NEW LONDON, N.C. (theACC.com) – Georgia Tech shot a 29-under 835 over three days to claim the 2018 ACC Men’s Golf Championship, held Friday through Sunday at Old North State Club.
The Yellow Jackets posted rounds of 276, 277, and 282 to win the 17th title in program history and ninth in the last 13 years.
“It’s a great conference with all these teams that are ranked, so any time you win here it means a lot, and this year is no different,” said Georgia Tech coach Bruce Heppler. “We knew that Clemson would come charging up the leaderboard, they always do. It got close and exciting and this place brings that out. We’re just happy to walk away on top this time.”
The Yellow Jackets were led by Tyler Strafaci and Luke Schniederjans, who finished tied for 12th at 8-under. Chris Petefish was one stroke behind in 17th place, and Andy Ogletree finished tied for 24 at 3-under.
Georgia Tech held off a strong final round from Clemson, which shot a 10-under 278 on the day and finished in second with a 27-under 837.
Wake Forest and Virginia also posted low scores on Sunday, as the Demon Deacons shot a 14-under 274 on Sunday to finish third for the tournament, and the Cavaliers were 10-under on the day to finish in fourth.
Duke placed fifth at 20-under, followed by North Carolina (-19), Notre Dame (-19), NC State (-18), Florida State (-16), Boston College (-8), Louisville (-2), and Virginia Tech (+15).
Virginia’s Thomas Walsh, a native of High Point, became the fourth golfer in program history and second straight to win the ACC individual title, joining Jimmy Stanger (2017), Ben Rusch (2012), and Pete Arend (1955). The junior won by two strokes over Clemson’s Doc Redman with scores of 67, 65, and 68 to win the event with a tournament record 16-under 200, topping the previous record of 201 set by Georgia Tech’s Anders Albertson in 2013.
“It’s really cool [to set the record], especially with all the people who have played in the ACC,” said Walsh. “ I guess I just got lucky this week and had a few more putts fall than a couple of other people, but it’s really cool and I’m glad it happened.”
“I’ve been coming to this thing for maybe 10 years. I always wanted to just play in the tournament. To win it, is incredible.”
The win is the first career tournament victory for Walsh, as his previous best career score of 205 came in 2016 at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate where he was the runner-up.
“I’m just glad to get that monkey off my back. I’ve played well for the last six months, and I haven’t been able to do it. Sometimes I’ve choked and sometimes other people have played well and just outrun me. It feels extremely nice to get this done because I’ve been working on it for three years now.”
