SCOTTSDALE, AZ — Florida has put itself in tough situations all season, and nothing is more dangerous than a deep hole against Florida State in the National Semifinals.
The experienced Gators constantly found ways to find their way out and helped them out when things got tight on Wednesday in the championship game.
NCAA singles champion Fred Biondi beat Hiroshi Tai par 1 on the 18th hole and Florida won its fifth national men’s golf title with a 3-1 victory over Georgia Tech at Grayhawk Golf Club.
“These guys are so tough, and this is the champs,” Florida coach JC Deacon said. “They find a way to stay positive, stay in the moment, and keep doing the right things.”
Florida appeared to be heading for defeat against Florida State on Tuesday in the semifinals, rallying for a 3-2 win.
Yuxin Lin of Florida won the tournament openers 4 and 3 over Christo Lambrecht, but the remaining matches fell into the strongest winds of the week.
John Dubois shut down the Conor Howe 1 to put Florida up 2-0. Then Georgia Tech’s Bartley Forrester beat Matthew Kress on the second extra hole after blowing a 2 lead with two holes left.
Biondi was leading 1-up after a conceded birdie on the par-4 17th, then Tai’s second shot from the rough left on the 18th connected to the green bunker. He came in around 10 feet tall, but Biondi rose from 35 feet tall to become the first player to win individual and collegiate championships in the same season since Oregon’s Aaron Wise in 2016.
“It means so much more,” Biondi said. “I promised you when I first got to school that I would work as hard as I could and try to get a ring or two, and we did.”
Florida’s Ricky Castillo drove Ross Stillman’s 18 as Biondi captured the Gators’ first national title since 2001. Georgia Tech’s bid for the first national championship fell through, leading to a fifth-place finish—first in game play.
“There is no better group of student-athletes in college, and I know that for sure,” said Georgia Tech coach Bruce Heibler. “They did a lot of good things and they will keep coming back.”
After losing an early 2-up, Dubois won his game on the 18th with the game tied after Howe hit his second shot left from the green and it came off the green.
Forrester appeared to be in control of his match, going up by 2 after his tee shot on the 16th hit the flag and dropped to two feet for a conceded birdie. Chris stayed alive when Forster made a triple putt from 25 feet on the 17th, then sent the match to extra holes with a two-foot putt on the long par 4 18th.
After matching pars on No. 10, Kress hit his tee on the 18th left into the desert and had to take a drop. He took a double bogey and Forster won him a double bogey.
Lin capitalized on Lamprecht’s wild drive and made the round 4 up after a birdie on No. 8. A pair of bogeys by Lin allowed Lamprecht to cut the lead to 2, but Lin screwed in to win by 14 after hitting a tee shot in the left raw.
Lyn closed it out by standing up and down a hard putt to the right of the 15th green after Lambrecht’s three-putt bogey.
Stillman struggled early, but erased a 2-down deficit with Pars at numbers 9 and 11. He then took his first lead of the game with a birdie at number 12.
Castillo had a chance for the 15th, but his putt slipped off the hole and the senior kicked his ball into the desert. He tied it at 16 when Stillman hit a far below par-3 and took a bogey.
Stillman hit his tee straight into the desert in the No. 17 and ended up dropping his No. 14 tee, bogeying Castillo putting 1 up before the championship was decided in front of them.
“The matches were tight all the way to the end and they made some birdies on the 17th but we didn’t,” Heppler said. “That was really the difference.”