OK ST rallies to Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Title

October 22, 2017 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

Oklahoma State has won two of their first three events <br>(Oklahoma State Athletics Photo)

A late birdie lifts Doug Ghim of Texas to the individual title

ALPHARETTA, GA (October 22, 2017) - 10 strokes back at the start of the final round, No. 3 Oklahoma State fired a 14-under tally to finish 27-under and win the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate. Against a field that includes eight ranked teams and four of the top five teams in the country, Oklahoma State led after the first round but had to fight their way back on Sunday from their fifth place position to begin the day. Texas (-24) took second, while 36-hole leaders No. 9 Wake Forest (-22) ended up third, and host No. 4 Georgia Tech (-18) and No.T 22 UCLA (-18) shared fifth. Top-ranked Texas A&M, winners of their first three events this season, ended up ninth at 13-under. Playing at The Golf Club of Georgia (Lakeside Course), Oklahoma State was led by runner-up Matthew Wolff. After holding a share of the first day lead, Wolff closed with a 7-under 65 that left him at 12-under for the tournament. The freshman made a late bid for the individual title with birdies on each of the last two holes but his comeback attempt ultimately ran out of steam as he finished one stroke behind Doug Ghim of Texas. Wolff, who held a share of the first-round individual lead, combined rounds of 66-71-67. Oklahoma State was also helped to their second victory of the season by two other top-15 performers: Zach Bauchou (T5; -8) and Viktor Hovland (T12; -5). In the medalist chase Ghim closed with a 2-under 70 to finish 13 under and a one shot victor over Wolff. The win for Ghim was just the second of the career for the senior who was named the Big 12 Player of the Year last season. Starting the day one shot off the pace, Ghim rolled in four birdies and two bogeys with the winning birdie coming on the 17th hole. The birdie on the penultimate hole helped Ghim absorb a bogey on the 54th hole and still come out on top. 36-hole individual leader Alex Smalley of Duke fell back a stroke to 11 under to finish third, Will Zalatoris of Wake Forest placed fourth at 10 under, while Bauchou and Brad Dalke of Oklahoma shared fifth at 8-under. ROUND TWO RECAP Ninth-ranked Wake Forest blitzed the field during the second round of Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate to take the 36-hole lead. Playing at The Golf Club of Georgia Lakeside Course the Demon Deacons fired a 17-under round and at 23-under they are the five-stroke leaders. Texas (-18) and Duke (-18) are tied for second, host No. 4 Georgia Tech (-15) is fourth while No. 3 Oklahoma State (-13) is third. Oklahoma State led after the first round but were only able to move two shots lower in the second round. On Saturday Wake Forest was paced by freshman Marco Steyn who fired a 7-under 65 to move to 10-under and third place. Steyn, from South Africa, came to the Demon Deacons as the top-ranked amateur from the country and as a winner of six junior national championships. Beginning on the 10th hole, Steyn birdied Nos. 12, 16 and 17 before turning and carding birdies on Nos. 3, 5, 7-9 while dropping his only shot on the 6th. Overall Steyn birdied eight-times and bogeyed once. Wake Forest senior Will Zalatoris, a member of the victorious Walker Cup team, turned in an impressive round as well carding a 4-under 68 to move to 8-under and sixth place. The remainder of the Wake Forest turned in under-par rounds as well with Cameron Young (T26; -3) and Paul McBride (T32; -2) carding 3-under 69's to account for the final two scores of the day for the leaders. In the medalist race Alex Smalley of Duke took over the leader with a 7-under 65 that moved him to 12-under. Smalley, a junior, birdied eight-times and bogeyed once during the round. With one top-five already this season Smalley started his round with three consecutive birdies. Doug Ghim of Texas is second at 11-under, Steyn is third while Chandler Eaton of Duke and Kyle Cottam of Clemson are sharing fourth at 9-under. Of Note: No. 1 Texas A&M had a better day two teaming for a 9-under tally to reach 9-under overall. Winners of all three tournaments they have played in this year the Aggies are tied for 10th. ROUND ONE RECAP No. 3 Oklahoma State teamed for an 11-under-par day one score to take the lead by two at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate hosted by The Golf Club of Georgia Lakeside Course. With a field that includes eight-ranked teams including four of the top-five in the nation Oklahoma State was led on Friday by co-medalist leader Matthew Wolff. A freshman, Wolff birdied seven-times and bogeyed just once during the round. Wolff who was the 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship runner-up kick started his round with a birdie on the opening hole while also adding circles on Nos. 5, 6, 11, 12, 13 and 18. Besides Wolff three other Cowboys turned in under-par rounds; Zach Bauchou (T12; -3), Viktor Hovland (T25; -1) and Viktor Hovland (T25; -1). Joining Wolff at the top of the individual leaderboard is Doug Ghim of Texas and Chris Petefish of Georgia Tech. Ghim who had a summer of near misses rolled in seven birdies and only dropped one shot during his round. Ghim, the runner-up at the 2017 U.S. Amateur, did most of his work during the opening 10 holes when he birdied six-times, including four in a row from Nos. 7-10. Chris Petefish playing for host Georgia Tech carded seven birdies and bogeyed once as well. Petefish, a senior, started on the back nine and he birdied four-times on the opening nine. In three starts this year Petefish has recorded two top-20 finishes. The individual top-five is rounded out by Alex Smalley of Duke and Michael Pisciotta of Georgia Tech in fourth at 5-under. Behind Oklahoma State in the team standings comes Texas (-9) in second while No. 9 Wake Forest (-6) No. T22 UCLA (-6), Duke (-6) and UNLV (-6) share third. Also in the field this weekend is No. 1 Texas A&M, winners of three in a row, but they struggled to an even-par first round that leaves them in a tie for 12th. Making his senior season debut Cameron Champ opened with an even-par 72.

Results: Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Doug Ghim	Arlington Heights, IL	800	66-67-70=203
2	Matthew Wolff	Agoura Hills, CA	500	66-71-67=204
3	Alex Smalley	Wake Forest, NC	400	67-65-73=205
4	Will Zalatoris	Plano, TX	400	68-68-70=206
T5	Zach Bauchou	Forest, VA	400	69-71-68=208

View full results for Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate

About the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate

OK ST rallies to Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Title

The United States Collegiate Championship, hosted by Georgia Tech, annually brings 15 of the nation's top college teams to The Golf Club of Georgia for a three-day, 54-hole tournament that has been called "the Masters of college golf.” Started in 200...