minus-4. Tech’s scores of 291 and 293 over the first two rounds saw them in fourth after two days, but a score of 276 on day three vaulted them to first, their second top finish of the season.
Steelman led Tech golfers with a score of minus-6 (70-74-66), good for second overall at the event. Forrester and Howe each picked up their second top-ten overall finish of the season, both shooting plus-1 and finishing in a tie for seventh.
Lamprecht had another strong day, as his three-over-par day earned him a tie for 14th and Tech’s final scoring spot. Smith had the second best day of the tournament among individuals as he shot plus-4. Reuter earned a plus-4 day as well, finishing one stroke off Tech’s top four.
Tech sent two teams, A and B, to the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate on Oct. 22-24, and both teams shot under par. The A team shot minus-14 and finished tied for sixth, while the B team shot minus-4 and finished 12th.
Reuter had his best outing of the year, shooting minus-6 (70-71-69) and finishing tied for 13th. Howe and Lamprecht earned top-25 finishes as well, shooting minus-4 and minus-3 respectively. Steelman and Forrester each shot plus-2 to round out the A team scores.
Kramer led the B team with his minus-6 day (68-71-71), joining Reuter in the tie for 13th. Andy Mao and redshirt junior Luka Karaulic each shot plus-1, while Smith was close behind at plus-3 for the B team’s final counted score. Sophomore Adam Bratton was the final player for the B team, shooting plus-6 for Tech.
With the fall schedule complete, Tech gets a couple months of rest before a packed spring schedule.