SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Georgia Tech's bid for its first national title in golf became unglued over the final three holes as Florida took a 3-1 win at Grayhawk Golf Club.
It was the Gators fifth national title overall and first since 2001.
On a windy day in the desert, the lead changed hands all afternoon. Florida led all five matches early on but Tech rallied to even the match heading to the back nine. After that, Tech led in three matches with one other tied heading to the 15th. But the Gators registered the first point of the match when Yuxin Lin beat Christo Lamprecht 4&3 when Lamprecht bogeyed the Par 4 15th.
Former North Hall standout Bartley Forrester had a chance to win his match 2&1 but missed a par putt on No. 17. Then, Florida's Matthew Kress tied the match on 18, hitting his second shot within a foot of the hole while Forrester was unable to make a long birdie putt to win the match, sending it to extra holes.
But Forrester would get Tech on the board eventually winning his match on the 20th hole, a bogey on No. 18 after Kress was forced to take a stroke when his drive got stuck in a thicket. But with the other two matches tied going to No. 15, the Jackets fell apart.
Fred Biondi, who won the individual national title earlier in the week, rallied from 1-down at the turn to go 1-up on the 17th and sealed the title with a par on the 18th.
Jackets head coach Bruce Heppler said it was another tough finish as they are now 0-5 all-time in national title matches. The five runner-up finishes are the most of NCAA program without winning a title.
"The matches were tight all the way through to the end and they made a couple of birdie putts on 17 and we didn't and that was the difference," Heppler said. "We just fell a little short again."
