Tech Golfers Compete at Ben Hogan Collegiate – Men’s Golf — Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

THE FLATS – Georgia Tech’s golf team, ranked No. 4 in the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings, continues its fall season Monday and Tuesday with the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas. It is the second of a five-event fall slate that takes the Yellow Jackets to Illinois, Texas and California, with the other two events in the Atlanta area.

Tech finished third in its first fall event two weeks ago at the rain-shortened Olympia Fields Country Club Fighting Illini Invitational, making a strong showing in an event that featured 11 teams that reached last year’s NCAA Championship, and seven that advanced to match play.

After guiding the Yellow Jackets to the program’s 19^th Atlantic Coast Conference championship and a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championship, head coach Bruce Heppler has three starters back for his 29^th season on The Flats, including seniors Bartley Forrester (Gainesville, Ga.) and Christo Lamprecht (George, South Africa) and sophomore Hiroshi Tai (Singapore), each of whom are ranked among the world’s top 50 amateur players.

Hiroshi Tai, who won twice as a freshman, makes his 2023-24 debut Monday. (photo by Clyde Click)

ROSTER OUTLOOK – Lamprecht, a first-team All-American in 2023, won The Amateur Championship and was low amateur at The Open Championship over the summer and has risen to No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking following his victory at Olympia Fields. Forrester, an All-ACC performer in 2022 with two collegiate victories, is No. 41 in the WAGR, and Tai, who won two tournaments as a freshman, is No. 68.

Competition for spots in the lineup comes from five other returnees in seniors Adam Bratton (Newburgh, Ind.), Aidan Kramer (Oviedo, Fla.) and Andy Mao (Johns Creek, Ga.), as well as junior Benjamin Reuter (Naarden, The Netherlands) and sophomore Aidan Tran (Fresno, Calif.). They have combined to compete in 39 collegiate events in their careers, while Kramer and Mao both have summer amateur victories under the belts.

Heppler added a pair of freshmen to the mix in Kale Fontenot (Lafayette, La.) and Carson Kim (Yorba Linda, Calif.), both of whom ranked among the top 15 junior golfers in the class of 2023 and competed in Tech’s fall opener at Olympia Fields.

TECH LINEUP – All three of Tech’s returning starters – Lamprecht, Forrester and Tai – are in the lineup for the Ben Hogan Collegiate along with Kim and Tran.

Lamprecht set a 36-hole record score of 131 (-9) in winning the individual title by a…