Panama City, Fla. – No. 21 Georgia Tech moved into a four-way tie for sixth place after 36 holes at the 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship. Senior Hiroshi Tai (Singapore) paced the Yellow Jackets with a 2-under-par 70 to climb 10 spots on the individual leaderboard into a tie for 17th.
With a two round team total of 577 (+1), Tech is tied alongside No. 24 Florida State, No. 32 Clemson and No. 46 SMU for sixth place. The top eight teams after the conclusion of stroke play will advance to match play on Sunday. No. 18 Stanford carded the lowest round of the day at 10-under-par and maintains its lead with a 549 (-23). No. 2 Virginia recorded a 9-under-par 275 on Friday to make the largest jump of the day into second-place (566, -6).
Fifteen teams are competing for the prestigious ACC title, which includes 54 holes of stroke play to determine eight teams that qualify for match play. Twelve teams entered the tournament ranked among the top 50 in the Scoreboard NCAA Rankings, with five of those, including the Yellow Jackets, ranked in the top 25.
The ACC Championship returns to the state of Florida for the third time in the history of the championship, and will be played at the Shark’s Tooth Golf Club (par 72, 7,199 yards) for the second time in five seasons. Georgia Tech has had success in ACC Championships played in Florida, capturing the title in 2001 and finishing runner-up in 2022.
The final round of stroke play to determine the individual champion and the match play bracket will take place on Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. CT. Georgia Tech will tee off at 8:22 a.m. CT off hole 10 and be paired with Louisville and Wake Forest.
Kale Fontenot highlighted his round with an eagle on hole No. 13. (Photos by Andy Mead)
TECH LINEUP – Teeing off hole No. 1, Tai played the front nine even with a birdie on hole No. 2 and a bogey on No. 9, but played a flawless back nine with birdies on holes No. 10 and No. 17 for his 2-under-par 70. Tai (143, -1) climbed 10 spots individually into a three-way tie for 17th. Through two rounds, Tai is one of only 20 golfers under par.
Classmate Aidan Tran (Fresno, Calif.) played an up-and-down round to finish even on the day (72). He stands tied for 30th with a 36-hole total of 146 (+2). Junior Kale Fontenot (Lafayette, La.) is also tied for 30th, alongside Tran, after recording a 2-over-par 74 on Friday. Fontenot highlighted the day with an eagle on hole No. 13.
Albert Hansson (Fiskebäckskil, Sweden) entered the clubhouse at 2-over-par and is tied for 24th (145, +1) entering the final round of stroke play on Saturday. Benjamin Reuter (Naarden, The Netherlands) was 6-over on the day and did not count for the team score. Reuter (149, +5) is tied for 46th.
LEADERBOARD SUMMARY – No. 17 Stanford had three players break par on Friday to hold its position atop the team leaderboard. The Cardinal (553, -23) hold a 16-stroke lead over second-place No. 2 Virginia (569, -7). No. 9 North Carolina sits in third (571, -5), while No. 35 Louisville (573, -3) climbed three spots into fourth. No. 31 Wake Forest (575, -1) dropped three positions into fifth before the four-way tie for sixth (577, +1).
Edan Cui (Stanford) enters Saturday in the lead for the individual title. After a 5-under-par 67 on Friday, Cui sits atop the individual leaderboard at 9-under-par 135. He holds a two-stroke advantage over Williams Sides (SMU) at 7-under-par 137. Ziqin Zhou (California), Ben James (Virginia) and Jay Leng (Stanford) are all tied for third at 138 (-6).
Another three golfers – Jakob Melin (Wake Forest), Warren Thomis (Louisville) and Ethan Evans (Duke) – are tied for sixth (139, -5). Four golfers complete the top-10 in a tie for ninth (140, -4).
Aidan Tran played Friday’s round at even.
TECH’S ACC CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Georgia Tech has won 19 ACC men’s golf championships, tying the Yellow Jackets with Wake Forest for the most titles in conference history. Tech’s titles have all come from 1985 to the present. Before the Demon Deacons outlasted the Jackets in the championship match in 2022, Wake Forest’s most recent title had occurred in 1989.
Tech has won the ACC Championship 11 times in the last 19 years, most recently in 2023. The 2020 ACC Tournament was not held after the 2020 spring season was cut short due to Covid-19.
Fourteen of Tech’s conference titles have come under head coach Bruce Heppler, 12 of those outright (1999, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2023) and two shared (2006, 2007).The Yellow Jackets have won five championships (1985, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994) under previous head coach Puggy Blackmon.
Twelve of Tech’s ACC titles have been won at the Old North State Club in New London, N.C., site of the event 22 of the last 28 years. The others took place at Bryan Park Golf Course in Greensboro, N.C. (1985), Northgreen Country Club in Rocky Mount, N.C. (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994), Disney’s Magnolia Course in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (2001) and the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst, N.C. (2023).
Georgia Tech has produced 11 ACC individual champions, including Bob McDonnell (1985), David Duval (1991, 1993), Mikko Rantanen (1994), Bryce Molder (2000), Cameron Tringale (2006), Chesson Hadley (2010), Paul Haley II (2011), Anders Albertson (2013, 2015) and Ollie Schniederjans (2014). Albertson and Duval are among five ACC players to have won two championships.
EVENT DETAILS
Atlantic Coast Conference Championship
- Dates: April 23-27 (54 holes of stroke play, low 4 of 5 scores count for team score each day, top 8 teams advance to match play)
- Venue: Shark’s Tooth Golf Club, Panama City, Fla. (par 72, 7,199 yards)
- Participating teams (15): Boston College, California (50), Clemson (32), Duke (27), Florida State (24), Georgia Tech (21), Louisville (35), NC State, North Carolina (9), Notre Dame (29), SMU (46), Stanford (18), Virginia (2), Virginia Tech, Wake Forest (31)
- Tech appearances (appearances): 47th (last in 2025)
- Best finish: 19 titles (most recent in 2023)
- Individual titles: 10 (most recent, Anders Alberton in 2015)
- Schedule (all times Central Daylight Time):
- Thursday – Stroke play round 1 (8 a.m. from No. 1 and No. 10 holes)
- Friday – Stroke play round 2 (8 a.m. from No. 1 and No. 10 holes)
- Saturday – Stroke play round 3 (8 a.m. from No. 1 and No. 10 holes)
- Sunday – Quarterfinal matches (7:30 a.m.) and semifinal matches (following quarterfinals)
- Monday – Championship match (9 a.m.)
Alexander-Tharpe Fund
The Alexander-Tharpe Fund is the fundraising arm of Georgia Tech athletics, providing scholarship, operations and facilities support for Tech’s 400-plus student-athletes. Be a part of the development of Yellow Jackets that thrive academically at the Institute and compete for championships at the highest levels of college athletics by supporting the Annual Athletic Scholarship Fund, which directly provides scholarships for Georgia Tech student-athletes. To learn more about supporting the Yellow Jackets, visit atfund.org.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH GOLF
Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 31st year under head coach Bruce Heppler, winning 73 tournaments in his tenure. The Yellow Jackets have won 19 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, made 34 appearances in the NCAA Championship and been the national runner-up five times. Follow Georgia Tech Golf on social media by liking their Facebook page, or following on X (@GTGolf) and Instagram. For more information on Tech golf, visit Ramblinwreck.com.
