Georgia Tech Golf Opens Spring Season in Hawai’i – Men’s Golf — Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

THE FLATS – Returning to action for the first time since late October, Georgia Tech’s golf team has traveled to the Big Island of Hawai’i to take part in its traditional spring season opener, the Amer Ari Intercollegiate beginning Wedneday at Hapuna Golf Course in Waimea, Hawai’i.

After closing the fall season ranked No. 10 in the Golfstat rankings and No. 12 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Index, head coach Bruce Heppler has six Yellow Jackets competing against a 20-team field that includes nine teams ranked among the nation’s top 25 teams in the current Golfstat rankings, including No. 1 Auburn. The event tees off a busy February in which the Jackets also play in the Watersound Invitational in Florida and the Southern Highlands collegiate in Las Vegas before the month is out.

TEAM UPDATE – Head coach Bruce Heppler’s squad finished the fall season No. 10 in Golfstat and No. 12 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Index despite not winning a fall event for the first time since 2016. The Yellow Jackets, however, posted a pair of runner-up finishes at the Inverness Intercollegiate and its home Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational, tied for fourth at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate and 12^th at the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational.

In spite of having all five starters back from a team that finished 12^th in last year’s NCAA Championship and runner-up in the ACC Championship, Heppler started each of his 11 players at least once, and only All-American Christo Lamprecht and fifth-year senior Connor Howe were a part of the starting five for each of the four tournaments.

Lamprecht, a 6-8 junior from South Africa who reached match play at the U.S. Amateur in August, earned his first collegiate victory at the Inverness Intercollegiate and tied for 10^th at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate for his top performances of the fall. Howe, from Ogden, Utah tied for third at the Maui Jim and 14^th at Inverness for his two best performances, and added a tie for 20^th at the Golf Club of Georgia.

They lead a Tech starting five in Hawai’i that also includes freshman Hiroshi Tai of Singapore, a two-time winner in the fall (Maui Jim individual event, golf Club of Georgia Collegiate), senior Ross Steelman (Columbia, Mo.), who tied for fifth at the Golf Club of Georgia and 21^st at the Maui Jim in his only two events, and senior Bartley Forrester (Gainesville, Ga.), whose best finish in three fall events was a tie for sixth at the Ben Hogan Collegiate. Sophomore Benjamin…