Noah Norton helped Georgia Tech find the lead early in the day. He made three consecutive birdies from Nos. 3-5, then added two more at Nos. 8 and 9. He played the back nine in even par for a 5-under 67 that also gave him a share of the individual lead with UNLV’s Jack Trent. The individual winner of this event scores a sponsor’s exemption to the PGA Tour’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, to be played in October at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.
Georgia Tech hasn’t competed at Southern Highlands since 2014. It’s the third start of the team’s spring season, following a tie for first at the Puerto Rico Classic. The same lineup is competing in Las Vegas that competed in Puerto Rico.
Stanford is close on Georgia Tech’s heels after doing much of their scoring on the par 5s. The Cardinal is 4 under as a team on those holes.
Oklahoma is the only other team to go under par. Quade Cummins and Garett Reband led that 1-under effort with rounds of 71.
A week after winning the Southwestern Invitational, USC found itself 14th out of 15 teams on Day 1. The Trojans are playing without Justin Suh this week, the No. 2 player in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Amateur Ranking, as he prepares to play the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Fla., this week.
The Southern Highlands Invitational will be live-streamed on Golfweek.com for the final two rounds, following the model introduced last month at the Prestige at PGA West.