CARPET CAPITAL COLLEGIATE CLASSIC
The Farm Golf ClubSecond-round scores SaturdayPar 72, 7,012 yards578—Alabama (Davis Riley 139, Tom Lovelady 143, Jonathan Hardee 148, Tyler Hitchner 151). 581—Auburn Michael Johnson 141, Matt Gilchrest 146, Jacob Solomon 146, Will Long 150). 582—Georgia Tech (Jacob Joiner 140, Chris Petefish 146, James Clark 147, Vince Whaley 149). 583—Clemson (Stephen Behr (139, Austin Langdale 144, Carson Young 148, Miller Capps 152). 584—South Carolina (Matthew NeSmith 143, Scott Stevens 145, Sean Kelly 149, Keenan Huskey). 592—LSU (Sam Burns 147, Zach Wright 149, Eric Ricard 150, Blake Caldwell 153). 596—Kennesaw State (Fredrik Nilehn 149, Pablo Rodriguez-Tabernero 149, Chris Gugleilmo 149, Teremoana Beaucousin 150). 598—South Florida (Oskar Bergqvist 148, Chase Koepka 150, Claudio Correa, Aksel Olsen). 599—Tennessee (Chad Merzbacher 144, Lorenzo Scalise 149, Juan Carlos Serrano 151, Jack Smith 159). 602—North Carolina (Ben Griffin 143, Carter Jenkins 149, Joshua Martin 152, Henry Do 158). 603—Florida (Sam Horsfield (143, Alejandro Tosti 152, Jorge Garcia 155, Kyle Tate 157). 611—UTC (Wes Gosselin 145, Brooks Thomas 152, Kory Webb 160, Lake Johnson 160). 613—North Florida (Taylor Hancock 145, Travis Trace 151, Phillip Knowles 159, Andrew Allgood 160). 618—Dalton State (Adam Morris 151, Sean Elliott 152, Chase Jones 158, Dalton Johnson 159).
ROCKY FACE, Ga. - Georgia Tech golf coach Bruce Heppler jumped in his cart to help his players finish their second rounds of the Carpet Capital Collegiate tournament Saturday.
He's seen catastrophes before at The Farm Golf Club, and he didn't want the Yellow Jackets to give away the strokes they earned on the first 15 holes while playing the daunting closing holes.
"It's so severe and with these greens and these pin locations, you have to be absolutely precise," Heppler said before driving up the 18th fairway. "You have to work and claw and scratch for everything. It's as good of a test as you'll see all year."
The team that passes the final three-hole test could end up as the victor this afternoon.
Alabama leads the three-day tournament at 2-over-par 578 and is followed by Auburn at 581, Georgia Tech at 582, Clemson at 583 and South Carolina at 584.
"The last three holes really wins the championship here," said Alabama coach Jay Seawell, whose team won the tournament in 2006, 2007 and 2010. "The goal is to get through the par-5s, then play the last three in par. if you can do that, you've got a good shot."
The Crimson Tide played the final three holes - all par-4 holes ranging in distance from 367 to 461 yards - in 1 over on Saturday. Auburn played that stretch in 6 over, and the Yellow Jackets played the stretch at 1 over.
"There's a penalty on all of those holes," Seawell said. "On 16, there's the creek to the left on your tee shot and your approach. No. 17 is a long, hard hole. And 18 seems to be feast or famine depending on how you manage your tee shot."
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga had trouble finishing its round on the front nine holes for a second day in a row. After starting on No. 10, the Mocs played their final three holes in 9 over par. UTC is in 13th place at 35 over par and leads North Florida by two and Dalton State by seven.
"We should have moved up quite a bit and we didn't do it for the second day in a row, where we play 13 or 14 really good holes then hand it back at the finish," UTC coach Mark Guhne said. "We're working too hard to give it away at the end. As coaches, we have to help them learn how to finish these rounds, and we're too talented to do that against a field with this caliber of teams."
Junior Wes Gosselin led the Mocs for the second straight day. He shot a 2-over 74 and is at 1-over 145 for the tournament, tied for 11th place individually.
"I played solid and tried to get something going," said Gosselin, who bogeyed Nos. 7 and 8 on Saturday. "It's just playing tough."
Clemson senior Stephen Behr and Alabama freshman Davis Riley lead the medalist race at 5-under 139 by one shot over Georgia Tech sophomore Jacob Joiner.
South Carolina freshman Scott Stevens, who prepped at Chattanooga Christian, is tied for 11th with Gosselin and Taylor Hancock of North Florida.
Stevens played in the final group Saturday after shooting a team-leading 71 on Friday. He followed with a 74 on Saturday.
"The first tee yesterday was interesting," Stevens said. "It was the most nervous I've ever been. I was hoping to get that shot airborne."
The final holes today could be just as nerve-racking for players trying to win the tournament for their team.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP