PANAMA CITY, Fl. – Hiroshi Tai (Singapore) and Kale Fontenot (Lafayette, La.)were both victorious on Sunday, but No. 21 Georgia Tech fell in a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to No. 25 Florida State in the quarterfinal match of the 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Golf Championship.
Seeking a spot in the semifinals, the Yellow Jackets and Seminoles played a back-and-forth battle from start to finish. FSU won the first match from Jacky Whaley before Fontenot and Tai completed their matches on back-to-back holes to give Georgia Tech a 2-1 match lead down the stretch. But Florida State outlasted the Jackets on the final two matches at Shark’s Tooth Golf Club to overcome the deficit with Patrick McCann defeating Benjamin Reuter and Tyler Weaver sealing the victory over Aidan Tran.
Whaley captured the first match over Albert Hansson (Fiskebäckskil, Sweden). Hansson never led in his match, but maintained close position on the back nine (Tech played off hole No. 10) before falling into a 2-hole deficit. Whaley took a 3-up lead on 8 to secure the early lead for Florida State.
Georgia Tech would get on the board with Fontenot, who played a steady match against Wilmer Edero. The junior overcame a two-hole deficit at the turn and would take a 1-up lead with a birdie on 8. Both Fontenot and Edero parred the final hole as the Jacket knotted the match at 1-1.
Tai gave the Yellow Jackets a 2-1 lead with a 2&1 win over Jack Bigham. Tai won the first hole and maintained the lead through the first four holes before Bigham won 14 to tie it back up. Bigham would take a one-hole lead twice, but could not sustain the advantage as Tai took hole 3 and would grab a 1-up lead when Bigham bogeyed 6. Tai birdied 7 to go 2-up before Bigham conceded on 8 to secure the win for Tai.
But Florida State led on the final two matches down the stretch, capturing both for the victory. McCann had a 1-up lead over Reuter entering hole 8 as the Jacket double-bogeyed the hole to tie the score at 2-2. Tran approached 8 in a two-hole deficit to Weaver and after an aggressive tee shot, parred 8 to secure the win for Florida State.
Georgia Tech now returns home to await selections for the NCAA regional tournaments, which will be announced live on Golf Channel at 2 p.m. on May 6. Regional tournaments will take place May 18-20 at six different sites around the country.