Cal Bested By Florida State In ACC Quarterfinals

Daniel Heo (right) earned Cal’s lone victory in a 3-1 loss to Florida State in the ACC Championship quarterfinals.

MGOLF4/27/2025 12:11 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Bears’ ACC Championship Run Ends With 3-1 Loss

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – California’s run in its inaugural ACC Men’s Golf Championship came to an end with a 3-1 loss to No. 9 Florida State in the match play quarterfinals Sunday morning at The Club at Olde Stone.
 
The Golden Bears – who earned the No. 6 seed in match play after advancing through three rounds of stroke play with a 2-under-par 862 (287-284-291) as the tournament’s 12th seed – battled the third-seeded Seminoles until the end, taking three individual matches through 17 holes, including a hard-fought 2UP loss by freshman Ziqin (Eric) Zhou against Luke Clanton, the No. 4-ranked golfer in the country.
 
After trailing by four points through eight holes, Zhou staged a valiant comeback. The rookie won back-to-back holes on 18 and 1 – Cal and Florida State started on hole 10 – and added another point on hole 3 to cut his deficit to one. Zhou couldn’t knot it up however and trailed by one point heading into the par-4 ninth hole, where Clanton sealed his 2UP win with a birdie.
 
Junior Daniel Heo put Cal on the board first with a 5&4 win over Carson Brewer; it was the most decisive victory by any golfer in the four ACC Championship quarterfinals matches. Heo stretched his lead to as many as six points through 12 holes played before putting Brewer away on the fifth hole.
 

Florida State responded with Tyler Weaver’s 4&3 win against Kuangyu (Tony) Chen and Patrick McCann’s 2&1 win over Sihao Cong.
 
Wenliang Xie and Jack Bingham took the No. 4 match, which featured three lead changes, to the 18th hole, but ultimately went unfinished after Clanton’s match-clinching win against Zhou.
 
Florida State will face No. 2 seed North Carolina in the second semifinal following the first matchup between No. 1 Virginia and No. 4 Clemson on Sunday afternoon. The winners will advance to the ACC Championship final, starting at 10 a.m. PT Monday.
 
CAL vs. FLORIDA STATE – ACC CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS
1. Sihao Cong vs. Patrick McCann (L, 2&1)
2. Ziqin (Eric) Zhou vs. Luke Clanton (L, 2UP)
3. Daniel Heo vs. Carson Brewer (W, 5&4)
4. Wenliang Xie vs. Jack Bingham…