Clemson claims ACC Match Play Title in Extra Holes

26 Apr 2021
by Andrew Stilwell of AmateurGolf.com
see also: View results for ACC Golf Championship, The Club at Olde Stone, Zack Gordon Rankings
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Clemson Men's Golf (via Twitter)

Clemson’s Zack Gordon made a birdie on the 21st hole to defeat Florida State senior Greyson Porter, allowing the Tigers to prevail over the Seminoles, 3-2 in the Match Play Finals of the Atlantic Coast Men’s Golf Championships at Atlanta’s Capital City Club.

In a tightly contested final, four of the five matches were either tied or separated by one hole during the entirety of the front nine. The lone exception came in match No.3 between Clemson senior Turk Pettit and Florida State freshman Brett Roberts, who won six of the first eleven holes in the match to cruise to a decisive 6 and 5 victory.

Florida State extended its lead to 2-0 in match No. 1 when freshman Frederik Kjettrup defeated Clemson senior Colby Patton, 1 up. The first-year Dane was three up with three to play and held off a late charge by Patton to put the Seminoles on the brink of the championship.

Clemson evened the match as Jacob Bridgeman and Kyle Cottam provided wins in matches four and five. Bridgeman was two holes down to Florida State’s John Pak after 10 holes, but won the par-5 12th with a birdie and evened the match on the par-3 15th when Pak made a bogey. Bridgeman won the match on the 18th with a par.

Cottam used birdies on holes 12 and 14 to close out Florida State’s Vincent Norrman, 2 and 1 to even the match.

With the ACC Championship hanging in the balance, all eyes turned to match No. 2 between Gordon and Porter. The players were all square for 17 of 20 holes before Gordon rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the 21st hole, the 216 yard, par-3 third, to lift the Tigers to their 11th ACC title in school history.

The tournament win was the 83rd overall and 10th ACC Championship under Clemson head coach Larry Penley, who, after 38 seasons at the helm of the Tiger golf program, announced his retirement at the end of this season. It is also Clemson’s first ACC Championship since 2016.

Clemson finished the 54-hole team stroke play portion of the ACC Men’s Golf Championship in second place, with a final score of 829/-11, 15 shots behind North Carolina.

Results: ACC Golf Championship