April 21, 2018
New London, N.C. – Andy Ogletree and Chris Petefish each fired 4-under-par 68s on Saturday, while fifth-ranked Georgia Tech posted an 11-under-par round of 277 and built a six-stroke lead over Notre Dame and Clemson heading into the final round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Golf Championship at the Old North State Club.
Play concludes with the final round Saturday at 8:30 a.m. The Yellow Jackets tee off at 9:30 a.m., paired again with second-place Notre Dame and third-place Clemson. Live online streaming coverage will be provided via ACC Network Extra beginning at 1 p.m.
ACC Men’s Golf Championship site | Live Scoring/Pairings | Watch online Sunday (1 p.m.) | Coach Heppler audio
TECH LINEUP — Petefish recorded six birdies in posting the best ACC Tournament round of his career. The senior from Danville, Calif., started with birdies at 1 and 2, went back-to-back again at the par-4 12th and 13th holes, and finished with a birdie at the par-5 18th. His only hiccups came with bogeys at 8 and 9. Coupled with his opening 69, Petefish is tied for sixth place at 7-under-par 137, five shots off the lead.
Ogletree, who opened with an even-par 72, had seven pars and a bogey over his first eight holes Saturday, then got on track with a birdie at the ninth and played the back nine bogey-free with four birdies. He is tied for 16th place at 4-under-par 140.
The Yellow Jackets also counted a 2-under-par 70 from sophomore Tyler Strafaci (Davie, Fla.), also tied for 16th at 4-under 140, and a 1-under 71 from freshman Noah Norton (Chico, Calif.), a six-shot improvement over his opening round Friday.
Tech tossed out a 74 from sophomore Luke Schniederjans (Powder Springs, Ga.), who struggled on the front nine Saturday but played the incoming nine 2-under-par to settle into a tie for 12th place overall (139, -5).
The Jackets played the back nine eight shots under par (10 birdies, two bogeys).
Andy Ogletree matches Petefish’s 68, making five birdies in his final 10 holes today to move into the top 20 and help the Yellow Jackets take a 6-stroke lead over Notre Dame after 36 holes. #gojackets pic.twitter.com/Ytwdt4IqT3
— Georgia Tech Golf (@GT_GOLF) April 21, 2018
TEAM LEADERBOARD — Georgia Tech back-nine rally enabled it to expand a one-shot lead at the beginning of the round to six, finishing 36 holes at 23-under-par 553. Playing partners Notre Dame and No. 15 Clemson, each with four players under par in Saturday’s round, have tournament totals of 17-under-par 559 after the Fighting Irish posted an 8-under round of 280 Saturday, and the Tigers shot 6-under 282.
Duke, which made the biggest move of the day with a 12-under-par round of 276, and Virginia, which has the top two players on the individual leaderboard, are tied for fourth place at 14-under-par 562. No. 18 North Carolina holds sixth place at 13-under-par 563, followed by Wake Forest in seventh at 12-under 564. No. 20 Florida State and NC State are tied for eighth place at 10-under-par 566.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD — Virginia’s Thomas Walsh, with a 7-under-par 65 Saturday, took a one-stroke lead over his teammate Danny Walker, who shot 65 Friday and 69 Saturday. Walsh has a 36-hole total of 132 (-12), while Walker is at 10-under-par 134.
Clemson’s Doc Redman, the 2017 U.S. Amateur champion, is tied for third place at 8-under-par 136 with North Carolina’s Ben Griffin and Louisville’s Nicolas Platret. Petefish is tied with Duke’s Alex Smalley for seventh place at 137 (-7), followed by a group of four golfers at 138 (-6).
Petefish closes with a birdie at 18 for a 68 (-4), his sixth birdie of the day and Tech’s third at the last. Petey’s career best score in an ACC Tournament round. pic.twitter.com/S2Idgr5A32
— Georgia Tech Golf (@GT_GOLF) April 21, 2018
COACH Bruce Heppler SAID — “Andy couldn’t get the lid off the par 5s to save his life until he birdied 11 today. He hit it close a couple of times on the front, then hit a really good shot on nine, which is one of the hardest holes out here, and made birdie, which got him to let go a little bit. He played really well from there. It’s just another example with this team that you don’t know where it’s coming from, which is a nice thing, and I think we’ll take the same thing tomorrow. The teams in this league are so good, and the course is perfect.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION — The 65th annual Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Golf Championship runs through Sunday, April 22, returning to the Old North State Club in New London, N.C., after one year in Clinton, S.C. Old North State is a 7,102-yard, par 72 layout adjacent to Badin Lake, about 50 miles north of Charlotte, N.C.
The championship is contested over 54 holes, 18 each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Seeding for the championship was based on Golfstat rankings, with Tech currently ranked No. 5 and the top seed in the championship. The rest of the ACC, in order of Golfstat ranking, are Clemson (15), North Carolina (17), Florida State (19), Wake Forest (28), Duke (29), NC State (35), Louisville (47), Virginia (48), Notre Dame (73), Virginia Tech (90), Boston College (139)
Final Round Pairings
8:30 – 9:18 a.m. = Duke, North Carolina, Virginia (Starting on Hole #10)
8:30 – 9:18 a.m. = Florida State, NC State, Wake Forest (Starting on Hole #1)
9:30 – 10:18 a.m. = Boston College, Louisville, Virginia (Starting on Hole #10)
9:30 – 10:18 a.m. = Georgia Tech, Clemson, Notre Dame (Starting on Hole #1)
Ten of Georgia Tech’s 16 ACC men’s golf championships have been won at the Old North State Club, most recently in 2015, when the Yellow Jackets won the title in a playoff over Clemson. Wake Forest leads all schools with 18 league titles and 22 individual champions. Georgia Tech, which has won 14 outright ACC Championships and shared two more, has produced 11 individual medalists since joining the conference in 1979. North Carolina is third with 11 titles (10 outright), followed by Clemson with 10 (nine outright) and Duke, the 2017 champion, with nine.
