Lamprecht Leads, Tech 2nd at Fighting Illini Invitational – Men’s Golf — Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Olympia Fields, Ill. – All-American Christo Lamprecht got his senior year off to a hot start Friday, posting a 5-under-par 65 to lift the No. 4-ranked Georgia Tech golf team into second place after the opening round of the Olympia Fields Country Club/Fighting Illini Invitational.

Lamprecht is tied for the lead individually, while the Yellow Jackets, with a 3-under-par total of 277, are one stroke behind 11^th-ranked Texas (276, -4) after the first day of competition in a tournament that included 11 teams that competed in last year’s NCAA Championship. The second round gets underway at 9 a.m. Saturday.

The 6-foot-8 Tech senior led a determined opening-day effort for the Yellow Jackets, who started slowly (1-over-par at the turn), but put up eight birdies collectively on the back nine at an Olympia Fields Country Club course that just a month ago hosted a FedEx Cup Playoff event on the PGA Tour.

TECH LINEUP – Lamprecht, who opened the fall season No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and in the PGA Tour University rankings, began his senior year with a stellar round, piecing together seven birdies against just two bogeys at the par-70 Olympia Fields. The George, South Africa senior closed with three birdies in his last five holes to take the clubhouse lead before Stanford’s Karl Vilips posted another 65 later in the afternoon.

Freshman Kale Fontenot (Lafayette, La.) made a solid collegiate debut with a 1-under-par 69, recording two birdies against one bogey, and is tied for 10^th place, while senior Bartley Forrester (Gainesville, Ga.) also was solid, one birdie and one bogey on the way to an even-par 70 and a tie for 15^th place.

Senior Aidan Kramer (Oviedo, Fla.), making just his sixth career start for the Yellow Jackets, is tied for 42^nd place after posting a 3-over-par 73, while freshman Carson Kim (Yorba Linda, Calif.) carded a 78 (+8) and did not factor in the team total.

Kale Fontenot made his collegiate debut with a 1-under-par 69. (photo by Clyde Click)

TEAM LEADERBOARD – Three Texas players broke par Friday to lead the 11^th-ranked Longhorns to the top of the leaderboard, and their 4-under-par 276 total was one stroke better than the Yellow Jackets (277, -3), who benefitted from two subpar rounds and one even-par score. They were the only teams to break par Friday.

Top-ranked North Carolina, which fell to Tech in the NCAA Championship semifinals last May, settled into third place at 1-under-par 279. No. 5 Florida State (283, +3)…