THE FLATS – Georgia Tech’s 16^th-ranked golf team goes back West this weekend to compete in its third spring event, the Southern Highlands Collegiate, which begins Sunday morning at the Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nev.

The event features a 15-team field, including nine teams ranked in the Scoreboard Powered by Clippd Top-25 rankings and 13 squads in the top 50. Tech, making its 20th appearance in this event, won the tournament in 2001 and 2002 and tied for sixth place in its last visit in 2023. Among Tech’s current players, only Hiroshi Tai (Singapore) competed in that event, tying for 35^th place with a score of 217 (+1).

Head coach Bruce Heppler’s team, which has one victory (Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational) from the fall on its resume this year, tied for fourth place in its last outing at the Watersound Invitational in Panama City Beach, Fla., after opening the spring with a 10^th-place finish (out of 20 teams) at the Amer Ari Intercollegiate in Hawai’i. Redshirt junior Benjamin Reuter (Naarden, The Netherlands) has been the Yellow Jackets top finisher in both events.

Tai, who won the NCAA individual championship last May in Carlsbad, Calif., and Reuter, who had a pair of top-10 finishes in the fall, are among five players who helped the Yellow Jackets advance to match play at the NCAA Championship each of the past two years. Also back are sophomores Kale Fontenot (Lafayette, La.) and Carson Kim (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and junior Aidan Tran (Fresno, Calif.).

The tournament will utilize a split-tee start format each day, with competition beginning at 12 p.m. Eastern time Sunday through Tuesday.

Benjamin Reuter has been Tech’s top finisher in both spring events. (photo by Ross Obley)

TECH LINEUP – Reuter and Tai lead the five-man lineup for the Yellow Jackets in Panama City Beach, joined by Fontenot, Tran and freshman Albert Hansson (Fiskebäckskil, Sweden). Kim will compete as an individual.

Reuter has been Tech’s top player all year thus far, posting a runner-up finish at Olympia Fields and two other top-10s, including a tie for fourth at the Watersound Initational two weeks ago. He is ranked No. 28 in the Scoreboard NCAA rankings. Tai, listed on the Fall Watch List for the Fred Haskins Award and as a pre-season All-American by Golfweek magazine and Golf Channel, had three top-20 finishes this fall and is ranked No. 164 in the NCAA Scoreboard rankings. The junior from Singapore won twice as a freshman prior to his NCAA Championship.

Hanson, ranked No. 138 nationally, finished 28^th at the Amer Ari Intercollegiate and 22^nd at Watersound, while Fontenot (No. 119 in the Scoreboard rankings) has tied for 37^th and 30^th, respectively, in Tech’s two events this spring. Tran earned the fifth spot in qualifying after tying for 22^nd as an individual at Watersound.

EVENT DETAILS

Southern Highlands Collegiate

• Dates: March 2-4 (54 holes of stroke play, low 4 of 5 scorer count for team score each round)
• Format: 18 holes each Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, begins 12 p.m. EST each day from No. 1 and No. 10 holes
• Venue: Southern Highlands Golf Club (par 72, 7,510 yards)
• Participating teams (15): 2 Auburn, No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 9 Virginia, No. 11 Florida, No. 12 Illinois, No. 16 Georgia Tech, No. 18 SMU, No. 22 San Diego State, No. 24 Pepperdine, No. 26 Texas A&M, No. 30 Georgia, No. 31 UNLV, No. 50 USC, New Mexico and Washington
• Tech appearances (last appearance): 20^th appearance (tied for 6^th place in 2023)
• Best finish: won championship in 2001 and 2002
• Individual titles: Stewart Cink and David Duval (co-medalists in 1992), Troy Matteson (co-medalist in 2002), Cameron Tringale (2009)

Freshman Albert Hansson has been a part of Tech’s lineup for every event this year. (photo by Ross Obley)

Full Steam Ahead

Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.

ABOUT GEORGIA TECH GOLF

Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 30^th year under head coach Bruce Heppler, winning 73 tournaments in his tenure. The Yellow Jackets have won 19 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, made 33 appearances in the NCAA Championship and been the national runner-up five times. Follow Georgia Tech Golf on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on X (@GTGolf) and Instagram. For more information on Tech golf, visit Ramblinwreck.com.