Pinehurst, N.C. – Georgia Tech blistered the Country Club of North Carolina course to the tune of 13-under-par Sunday and ran away with first place in the stroke-play portion of the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Golf Championship. Meanwhile, freshman Hiroshi Tai forced a tie for the individual title before falling on the third playoff hole, earning runner-up honors.
Tech, which shot 26-under-par 838 for the tournament, earned the top seed in the match play bracket and will face Duke (860, -4) in one semifinal match Sunday afternoon as it bids for its 19th all-time ACC men’s golf championship. Wake Forest, which finished 15 shots behind the Yellow Jackets at 10-under-par 854, is the No. 2 seed and will face No. 3 Virginia (860, -4). The matches were scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.
The winners of the semifinal matches will face off for the championship at 9 a.m. Monday.
Four Yellow Jackets finished among the top 11 individuals, led by Tai, who posted a 9-under-par score of 207 for 54 holes after firing a 4-under-par 68 in the final round. He made an eagle at the last hole to tie Wake Forest’s Michael Brennan for first place, forcing a playoff that lasted three holes. The players battled at the 18 hole three times, each making birdie the first two times before Tai put his second shot in the left-hand bunker on the third try. He was unable to get up-and-down while Brennan two-putted for birdie and earned medalist honors.
Connor Howe, with a final-round 6-under-par 66, tied for third place individually at 209 (-7), while Christo Lamprecht tied for ninth place at 212 (-4), Ross Steelman tied for 11th at 213 (-3), and Bartley Forrester tied for 23rd at 218 (+2).
Tech has finished fifth, second and now first, respectively, in the three years the stroke play/match play format has been used to determine the ACC Champion. The Jackets won their semifinal match over Florida State last year and lost, 3-2, to Wake Forest in the championship match at Panama City Beach, Fla.
TECH LINEUP – Howe had the hot hand for the Yellow Jackets Sunday, making five straight birdies at one point on the front nine and eight altogether for his round. The senior from Ogden, Utah posted his highest career ACC Championship finish while leading the Yellow Jackets to a 13-under-par score of 275 for the round.
Tai continued his stellar play in the tournament, making just one bogey along with three birdies and the closing eagle for his 68. The freshman from Singapore, who won two…
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