SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Seminoles.com) — The Florida State Men’s Golf team simply got the job done in Monday’s decisive final stroke-play round at the NCAA Championship.
Shooting a 7-over 287 on Memorial Day, the Seminoles secured one of the coveted eight spots to reach the NCAA Championship Match Play Quarterfinals held on Tuesday at Grayhawk Golf Club. Based on the stroke-play finish, FSU will be the 6 seed facing No. 3 seed Pepperdine at 9:20 a.m. ET.
FSU looked to its four-year leader for the big shots down the stretch in order to hold on to a Top eight finish. Clinging to an eighth-place spot through the first nine holes, John Pak carded a critical two-hole stretch where he recorded an eagle on the par-5 11th followed by a birdie on the par-4 12th.
Pak wound up shooting a 69 on Monday and finished at 3-under (68-72-68-69) to place fifth in the stroke-play portion of the championship. He becomes the sixth Seminole to earn a Top 5 finish at an NCAA Championship and the first since Daniel Berger tied for second in 2013 at Crabapple Course at the Capital City Club in Alpharetta, Ga.
The Seminoles are moving on with the help of a well-maintained back nine effort where they recorded 28 pars in 36 holes played among the four counting scores. Freshman Frederik Kjettrup had another strong round shooting a 1-over 71 on Monday and shooting 6-over for the championship. Kjettrup’s birdie on the par-4 17th hole punctuated an important day for FSU.
FSU advances to match play for the second time in program history since the format was instituted into the NCAA Championship in 2009. The other time occurred in 2010 when Brooks Koepka led the Noles to the match play semifinals as they tied for third overall.
Cole Anderson shot a 3-over 73 and finished at 16-over. Vincent Norrman tied for 29th overall at 5-over and Brett Roberts tied for 54th at 12-over.
FSU’s 7-over round on Monday marked the fifth-lowest round of the day, but the third-lowest among the eight teams that advanced. The other matchups include Arizona State (No. 1) vs. North Carolina (No. 8), Oklahoma State (No. 2) vs. Vanderbilt (No. 7) and Oklahoma (No. 4) vs. Illinois (No. 5).
JOHN PAK SECURES NO. 1 SPOT IN THE INAUGURAL PGATOUR UNIVERSITY CLASS
With the conclusion of college golf’s final stroke-play round on Monday night, John Pak has been announced at the top of the inaugural PGATOUR University Class.
Pak secures his membership to the Korn Ferry Tour and will be exempt into all open, full-field events beginning with the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation (June 10-13).
The Top five finishers in the class receive the same exemptions as Pak, while finishers 6-15 receive Forme Tour membership, starting with the L&J Golf Championship at Jennings Mill Country Club in Watkinsville, Georgia (June 23-26).
In the first year of the PGA TOUR University Class rankings, Pak led wire-to-wire in what has been a dominant senior season for the native of Scotch Plains, N.J.
PAK A FINALIST FOR HASKINS AWARD – WINNER ANNOUNCED ON TUESDAY
John Pak is one of the finalists for the Fred Haskins Award given to the nation’s top collegiate golfer. He is joined by Davis Thompson (Georgia), Ryan Hall (South Carolina), Pierceson Coody (Texas) and Ludvig Aberg (Texas Tech) among others on the list.
The winner of the Haskins Award will be announced on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel.
JONES NAMED FINALIST FOR DAVE WILLIAMS AWARD
Florida State Men’s Golf Head Coach Trey Jones has been selected as a finalist for the 2021 Division I Dave Williams Award presented by Golf Pride Grips as announced by the GCAA.
Jones joins fellow finalists Michael Beard of Pepperdine, Oklahoma State’s Alan Bratton, Brandt Kieschnick of Sam Houston State and Clemson’s Larry Penley. The award is one of the biggest heading coaching honors in collegiate golf.
Jones, now in his 18th season at FSU, has guided the Seminoles to the No. 1 overall seed at the NCAA Championship after FSU spent several weeks at No. 1 in all of the collegiate golf rankings. Entering the championship, FSU were 4.22 strokes under par and held a 28-12-1 record vs. Top 25 teams.
