FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, May 11, 2023
@theACC
North Carolina’s Ford, Virginia’s James Headline All-ACC Men’s Golf Team
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – North Carolina’s David Ford has been named the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Golf Player of the Year and headlines a talented 15-man all-conference team. Virginia’s Ben James is the ACC Freshman of the Year, and UNC’s Andrew DiBitetto is the ACC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.
The All-ACC Team, Player, and Freshman of the Year are decided by a combination of the Golfstat and Golfweek/Sagarin rankings in conjunction with a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches. Coach of the Year was selected by a vote of the coaches.
Ford becomes the first Tar Heel men’s golfer to win ACC Player of the Year honors. He is UNC’s single-season and career stroke average leader, averaging 69.67 in 10 tournaments this season and 70.15 in 22 starts over his first two seasons as a Tar Heel. Ford is 74 under par in 67 collegiate rounds, the best cumulative score to par in UNC history.
Ford won his first collegiate title last fall at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup at Seminole Golf Club, shooting 16-under 200. The Peachtree Corners, Georgia, native made eight consecutive birdies as part of a second-round 62.
Ford has finished under par in eight of his 10 collegiate tournaments this season. In addition to winning the Stephens Cup, he finished second in a playoff at Notre Dame, tied for second at the Williams Cup and the Valspar Collegiate Invitational and has four other top 10s. He is ranked among the nation’s top five by both Golfstat and Golfweek and is a major reason the Tar Heels will enter next week’s NCAA Regionals as a No. 1 seed.
This marks the first time a sophomore has been voted the ACC Men’s Golf Player of the Year since 2010 when Florida State’s Brooks Koepka and Virginia’s Ben Kohles were selected as co-award winners.
In the latest Golfstat standings, Virginia’s James is the No. 8 player in the nation and the top-ranked freshman. James currently leads UVA with a 69.33 stroke average. He has finished first in four events this season and has placed in the top four in nine of 11 collegiate events this season.
A total of 27 of his 33 rounds this year have been par or better. The Milford, Connecticut, standout opened UVA’s season by shooting a school record 20-under-par 196 to win the Streamsong Invitational.
In his most recent outing, James tied for third place at the ACC Championships. He is the fourth Virginia golfer to earn ACC Men’s Freshman of the Year honors and the first since David McCarthy in 2012.
In addition to leading their teams as NCAA Regional play gets underway next Monday, Ford and James have both earned spots on Team United States for the 2023 Arnold Palmer Cup, an annual international golf tournament that will be played June 8-10 at Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier, Pa., outside of Pittsburgh.
In his sixth season as head coach of the Tar Heels and 12th with the UNC men’s golf program, DiBitetto has guided UNC to No. 2 in the latest Golfstat rankings and a No. 1 seed in next week’s NCAA regional. Under his leadership, the Tar Heels are one of six teams to advance out of regionals in each of the previous five NCAA Tournaments with Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt and Arizona State.
UNC has won five team titles this season, the first time the Tar Heels have won that many since winning six in 1984-85. This is the fifth time a UNC head coach has been selected the ACC Coach of the Year, and DiBitetto is the first to win in back-to-back years.
North Carolina and Florida State each placed four on the 2023 All-ACC Men’s Golf team, marking the 10th and 11th time one school has had that many honorees in a single season. Three golfers from Georgia Tech earned spots on the squad, along with two from Louisville and one each from Virginia and Wake Forest.
ACC Player of the Year: David Ford, North Carolina
ACC Freshman of the Year: Ben James, Virginia
ACC Coach of the Year: Andrew DiBitetto, North Carolina
2023 All-ACC Men’s Golf Team
Cole Anderson, Florida State
Jack Bigham, Florida State
Brett Roberts, Florida State
Frederik Kjettrup, Florida State
Connor Howe, Georgia Tech
Christo Lamprecht, Georgia Tech
Ross Steelman, Georgia Tech
Max Kennedy, Louisville
Jiri Zuska, Louisville
Ryan Burnett, North Carolina
David Ford, North Carolina
Austin Greaser, North Carolina
Dylan Menante, North Carolina
Ben James, Virginia
Michael Brennan, Wake Forest*
*ACC Individual Champion