Alpharetta, Ga. – Freshman Hiroshi Tai shot a 3-under-par 69 Sunday and held on to capture medalist honors at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational. Georgia Tech was unable to hold on to its 36-hole lead and came up short by one shot and finished runner-up behind Stanford in the team race.
Tai, who graduated from high school in Windermere, Fla., and served a two-year military stint in his native Singapore before enrolling at Tech last January, became the first Yellow Jacket freshman to win a college tournament since Luke Schniederjans won the Puerto Rico Classic on 2017. He carded rounds of 65-69-69 for a 54-hole total of 203 (-13) and a one-shot victory over Kelly Chinn of Duke.
Looking for their first victory of the fall season and first in their annual home event since 2012, the Yellow Jackets led by three strokes entering the final round. They maintained their lead through 11 holes on Sunday, but stumbled over the final seven holes, posting a 1-under-par round of 279.
Tech returns to action in early February with the Amer Ari Intercollegiate on the Big Island of Hawai’i.
TECH LINEUP – Tai looked as though he would easily win individual honors Sunday when he played his first 11 holes 5-under-par and got to 15-under-par for the tournament. But the freshman bogeyed three of his next five holes and fell into a tie for the lead before canning an 18-foot birdie putt at the par-3 17th. At the final hole, he faced an 8-foot birdie putt that would have given his team a share of the team title, but aggressively ran it past the hole. His comeback for par ensured his individual victory.
He was the only Yellow Jacket to post a subpar round on Sunday. Christo Lamprecht and Andy Mao each shot even-par 70, and Connor Howe’s 74 also counted toward the Jackets’ team total. Lamprecht, who won the Inverness Intercollegiate earlier this fall, finished in a tie for 10th place at 211 (-5), while Howe tied for 20th at 214 (-2).
Tech’s B team continued to impress Sunday, scoring a 4-under-par 284 for the second straight day to finish in fifth place at 13-under-par 851, ahead of No. 7 Virginia, No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 12 Alabama and three other top-50 teams. Freshman Aidan Tran shot a 4-under 69 Sunday to lead that group, while Ross Steelman came in at 69 and tied for fifth overall at 8-under-par 208. Benjamin Reuter tied for 15th individually at 213 (-3), and Tran tied for 20th at 214 (-2).
Hiroshi Tai poses with the medalist trophy and Golf Club…
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