The North Carolina men’s golf team’s championship hopes came to a screeching end Tuesday after falling short to Georgia Tech 3-2 in the semifinals.
Despite the bitter ending, the Tar Heels made significant strides this season, tying for third in the NCAA championship, marking their best finish since 1993. Led by ACC’s golf coach of the year Andrew DiBitetto, UNC had a remarkable season, winning five team titles in other tournaments.
In a press statement released by the school, DiBitetto reflected on the loss.
“I’m incredibly proud of our guys because they play the game the right way. DiBitetto said. “They have so much grit, so much heart, they never give up. Even going back to the quarterfinal match this morning, with three, four holes to go, it didn’t look like it was going to go our way. They just hung in there and kept hitting shots and kept marching along and executing. All of a sudden, we come out on top and then the same thing happens in the semifinals. It looked like that match might end pretty early. David Ford starts to flip it on the back nine and ends up winning his match. Peter Fountain was three down with six holes to play and gets it all the way to 18.”
DiBitetto ended the statement by crediting the Yellow Jackets for their performance.
“Credit to a really good Georgia Tech team. Especially Ross Steelman coming down the stretch. I didn’t see it, but I heard he made a clutch 12-footer on 16 and a 20-footer on 17. A big tip of the cap to them. They’re an incredible team.”
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Story originally appeared on Tarheels Wire