SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (RamblinWreck.com) – For the first time in program history, Georgia Tech golf will play in the national championship match on Wednesday, after capping a grueling but successful Tuesday at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship with a 3-2 semifinal victory over Atlantic Coast Conference rival and top-seeded North Carolina.
Georgia Tech will face No. 2-seeded Florida in Wednesday’s national title match, which will begin at 4:35 p.m. ET. Live national-television coverage will begin at 5 p.m. on Golf Channel.
The Yellow Jackets will seek to claim the 10th team national championship of the 2022-23 academic year by an ACC team. The nine NCAA titles by ACC teams this season and the 16 national championships over the last two academic years are both conference records.
No. 5-seeded Tech advanced to its first-ever national championship match with its second heart-stopping win of the day at Grayhawk Golf Club. After the Tar Heels won the first pairing of the match (Dylan Menante d. Christo Lampech, 6&5), the Yellow Jackets roared back to win three of the final four pairings.
Seniors Bartley Forrester and Connor Howe gave Tech the lead by earning points in a similar fashion, with both birdieing the par-3 16th hole to close out 4&2 wins over UNC’s Ryan Burnett and Austin Greaser, respectively.
After true freshman Hiroshi Tai battled but fell to North Carolina’s David Ford, 1-up, to even the match at 2-2, it was senior Ross Steelman who clinched the match for the Yellow Jackets by gutting out a thrilling 1-up win over UNC’s Peter Fountain. Steelman made huge, clutch putts for par on 16 and birdie on 17 to maintain a one-hole advantage, then put his birdie attempt within 2 feet on 18, which led Fountain to concede the pairing and the match to the Jackets.
Prior to disposing of North Carolina in the semifinals, Georgia Tech also earned a 3-2 decision in its quarterfinal match versus fourth-seeded Pepperdine earlier on Tuesday. Tai earned the decisive point in that match with a 19-hole, sudden-death victory over Pepperdine fifth-year senior Roberto Nieves.
Before securing a spot in this year’s title match, Georgia Tech’s previous best finish in the NCAA Championship’s match-play format came in 2013, when the Yellow Jackets lost to Alabama in the semifinals. Before the advent of match play in 2009, Tech finished second nationally on four occasions – in 1993, 2000, 2002 and 2005.
Georgia Tech is in search of the sixth national championship in school history. The Yellow Jackets have won four national titles in football (1917, 1928, 1952 and 1990) and one in women’s tennis (2007).
Florida State also reached the semifinal round on Tuesday before suffering a 3-2 loss to Florida. The Gators defeated Virginia 3-2 in the quarterfinal round earlier in the day.
