PINEHURST, N.C. – The No. 6-ranked Florida State Men’s Golf team ended its ACC Championship run on Sunday afternoon, placing fifth in the stroke-play portion of the tournament.
The Seminoles jockeyed back-and-forth with Virginia and Duke for one of the coveted Top four spots needed to clinch an appearance in the match play semifinals. Despite the heroics of freshman Luke Clanton, who birdied four of his last five holes in what was a close race down the stretch, FSU fell two strokes outside the cut-off as it shot 2-under (284-288-290) for the tournament.
Georgia Tech (-26) clinched the top seed for the match play semifinals, while Wake Forest came in second place (-10). Virginia (-4) and Duke (-4) tied at third.
With five total holes remaining for the Seminoles and sitting two strokes outside of a Top-4 position, Clanton birdied the par-5, 510-yard 18th hole to finish with a 4-under 68 in his final round. He tied for ninth in the tournament field and was FSU’s top performer overall.
Clanton’s clutch birdie left FSU at 3-under and just one stroke outside the cut line. However, the Seminoles were unable to cash in on their remaining holes.
Fellow freshman Jack Bigham tied for 16th after shooting even par (71-72-73) overall. Junior Brett Roberts went 1-over for the tournament (72-73-72), while junior Frederik Kjettrup tied for 28th at 3-over (69-73-77).
The Seminoles find out their NCAA Regional site on Wednesday, May 3, when the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship Selection Show airs at 1 p.m. ET on the GOLF Channel. FSU will be selected to one of six regional sites that will be played on May 15-17.
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