Tech in 10th at OFCC Fighting Illini Invitational – Men’s Golf — Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Senior Aidan Tran led No. 18 Georgia Tech golf on Friday with a 2-under-par 68 in the opening round of Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational. Fellow classman, Hiroshi Tai, also turned in a subpar round as Tech stands in 10^th place after the first 18 of the competitive tournament.

Tran made the turn at par and birdied holes 11 and 15 to finish at 2-under-par for the day. The Yellow Jacket was one of only 13 players in the field of 81 to finish under par on Friday. Tran sits in a four-way tie for second on the individual leaderboard.

Tai opened strong with a birdie on the first hole, but fell behind with four bogeys before stringing together four birdies on holes nine, 10, 11 and 12 to make up ground. The senior turned in a 3-under-par on the back nine to finish 1-under-par 69 for the day and stands in a tie for sixth place.

As a team, Georgia Tech posted a seven-over-par 287 for a 10^th-place standing. No. 19 Texas Tech currently holds the lead at 1-under-par total of 279.

Georgia Tech will be paired with Texas and Stanford for second round action. Benjamin Reuter will tee off at 8:15 a.m. first for the Yellow Jackets.

TECH LINEUP – Georgia Tech has two Yellow Jackets in the top-10 of the individual standings. Tran played steady golf all day, recording one bogey and three birdies to pace the Jackets, while Tai carded five birdies over the final 10 holes for a 1-under-par day.

Albert Hansson and Kale Fontenot both were five-over-par for the day, tying for 62^nd. Reuter completed Tech’s lineup with a seven-over-par 77 and is tied for 72^nd.

TEAM LEADERBOARD – No. 19 Texas Tech leads the field after round one and posted the only subpar team total of the day at 1-under-par 279. No. 4 Oklahoma State is one stroke off the lead in second-place after an even round of 280. No. 10 Florida and Loyola Marymount both posted 2-over-par rounds of 282 to tie for third place, while No. 11 Alabama rounds out the top five at 3-over-par 283.

The 15-team field features 10 teams ranked in the top 25 of the latest Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Poll released on Friday.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD – Texas Tech’s Adam Bresnu leads the individual player field, recording the lowest round of the day at 3-under-par 67. Bresnu holds a one stroke lead over four players tied for second place at 2-under-par 68, including Georgia Tech’s Tran. The Jacket is tied with Florida’s Matthew Kress, Arizona State’s Pongsapak Laopakdee and Alabama’s Luke Powell. Eight…