Golf kicks off the season at the Carpet Capital Collegiate
By Derrick Ma/ Student Publications
The golf team at the Carpet Capital Collegiate last season. The team looks to improve upon their success at Rocky Face, where they finished third. The team is ranked No. 8 in a preseason poll by Golf World.
The golf team starts up their season at the Carpet Capital Collegiate this weekend in Rocky Face, Ga. It is the first tournament of the season for a team that was ranked No. 8 in a preseason ranking conducted by Golf World.
The team lost several key players from its successful squad last season to graduation. Roberto Castro, the four-time All-American, and Kevin Larsen, a key part of the team's NCAA tournament performance, left The Flats in the spring.
Despite the losses, the team returns three of five of its starters from this past year. The team looks to be anchored by All-Americans Cameron Tringale and Chesson Hadley.
Tringale steps up as the leader of this team that has no seniors this year. The junior helped lead the team last season, finishing ninth at the NCAA Golf championship. He also just missed capturing his second ACC championship by just one stroke. He looks to be chosen for a third consecutive All-American spot and build on his already long list of accomplishments. Tringale is also ranked No. 9 on Golf World's list of players to watch for this season.
Hadley emerged as a leader on the team in just his first year. He finished fourth at the NCAA championship. The freshman also finished ninth at the ACC championships. Hadley made Golf World's list of players to watch. On the strength of his postseason performances, Hadley jumped 65 spots in the rankings to finish the season at No. 51.
The golf team returns numerous other players. The junior class has Taylor Hall, Adam Cohan and David Dragoo coming back. Sole sophomore Daniel Bowden also comes back. Redshirt freshmen John Tyler Griffin and Paul Haley and freshman William Miller will begin their first season for Tech.
The Carpet Capital Collegiate will be one of three tournaments Tech plays in Georgia during its fall tournaments. The team will be predominantly SEC and ACC teams, with rival Georgia in the field. ACC teams that will join the Jackets in Rocky Face will be Clemson, Duke, Wake Forest and NC State. SEC teams besides Georgia include Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Augusta State, Texas Tech, TCU, Georgia State, East Tennessee State and UT - Chattanooga round out the roster of teams competing.
Last year, Tech finished third at the tournament, coming in a tie with Georgia. Tringale led the team, finishing in 19th place, the highest of any of the Jackets competing.
After this, the team travels to Macon, Ga. for the Brickyard Invitational on Oct. 7-9. They then go down to Windermere, Fla. for the Isleworth-UCF Collegiate Invitational Oct. 21-23. Later that month, the Jackets return to their home state to wrap up their fall season at Greensboro, Ga. for the Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship.
