Carlsbad, Calif. – Georgia Tech fell to Wake Forest by a single stroke Monday morning in their playoff for the right to advance to Monday’s final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championship, but due to their standing on the leaderboard after 54 holes, Hiroshi Tai and Carson Kim were among the nine individuals who advanced.
Tai, tied for 14th place after 54 holes (1-under-par 215), shot s 73 (+1) in the final round and finished in a tie for 18th place. The junior from Singapore returned to form in the post-season after struggling most of the year, tying for seventh place at the Auburn Regional prior to coming out to the Omni LaCosta Resort & Spa.
Kim, tied for 22nd place (1-over-par 217) after three rounds, carded a 75 (+3) Monday to tie for 38th place. The junior from nearby Yorba Linda, Calif., also came on late in the spring, tie for 10th place at the Ford Collegiate and 18th at the Auburn Regional.
Only once before has a Tech individual has advanced to the final round but the team did not – Cameron Tringale tied for eighth place in 2006 in Sunriver, Ore.
In the playoff Monday morning, Wake won three holes with birdies, while Kim and sophomore Kale Fontenot (Lafayette, La.) won their holes with birdies. Tech had won a similar playoff vs. TCU to survive the 54-hole cut in 2021 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Michael LaSasso of Ole Miss held on to his 54-hole lead by shooting 72 Monday and won the individual title by two strokes over Phichaksn Malchon of Texas A&M. LaSasso finished the championship at 11-under-par 277.
Arizona State (-14) finished atop the team leaderboard and earned the top seed for match play beginning Tuesday. Also advancing were top-ranked Auburn (-12), Florida (-9), Oklahoma State (-1), Oklahoma (even), Texas (+5), Virginia (+9) and Ole Miss (+11).
Round 4 Photos by Todd Drexler
"Hiroshi started toward the end of the year to play the way he wanted to. 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."
-Head coach Bruce Heppler
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)
Hiroshi Tai round 4 highlights
Carson Kim highlights from round 4
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.
