LOUDON, Tenn. – Junior Kale Fontenot shot a four-under-par 66, fueled by seven birdies, to lead No. 13 Georgia Tech to a 10-under-par total of 270 and a third-place position after the opening round of the Visit Knoxville Collegiate on Friday. Four Yellow Jackets posted subpar rounds to all place in the top 25.
Fontenot made the turn at one-under and gained momentum on the back nine, carding four birdies to finish at four-under for the day at the par-70 Tennessee National Golf Club. With his solid round, the Lafayette, La., native is tied for third on the individual leaderboard, just two strokes off the lead. The Jacket shares third-place with Luke Coyle (Kentucky), Chase Kyes (Tennessee), Bruce Murphy (Tennessee) and Lance Simpson (Tennessee).
Round 2 of the 54-hole event resumes on Saturday at 7:50 am with Fontenot and the Jackets teeing off from the first tee.
TECH LINEUP – Sophomore Albert Hansson (Fiskebäckskil, Sweden), the 2025 ACC Freshman of the Year, chimed in with a three-under-par 67. Hansson used a strong back nine at four-under to sit in an eighth-place tie entering the second round. Last season, the Jacket carded his best fall performance at the same season-opening tournament, tying for 18th at one-under.
Redshirt-senior Benjamin Reuter (Naarden, The Netherlands) and senior Aidan Tran (Fresno, Calif.) also delivered subpar rounds at 2-under-par (68) and 1-under-par (69), respectively. Reuter settled in on the back nine at par to finish, while Tran picked up steam to close the round.
Hiroshi Tai (Singapre) posted a 1-over-par 71 to tie for 40th after day one. Competing as an individual, Didrik Ringvall Bengtsson (Stockholm, Sweden) also posted a 1-over-par 71, tying with his teammate on the leaderboard.
Junior Kale Fontenot fired a four-under-par 66 to tie for third after round one
TEAM LEADERBOARD – No. 17, and host, Tennessee holds a three-stroke lead to sit in first after its starting five all carded subpar rounds. Tennessee, at 15-under-par 265, sits just ahead of Charlotte at 12-under-par 268. Georgia Tech sits in third, while Kentucky finished at six-under-par 274 in fourth-place. Virginia Tech and No. 5 Ole Miss are tied for fifth (each at 2-under-par 278).
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD – Charlotte’s Chase Cline holds the individual lead after Friday with a bogey-free 6-under-par 64. Cline holds a one-stroke lead over Evan Rogers (Chattanooga) in second before five players tie for third, including Tech’s Fontenot.
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