Florida to face Georgia Tech for NCAA Men's Championship

May 30, 2023 | by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com

Florida's Ricky Castillo and Georgia Tech's Ross Steelman

Gators win two thrillers to advance to the final; Georgia Tech turns back top-seed North Carolina in the semifinals

Three ACC teams earned spots in the semifinals of the NCAA Men's Golf Championships and after a long day at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., Georgia Tech is still standing after the Yellow Jackets turned back top-seed North Carolina to earn a date with SEC champion Florida in Wednesday's title match.

After winning a tightly contested match against Virginia, the SEC champion Gators faced off against their intra-state rival Florida State for a spot in the national championship match. Senior Ricky Castillo rallied for 2 holes down with four holes remaining to defeat FSU's Brett Roberts on the 21st hole.

Georgia Tech and Florida are both first-time finals participants in the match play era. The Gators have have claimed four national titles (1968, 1973, 1993 and 2001) while the Yellow Jackets are looking for their first.

The national championship match will be played Wednesday, May 31, at 1:35 p.m. MST. GOLF Channel will provide live coverage 2-6 p.m. MT.

• • • • •

Florida vs. Georgia Tech
Championship Match Pairings
Yuxin Lin (UF) vs. Christo Lamprecht (GT), 1:35
Matthew Kress (UF) vs. Bartley Forrester (GT), 1:45
John DuBois (UF) vs. Connor Howe (GT), 1:55
Fred Biondi (UF) vs. Hiroshi Tai (GT), 2:05
Ricky Castillo (UF) vs. Ross Steelman (GT), 2:15

• • • • •

Semifinal Results

No. 2 Florida d. No. 5 Florida State, 3-2
Playing the anchor match against Brett Roberts, Ricky Castillo found himself 2 down to the Florida State junior after 15 holes, however, Castillo won holes 16 and 17 to even the match which he eventually closed out on the 21st hole. It was a bitter loss for the Seminoles, who jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to decisive wins by Jack Bigham and Frederik Kjettrup. After Fred Biondi and John DuBois turned back Florida State's Cole Anderson and Luke Clanton, respectively, with a pair of 1 up wins, setting the stage for Castillo's win which advanced the Gators to their first final in the match play era.

They said it: “All I’m thinking about is giving myself a chance to win the hole. Me and Brett (Roberts) went back and forth the whole day. It was a really tough match. Neither of us had our best stuff, but I think the both of us grinded it out really well today and just fought hard and I ended up getting the win. But it was a really good match and what a great competitor he is.” Ricky Castillo

“An hour ago we were just dead. It was over. I honestly saw no way of winning it but if our program’s hands are in anyone’s hands I want it to be in Ricky’s and when he showed up on campus, this whole thing turned around and I couldn’t be more happy that he made that putt for everyone." J.C. Deacon, Florida head coach

Results
Frederik Kjettrup (FSU) d. Matthew Kress, 3&2
Fred Biondi (UF) d. Cole Anderson, 1 up
John DuBois (UF) d. Luke Clanton, 1 up
Jack Bigham (FSU) d. Yuxin Lin, 6&5
Ricky Castillo (UF) d. Brett Roberts, 21 holes

• • • • •

No. 4 Georgia Tech d. No. 1 North Carolina, 3-2
Ross Steelman had one night to toss and turn in thinking about what might have been after the Georgia Tech senior bogeyed his last three holes on Monday to lose the NCAA individual title by a stroke. Consoled by the fact his Yellow Jackets were still in the hunt for the team championship, Steelman came up huge on Tuesday, waxing William Mouw of Pepperdine, 5&4, in the quarterfinals before disposing of North Carolina's Peter Fountain, 2&1, to send the Georgia Tech to the national championship match. Steelman never trailed in his match against Fountain, but enjoyed just a 1-up lead coming down the stretch on the holes that gave him so much trouble yesterday. The two players halved the last four holes, including matching birdies on the 17th, which was all Steelman needed to ensure the Yellow Jackets' trip to the final.

They said it: “It’s huge for confidence, just knowing that my coach and teammates have confidence in me to go close it out if it comes down to it is awesome, it’s whenever a little bit of nerves creep in, it’s a nice reassuring factor to think about, ‘hey my guys wanted me on this spot’ so I just went out and did it.” Ross Steelman

“We had a little visit before we went to ACC’s and told him that the team voted him as our anchor. Unlike the Ryder Cup where there’s all those matches and all the momentum, there’s just the five of him and so he was like ‘what?’ and I told him they’re glad you’re here and you’re the guy and he anchored there (at ACC’s) and did the same thing again. He just has a focus and I know he’s disappointed what happened before but I wouldn’t trust anybody more to win a match than him.” Bruce Heppler, Georgia Tech head coach

Results
Dylan Menante (UNC) d. Christo Lamprecht, 6&5
Bartley Forrester (GT) d. Ryan Burnett, 4&2
Connor Howe (GT) d. Austin Greaser, 4&2
David Ford (UNC) d. Hiroshi Tai, 1 up
Ross Steelman (GT) d. Peter Fountain, 1 up

• • • • •

Quarterfinal Results

No. 2 Florida d. No. 7 Virginia, 3-2
Down three with seven holes left, Yuxin Lin rallied and secured the match-clinching point to send Florida to the semifinals with a 3-2 victory over Virginia. The Gators started slow and trailed in four of the five matches approaching the turn but John DuBois' come-from-behind, 3&2 win over Pietro Bovari sparked the Gators' comeback. Ricky Castillo cruised to a 4&3 win over Ben James to give the Gators a 2-1 lead but Deven Patel drew the Cavaliers even with a 1 up victory over Matthew Kress. All eyes then turned to Lin's match with George Duangmanee. Lin won the 17th hole with a birdie to go 1 up and closed out the match on the 18th after Duangmanee found trouble off the tee, leading to a conceded birdie.

Results
Deven Patel (UVA) d. Matthew Kress, 1 up
John DuBois (UF) d. Pietro Bovari, 3&2
Yuxin Lin (UF) d. George Duangmanee, 2 up
Bryan Lee (UVA) d. Fred Biondi, 6&5
Ricky Castillo (UF) d. Ben James, 4&3

• • • • •

No. 1 North Carolina d. No. 8 Arizona State, 3-1
ACC Player of the Year David Ford rallied from two holes down with four to play and won three straight holes to deliver the winning point to send No. 1 seed North Carolina to the semifinals. The sophomore was 2 down to Michael Mjaaseth after 14 holes before winning the 15th, 16th and 17th holes to go 1 up and then clinched the match with a par on 18. Dylan Menante never trailed in his match against Luke Potter and won 5&3 while Ryan Burnett held off a late charge from Ryggs Johnston before prevailing 1 up.

Results
Dylan Menante (UNC) d. Luke Potter, 5&3
Ryan Burnett (UNC) d. Ryggs Johnston, 1 up
Jose Luis Ballester (ASU) d. Austin Greaser, 2 up
David Ford (UNC) d. Michael Mjaaseth, 1 up
Peter Fountain (UNC) vs. Preston Summerhays (Unfinished)

• • • • •

No. 5 Florida State d. No. 3 Illinois, 3-2
With the match tied 2-2 headed to the final hole, Florida State freshman Luke Clanton rolled in a 25-footer on the 18th hole for birdie to seal a 1 up win over Jackson Buchanan and send the Seminoles to the semifinals.

Results
Cole Anderson (FSU) d. Matthis Besard, 1 up
Tommy Kuhl (UI) d. Jack Bigham, 3&2
Adrien Dumont de Chassart (UI) d. Frederik Kjettrup, 3&2
Luke Clanton (FSU d. Jackson Buchanan, 1 up
Brett Roberts (FSU) d. Piercen Hunt, 3&2

• • • • •

No. 4 Georgia Tech d. No. 6 Pepperdine, 3-2
Freshman Hiroshi Tai's birdie putt on the 19th hole of his deciding match against Pepperdine's Roberto Nieves sent the Yellow Jackets to the semifinals. Tai was 3-down to Nieves after just four holes, but came back to win five of the next seven to go 2-up with six to play. However, the Pepperdine senior won two straight to draw even. The two players exchanged winning holes before halving the final three of regulation to extend the match. Tai hit his approach shot to 15 feet on the par-4 10th and then drained the match-winning birdie putt to send the Jackets to the national semifinals. Senior Ross Steelman and fifth-year senior Bartley Forrester accounted for Tech’s other two points.

Results
Sam Choi (PEP) d. Connor Howe, 2&1
Derek Hitchner (PEP) d. Christo Lamprecht, 4&3
Bartley Forrester (GT) d. Luke Gifford, 2&1
Hiroshi Tai (GT) d. Roberto Nieves, 19 holes
Ross Steelman (GT) d. William Mouw, 5&4

Results: NCAA Division I Championship

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Fred Biondi	, Brazil	1500	69-68-69-67=273
T2	Jackson Buchanan	Dacula, GA	1200	71-68-68-67=274
T2	Ross Steelman	Columbia, MO	1200	64-69-68-73=274
T4	Barclay Brown	, England	900	68-71-67-69=275
T4	Dylan Menante	Carlsbad, CA	900	68-70-67-70=275

View full results for NCAA Division I Championship

About the NCAA Division I Championship

Florida to face Georgia Tech for NCAA Men's Championship

The NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship is the pinnacle of collegiate golf in the United States, held annually in late May or early June. The event brings together the nation's top 30 teams and six individual qualifiers, all of whom have advanced...