Bowling Green, Ky. – Georgia Tech played a strong back nine to finish the weather-delayed second round Saturday morning, then used three eagles on the back nine of the closing round to hold off Duke and Louisville to grab the eighth and final spot for match play at the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Golf Championship.
Tech, who has advanced to match play in each of the past four ACC Championships, will start the Sunday quarterfinals against top-seed Virginia at 7:30 a.m. Central Daylight time. The winner of that match will face the winner of No. 2 seed North Carolina and No. 7 Wake Forest in one afternoon semifinal. On the other side of the bracket, No. 3 Florida State will take on No. 6 California, while No. 4 Clemson meets No. 5 SMU. Those winners will face off in the other semifinal.
The semifinal winners square off in the championship match at 10 a.m. CDT Monday.
Albert Hansson completed the second round Saturday with a 1-under-par 71, then shot a team-best 4-under-par 68 in round 3 to post a tie for 14th place in his ACC Championship debut. The freshman from Fiskebäckskil, Sweden twice made eagle at the 374-yard, par-4 14th hole, and birdied 15 and 18 in the final round to finish 54 holes at 3-under-par 213.
He had help in the completion of the morning round as Hiroshi Tai (Singapore) and Kale Fontenot (Lafayette, La.) each went on a birdie spurt on the back nine to card 2-under-par 70 and helped the Yellow Jackets post a 3-under-par 285.
Fifteen teams started for the championship on Thursday with 54 holes of stroke play to determine eight teams that have qualified for match play. Ten teams are ranked among the top 50 in the Scoreboard NCAA Rankings, with six of those, including the Yellow Jackets, ranked among the top 25.
The Club at Olde Stone (par 72, 7,331 yards) is hosting the championship for the first time, and this is the first time the championship has been held in the state of Kentucky.
TECH LINEUP – Tech put itself in position to advance with a strong back nine in the completion of the morning round, as the Yellow Jackets posted three subpar scored from Tai (70), Fontenot (70) and Hansson (71).
Hansson’s 68 in the afternoon was the only under-par round for the Jackets, who hovered at the cutline from start to finish. But Fontenot’s back nine, in which he countered a string of three straight bogeys with a birdie at 12 and eagles at 14 and 18, proved to be critical in staying ahead of Louisville, who was in the clubhouse.
Tai finished in a tie for 31st place at 218 (+2), while Fontenot tied for 36th (219, +3). Reuter tied for 46th place at 222 (+6), and Kim tied for 49th at 223 (+7).
LEADERBOARD SUMMARY – Top-seeded Virginia broke open a close team race with an 8-under-par 280 in the afternoon, posting an 18-under-par total of 846 and an eight-shot win over North Carolina (854, -10), who was 1-under-par in the closing round.
Florida State (-7 in round 3) and Clemson (-6 in round 3) finished tied for third place at 858 (-6), with the Seminoles earning the No. 3 seed based on a tiebreaker of cumulative drop scores. SMU finished fifth at 860 (-4), while California and Wake Forest tied for sixth at 862 (-2). The Bears won the tiebreaker for the No. 6 seed.
In the medal race, Notre Dame’s Jacob Modleski took top honors after a closing 69, winning by one stroke over Florida State’s Tyler Weaver, who shot 68 in the final round.
EVENT DETAILS
Atlantic Coast Conference Championship
- Dates: April 24-28 (54 holes of stroke play, low 4 of 5 scores count for team score each day, top 8 teams advance to match play)
- Venue: The Club at Olde Stone, Bowling Green, Ky. (par 72, 7,331 yards)
- Participating teams (15): Florida State (9), North Carolina (10), Virginia (12), Duke (19), Louisville (24), Georgia Tech (25), SMU (30), Notre Dame (38), Stanford (40), Wake Forest (46), California (53), Clemson (56), NC State (63), Boston College (118), Virginia Tech (194)
- Tech appearances (last appearance): 46th (last in 2024)
- Best finish: 19 titles (most recent in 2023)
- Individual titles: 10 (most recent, Anders Albertson in 2015)
- Schedule (all times Central Daylight Time):
- Sunday – Quarterfinal matches (7:30 a.m.)
- Sunday – Semifinal matches (following semifinals)
- Monday – Championship match (10 a.m.)
Full Steam Ahead
Full Steam Ahead is a $500 million fundraising initiative to achieve Georgia Tech athletics’ goal of competing for championships at the highest level in the next era of intercollegiate athletics. The initiative will fund transformative projects for Tech athletics, including renovations of Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field (the historic home of Georgia Tech football), the Zelnak Basketball Center (the practice and training facility for Tech basketball) and O’Keefe Gymnasium (the venerable home of Yellow Jackets volleyball), as well as additional projects and initiatives to further advance Georgia Tech athletics through program wide-operational support. All members of the Georgia Tech community are invited to visit atfund.org/FullSteamAhead for full details and renderings of the renovation projects, as well as to learn about opportunities to contribute online.
ABOUT GEORGIA TECH GOLF
Georgia Tech’s golf team is in its 30th 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.
