PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (Seminoles.com) — After a phenomenal third-round stroke-play performance on Saturday, the Florida State Men’s Golf team advanced to the match play portion of the ACC Championship on Saturday at Shark’s Tooth Golf Course in Panama City.
Brett Roberts and Michael Sakane were key in the three rounds of stroke play on Friday and Saturday. With Roberts’ 6-under par Friday and Sakane’s 5-under par 67 Saturday, the Noles found their way into third place at 19-under par. Saturday’s round was Florida State’s best performance of the tournament, shooting an 8-under par 280 to tie Wake Forest for the lowest team round of the day.
After finishing in third place, the Seminoles will face No. 2 Georgia Tech in the ACC match-play semifinals on Sunday at 9 a.m. CT on ACC Network Extra. No. 1 seed UNC, which won the stroke-play portion of the tournament at 35-under, will face fourth-place Wake Forest beginning at 10 a.m.
Sakane had a perfect front nine, with three birdies and no bogeys. It was his best front nine performance of the three rounds and turned out to be a crucial aspect for the Seminoles.
After shooting a 3-under par 33 on the front, Sakane continued his tremendous play and turned around three consecutive birdies on the back-nine, securing the Seminoles’ spot in Sunday’s match play. Sakane shot 4-under on par 4’s for the day, and 1-under on par 5’s. He finished with a 5-under par 67 and tied for 13th.
Brett Roberts joined his teammate in having a bogeyless front-nine, capturing one birdie on hole 6, and an eagle on the back-nine. On par 5’s, the sophomore was 4-under par, having either an eagle or a birdie on all but one. Shooting even par on the back, Roberts ended his final stroke play round with a 1-under par 71, finishing in ninth place.
Sakane led the team in birdies, totaling 17 for the tournament, with Roberts contributing 13 of his own to the teams combined 55 birdies. Cole Anderson and Roberts each tagged along an eagle to their performances as well.
Frederik Kjettrup shot a two-under par 70 in the final round of stroke play, helping his teammates clinch third place. Kjettrup joined Sakane by tying for 13th. Anderson also contributed to the advance with a spotless back-nine and an even-par finish which put him tied for 22nd.
