Tech’s NCAA Run Ends with Loss to FSU – Men’s Golf — Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Carlsbad, Calif. – Georgia Tech got match victories from Bartley Forrester and Carson Kim Tuesday afternoon, but lost one match in extra holes and the other two at the 17^th hole as the Yellow Jackets fell to Florida State, 3-2, in the semifinals of the NCAA Men’s Division I Golf Championship.

After reaching the semifinals of NCAA match play for the third time and second year in a row, Tech saw its 2023-24 season come to an end.

The afternoon match marked the return of ACC Player of the Year Christo Lamprecht to the lineup after missing the morning quarterfinal and the last 54 holes of stroke play with back spasms. He along with Forrester and Kim took early leads in their matches and held them well into the back nine, but it wasn’t enough.

“It looked good for a while,” said Heppler. “But I’ve been doing this long enough to know that sometimes it’s really hard to get the third point. They (the Seminoles) were a final four team last year and signed the ACC Freshman of the Year. Sometimes it’s not fun to play against your friends, and Trey Jones is a dear friend of mine. They earned it and they took out an incredible team (North Carolina) this morning. From that standpoint, we’ll be rooting for the conference tomorrow.”

Forrester, a senior from Gainesville, Ga., never trailed after the seventh hole of his match with Cole Anderson, moving ahead three holes at the 10^th and again at 15 before finishing off the Seminole, 3&2, on the 16^th. Likewise, Kim, a freshman from nearby Yorba Linda, took the lead over Gray Albright on the first hole, and after falling back to a tie twice, moved ahead for good with a birdie at the 9^th. He stretched his lead to three holes at 15 and won the 16^th with a birdie to take a 4&2 win.

Lamprecht looked as though he was on the way to securing Tech’s third point, leading FSU’s Luke Clanton by two after 14 holes. Clanton won the next three holes after Lamprecht made bogey at 14, then put his second shot in the water behind the green at 15, and his tee shot in the same pond fronting 16. Another bogey for Lamprecht at 17 gave the FSU player a 2&1 victory.

Kale Fontenot, playing the second match out for Tech, fell behind Tyler Weaver by three holes at the turn. But the freshman from Lafayette, La., battled back and forced extra holes with a birdie at the par-5 18^th. At the 19^th hole, however, he lipped out a short par putt that would have extended the match.

Hiroshi Tai, the NCAA medalist and a winner in his…