March 23, 2015
Palm City, Fla. – Anders Albertson completed 36 holes in even-par 142, but fifth-ranked Georgia Tech struggled to match those scores up and down its lineup Monday and is tied for ninth place at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational at the Floridian Golf Club in Palm City, Fla.
Results, Live Scoring and Tee Times via Golfstat
TECH LINEUP – Albertson was the only Tech player to break par Monday, posting a 72 in the morning and a 70 in the afternoon on the par-71 Floridian Golf Club. The senior from Woodstock, Ga., has eight subpar rounds in his last 10 and is tied for 17th place after 36 holes. Freshman Chris Petefish is tied for 32nd place after firing a pair of 73s. Senior Ollie Schniederjans, who did not play with the Yellow Jackets at last week’s Seminole Intercollegiate, shot 75-73 and is tied for 41st place along with sophomore Vincent Whaley (76-72). Freshman Michael Pisciotta did not count for Tech in either round after carding 80-75. Freshman James Clark, competing as an individual, matched Pisciotta in each round.
ROUND 1 SUMMARY – Tech was in ninth place after an opening round delayed 32 minutes by lightning. The Yellow Jackets shot 296 (+12), recording 12 birdies among the counting players and five double or triple bogeys. Tech continued a pattern of struggling in the opening round of tournaments. The Jackets have posted their highest score of the tournament in the first round in five of seven events this year and averaged 287.9 per opening round.
ROUND 2 SUMMARY – Tech had only one hole of double bogey or worse among its counting players but had only 10 birdies in a round of 288 (+4), gaining no ground on the leaders. The Jackets have averaged 276.9 in round two this year.
TEAM LEADERBOARD – No. 14 LSU (15-under-par 553) and No. 2 Florida State (14-under 554) are in a two-horse race for the team title, the only two teams who shot under par in both the morning and afternoon rounds on Monday. No. 7 South Carolina shot 279 in the afternoon and is in third place at 4-under 564, followed by No. 18 South Florida at even-par 568. The rest of the 13-team field is over par for 36 holes. Tech and Houston are 31 strokes off the lead at 16-over-par 584 after posting rounds of 296 and 288 Monday.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD – Greg Yates of Texas A&M shot a pair of 67s and is in first place at 8-under-par 134, two shots ahead of South Florida’s Rigel Fernandes (66-70–136) and Illinois’ Thomas Detry (67-69–136). FSU’s Hank Lebioda is in fourth place at 5-under 137. Tech’s Albertson is eight shots off the pace.
HEPPLER SAYS – “We got off to a slow start this morning and never recovered. The afternoon was somewhat better. I was pleased with Vince Whaley. He was plus-8 during his morning round and played the last round-plus in minus-2. Chris plugged along and was competitive, and Anders was solid all day. We’re looking to come out strong in the morning and leave here on a positive note.”
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION – The final round of the Valspar Collegiate Invitational will commence at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday with a split-tee start. The tournament is a typical 54-hole collegiate event, with the low four scores out of five counting each day. The event is played at the Floridian Golf Club (7,076 yards, par 71) in Palm City, Fla. The 13-team field features eight teams in the current Golfweek/Sagarin top-20, including No. 1 Illinois, No. 2 Florida State, No. 7 South Carolina, No. 10 UCLA, No. 14 LSU, No. 18 South Florida and No. 19 Oklahoma State, as well as the fifth-ranked Yellow Jackets.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY – Georgia Tech’s victory in the Valspar Invitational last spring kicked off a four-tournament winning streak for the Yellow Jackets which carried on through the NCAA regional in Raleigh, N.C. Tech negotiated the 54 holes at 15-under-par 837, eight shots clear of Oklahoma State, which would later defeat the Jackets in the quarterfinal round of match play at the NCAA Championship. Ollie Schniederjans won medalist honors by two shots over LSU’s Stewart Jolly, earning an exemption into last week’s Valspar Championship on the PGA Tour.
