Pinehurst, N.C. – Freshman Hiroshi Tai fired rounds of 67-72 Friday and sits in third place, while Ross Steelman, Christo Lamprecht and Connor Howe all are among the top 12 individuals as 12th-ranked Georgia Tech grabbed a two-shot lead after 36 holes of the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Golf Championship.
Tech posted the best round in the field the morning 18 (14-under-par 284) and the second-lowest afternoon round (1-over-par 289) of the 36-hole day for a 13-under-par total of 563. The Yellow Jackets are two shots ahead of defending champion Wake Forest (11-under-par 565), while No. 6 Florida State (572, -4) and Duke (573, -3) are in third and fourth places entering the final round of stroke play, which begins at 7:30 a.m. Saturday.
The final round tee times were moved up 90 minutes in anticipation of inclement weather expected in the area Saturday. The Yellow Jackets are paired with Wake Forest and Florida State, beginning play from the first hole at 8:30 a.m. The top four teams on the leaderboard following Saturday’s round will advance to match play, which begins Sunday morning. The individual ACC champion will be crowned following the completion of play Saturday.
Under the stroke-play/match-play format, Tech has finished fifth and second, respectively, the last two years. The Jackets won their semifinal match over Florida state last year and lost, 3-2, to Wake Forest in the championship match.
Hiroshi Tai is in third place, five strokes off the lead, after 36 holes. (photo by Andy Mead)
ROUND 1 – Hiroshi Tai led a stellar effort from Tech in the morning round, posting a 5-under-par 67 as all five Yellow Jackets broke par at the 7,301-yard Country Club of North Carolina and took a one-stroke lead over Wake Forest. Tai, a freshman from Singapore, made six birdies against one bogey in posting his best round since a closing 67 at the Watersound Invitational in early February.
Meanwhile Christo Lamprecht, Ross Steelman and Bartley Forrester each shot 3-under-par 69 to complete Tech’s 14-under-par total of 284 for the morning round. Connor Howe provided the fifth subpar round with a 1-under-71, but it didn’t count toward the team total.
ROUND 2 – With strong winds and more difficult pin placements, scored were elevated for all the teams in the afternoon, but Tech’s 1-over-par 289 was second only to North Carolina’s even-par 288 for the round. Tai, Steelman and Howe each carded even-par 72s, while Lamprecht posted a 1-over…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Men’s Golf – Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets…