Tech in Playoff for Final Round of NCAA Golf Championship

Carlsbad, Calif. – For the second time in five years, Georgia Tech will need to win a playoff to grab the 15^th and final spot in the fourth round of stroke play at the NCAA Men’s Division I Men’s Golf Championship at the Omni LaCosta Resort and Spa. The Yellow Jackets and Wake Forest completed 54 holes Sunday tied for 15^th place at 17-over-par 881.

Led by a pair of 73s from sophomore Hiroshi Tai (Singapore) and Albert Hansson (Fiskebäckskil, Sweden), Georgia Tech shot a 6-over-par team total of 294 for the day. Tech finished its round as the 15 teams in the afternoon wave had just begun play, with Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Wake Forest among them sitting ahead of the Yellow Jackets. Tech stood in 16^th place, two strokes behind Vanderbilt, waiting for the afternoon results to unfold.

Texas Tech (-2) and Texas A&M (even) held firm, but the Demon Deacons, like Tech, struggled on the final eight holes to post a round of 293 (+5). Just as Tai’s birdie at 18 proved critical to keep Tech’s hopes alive, Wake got a birdie from its penultimate player, Jakob Melin, to pull the Deacons back into a tie with the Jackets after they had slipped behind.

Five holes – 1, 15, 16, 17 and 18, the holes closest to the clubhouse – will be utilized for the playoff, starting at 8 a.m. Pacific Time, with Tech and Wake sending a player out to each. The team with the best (low) aggregate score on the five holes will advance to the final round. The final stroke play round will start at 10:30 a.m. PDT.

“We were in great shape after 10 holes, but those holes are hard coming in,” said head coach Bruce Heppler. “A couple of bogeys at the last didn’t help. We make a couple of pars and have a good night sleep and figure out what time we play tomorrow. But that’s golf. We’ve done this before, so we’ll get up and see what happens this time.”

Tech won a playoff against TCU to win a spot in the final round of the 2021 championship in Scottsdale, Ariz., and the Yellow Jackets have played all 72 holes of stroke play four straight years. The last time Tech missed the 54-hole cut was 2019 in Fayetteville, Ark.

Should Tech not advance, Tai and sophomore Carson Kim (Yorba Linda, Calif.) would both advance as individuals, as both would be among the top nine individuals from teams that fail to advance. Tai is tied for 13^th place individually at 1-under-par 215; Kim is tied for 23^rd place at 1-over-par 217.

“Hiroshi has started toward the end of the year to play the way he wanted to,” said Heppler. “It’s been a long year for him. I’m happy for him to see him come back out here, get his game back and be our leader. Carson, through this spring, has gotten progressively better. This is kind of a culmination of that. The last three or four have been his best events since he’s been here.”

After Monday’s final round of stroke play, the NCAA individual champion will be crowned, and the top eight teams on the leaderboard will continue on to match play, which begins Tuesday.

-Bruce Heppler

 

TECH LINEUP – The Yellow Jackets have been consistent throughout the first 54 holes, regardless of tee time, posting scores of 293 (+5), 294 (+6) and 294 (+6). Sunday, Tai and Hansson each shot 73 (+1), while Carson Kim, Benjamin Reuter and Kale Fontenot each carded 74s (+2).

But Tech put itself in a precarious position after the 10^th hole, at which point the Yellow Jackets were -2 for the round and +9 for the championship. Over the last eight holes, the Jackets made just four birdies to counter 11 bogeys and a triple-bogey, dropping eight shots to par and four spots on the leaderboard.

Tai and Fontenot made two of those four birdies at the par-5 18^th. Tai hit driver from the fairway on his second shot, landing his ball at the back of the green for a chance at eagle. He nearly made it, but the birdie ultimately proved critical.

LEADERBOARD SUMMARY – Top-ranked Auburn posted a 2-under-par round of 286 Sunday, becoming the only team to break par in each of the three rounds thus far, and assumed the 54-hole lead at 10-under-par 854. The Tigers have a four-shot lead over Arizona State (-6) and Oklahoma (-3), each of whom posted rounds of 7-over-par 295 Sunday.

Florida (-1) is in fourth place after carding a 4-over-par 292, while Texas and Oklahoma State are tied for fifth place at +5.

Florida State (+9) is alone in seventh, while Texas Tech, Ole Miss and Texas A&M are tied for eighth place (+12). Virginia (+13) has solo 11^th place, BYU (+14) is in 12^th, and Pepperdine and Vanderbilt (both +15) are tied for 13^th place.

In the medal race, Michael LaSasso of Ole Miss shot 70 Sunday and held on to his lead at 11-under-par 205, two shots ahead of Phichaksn Malchon of Texas A&M (-9).

 

TECH IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP

Georgia Tech has reached the NCAA Championship finals 33 times since 1985 (34 times in program history), which is the fifth most in that time period behind Oklahoma State (38), Arizona State (36), Florida (36) and Texas (36).

Tech has posted 18 top-8 finishes in the NCAA Championship, 13 of those since Bruce Heppler became the head coach.

The Yellow Jackets have qualified for match play six times since the advent of the stroke-play/match-play format in 2009, finishing third in stroke play in 2010, second in 2011, second in 2013, fifth in 2014, tied for fifth in 2023 and eighth in 2024.

Tech lost to the eventual champion four times in its six appearances in match play, most recently in the championship match against Florida (3-1) in 2023. Tech fell to Augusta State by the score of 3-2 in the quarterfinals in 2010 and 2011 and to Alabama (3-0-2) in the 2013 semifinals.

Tech has been the runner-up in the NCAA Championship five times (1993, 2000, 2002 and 2005 before the introduction of match play, and again in 2023). Only Oklahoma State, which has 18, and Texas (6) have more.

In 1993 and 2002, the Yellow Jackets led after 54 holes, but finished second by one shot to Florida in 1993, and by four shots to Minnesota in 2002.

In 2000, the Yellow Jackets rallied to tie Oklahoma State after 72 holes, but lost to the Cowboys on the first hole of a playoff. Tech and OSU matched the lowest 72-hole team score in NCAA Championship history (36-under-par 1,116) at the Grand National Lake Course in Opelika, Ala. In 2005, Tech finished 11 shots behind Georgia, and seven shots ahead of third-place Washington.

Four Tech players have won national collegiate championships. Hiroshi Tai captured the title in 2024 in Carlsbad, Calif., and Troy Matteson lifted the trophy in 2002 at Ohio State. Watts Gunn (1927) and Charlie Yates (1934) won national titles under a match play format before the NCAA took sponsorship of the championship in 1939.

TECH AND NCAA MATCH PLAY

The 2009 NCAA Championship featured a new twist with the team champion determined via match play. The top eight teams after 54 holes of stroke play advance to a match play tournament format.

The NCAA added a fourth round of stroke play in 2016 for the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on those teams, after which the national individual champion and the top eight teams for match play are determined.

Match play is a format that Tech head coach Bruce Heppler has supported vigorously. Under Heppler, Georgia Tech finished in the top eight of the NCAA Finals seven times in 10 tries under the 72-hole, stroke-play format.

Tech is one of six teams (Oklahoma State 9, Illinois 9, Texas 7, Vanderbilt 7, Oklahoma 6 are the others) to have advanced to match play six or more times in the 16-year history of the stroke play/match play format.

EVENT DETAILS

NCAA Men’s Division I Golf Championship

• Dates: May 23-28 (72 holes of stroke play, low 4 of 5 scores count for team score each day, to determine individual champion; top 8 teams seeded for match play brackets to determine team champion)
• Venue: Omni LaCosta Resort & Spa, Carlsbad, Calif. (par 72, 7,548 yards)
• Participating teams (in order of seeding): Auburn, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Texas, Arizona State, Oklahoma, Florida, Florida State, Virginia, Texas A&M, Illinois, UCLA, Vanderbilt, BYU, South Carolina, Pepperdine, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, South Florida, Colorado, UNLV, Purdue, San Diego, Wake Forest, New Mexico, Troy, California, Augusta
• Tech appearances (last appearance): 34th (2024)
• Best finish: runner-up (1993, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2023)
• Individual titles: 4 (Watts Gunn 1927, Charlie Yates 1934, Troy Matteson 2002, Hiroshi Tai 2024)
• Schedule (all times Eastern Daylight Time):
  • Monday – Stroke play round 4, 1:30 p.m.* (Golf Channel coverage, 6-10 p.m.)
  • Tuesday – Quarterfinal matches, 9:50 a.m. (Golf Channel coverage, 1-3:30 p.m.)
  • Tuesday – Semifinal matches, 4:15 p.m. (Golf Channel coverage, 6-10 p.m.)
  • Wednesday – Championship match, 5:25 p.m. (Golf Channel coverage, 6-10 p.m.)

*individual champion crowned, top 8 teams seeded for match play

 

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Full Steam Ahead

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ABOUT GEORGIA TECH GOLF

Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 30^th year under head coach Bruce Heppler, winning 73 tournaments in his tenure. The Yellow Jackets have won 19 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, made 33 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.