MILTON, Ga. (theACC.com) – Clemson claimed the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Golf Championship at Capital City Club’s Crabapple Course on Monday with a dramatic 3-2 come-from-behind win over Florida State. It is the Tigers’ 11th overall men’s golf title, 10th under head coach Larry Penley and first since 2016.
“What an amazing day,” said Penley, who is retiring at the end of this season. “We were battling all day and there’s a big lesson in there. You don’t ever give up. At one point we were down in four matches and all square in one, but we just kept battling and battling and battling. I’m really proud of what we did today. I just knew if we could hang in there long enough we might find a way to make something happen and that’s what happened.”
Clemson never led until Zack Gordon’s 20-foot birdie putt dropped on the 21st overall hole (No. 3) to win the championship. With the match tied at two, Gordon and Florida State’s Greyson Porter waged an epic competition, matching scores on 18 of the 20 holes before Gordon’s match-winning putt. Gordon’s birdie was the only birdie a Clemson player made during the entire championship on hole No. 3 (26 attempts).
The Tigers were down 2-0 after Florida State won points on Brett Roberts’ 5&4 victory over Turk Pettit and Frederik Kjettrup’s 1UP win over Colby Patton. Roberts, who secured the Seminoles’ clinching point in Sunday’s semifinal vs. North Carolina, continued his outstanding play on Monday, winning four holes on the front nine and three straight from No. 9-11 to prevail.
Kjettrup won holes 9-11 to take a 3UP lead before Patton made a charge late, winning No. 16 and 17 to narrow the lead to one. Kjettrup responded with an up-and-down from off the back of the difficult 18th hole to give the Seminoles a 2-0 lead.
At that point, Clemson led in one match and two others were tied.
Kyle Cottam got the Tigers’ first flag on the board with a 2&1 win over Vincent Norrman. Cottam birdied No. 12 and No. 14 to take a 2UP lead that he never relinquished.
With Gordon and Porter’s match moving to extra holes, the pairing of Clemson’s Jacob Bridgeman and FSU’s John Pak – two of the top 10 players in the country – came down to the 18th hole. All square through 17, Bridgeman emerged victorious on 18 with a two-putt par to claim and 1UP win and send spectators scurrying to the front nine to watch the final group.
Gordon, who three-putted the 18th green, had a putt lip out on No. 2 that would have won it. Both players hit the green on No. 3 and with Gordon just outside of Porter, he was the first to putt for the win.
Clemson’s last ACC men’s golf title came in 2016 in stroke play competition. A new ACC Championship format this year included 54 holes of stroke play with the top four teams advancing to match play in an effort to mirror the NCAA competition. On Sunday, Clemson defeated NC State and Florida State knocked off North Carolina to set up today’s final match.
The NCAA men’s golf regional selections will be announced Wednesday, May 5 at 2 p.m. on Golf Channel. There are six regionals, three of which will have 13 teams and 10 individuals and three will have 14 teams and five individuals. The top five teams and the low individual not on an advancing team from each regional site advances to the finals site.
The ACC has four teams ranked in the top 10 of Golfstat’s rankings, including No. 2 Florida State, No. 4 Clemson, No. 5 Wake Forest and No. 10 NC State. North Carolina is ranked No. 17 and 10 of the league’s 12 teams are ranked in the top 37.
2021 ACC Men’s Golf Championship - Match Play Finals
Clemson def. Florida State, 3-2
Frederik Kjettrup (FSU) def. Colby Patton (Clemson), 1UP
Zack Gordon (Clemson) def. Greyson Porter (FSU), 21 holes
Brett Roberts (FSU) def. Turk Pettit (Clemson), 6&5
Jacob Bridgeman (Clemson) def. John Pak (FSU), 1UP
Kyle Cottam (Clemson) def. Vincent Norrman (FSU), 2&1