University of North Carolina sophomore David Ford is one of 11 players to earn first-team All-America honors, the Golf Coaches Association of America and PING announced today.
Ford led the Tar Heels to a tie for third at the 2023 NCAA Championship. Carolina led the 30-team field after four rounds of stroke play and defeated Arizona State in the quarterfinals before being ousted in the semifinals by Georgia Tech. The Tar Heels won five team tournaments this season and finished the year ranked No. 2 in the nation.
Ford became the first Tar Heel to win ACC Player-of-the-Year honors, the first sophomore to accomplish that feat since 2010 and the first to win ACC Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year in consecutive seasons since Florida State’s Brooks Koepka in 2010-11.
The Peachtree Corners, Ga., native led Carolina in scoring at 69.89, the second-lowest average in UNC history. He set single-season UNC records for score to par (-46) and average score to par per round (-1.24). An automatic selection for Team USA for the Palmer Cup, Ford won the Stephens Cup at Seminole Golf Club, finished second three other times and posted eight top 10s in a dozen starts. He shot par or better in 22 of 37 rounds, below par 22 times and 16 rounds in the 60s, including a 62 at Seminole, when he made eight consecutive birdies.
Ford went 2-0 in match play in the NCAA quarterfinals and semifinals, rallying from two holes down to win both matches. He trailed in the quarterfinals against Arizona State by two holes with only four to play but won three in a row to take the lead and provide the winning point in Carolina’s 3-1 win over the Sun Devils.
Ford is the second Tar Heel to earn first-team All-America honors under sixth-year head coach Andrew DiBitetto (with Peter Fountain in 2020-21). Ford is UNC’s eighth first-team All-America, joining Bill Thornton in 1958, Pete Green in 1961, John Inman in 1984, Davis Love III in 1985, Greg Parker in 1987, Dustin Bray in 2003 and Fountain.
Ford also holds Carolina career records for scoring (70.22), score to par (-74) and average score to par per round (-1.00).
2022-23 Division I PING/GCAA All-Americas
First Team
Ludvig Åberg, Texas Tech
Fred Biondi, Florida
Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Illinois
David Ford, North Carolina
Ben James, Virginia
Tommy Kuhl,…
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