TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (SEMINOLES.COM) — The top-ranked Florida State men’s golf team capped off a spectacular week of play with a combined score of 34-under (271-281-278) to win their first NCAA Regional in program history at the Seminole Legacy Golf Club on Wednesday.
The Seminoles will move on to play in their first NCAA Championship since 2017 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
“We talked about it after the first round and we talked about it again yesterday, that this team has been really focused every single day, and just don’t lose your focus of what you’re doing,” FSU Head Coach Trey Jones said. “Go out and do something today that’s special. They had an opportunity to do it and they did. They had some challenges out there and came back once again. I’m extremely proud of them shooting the low round of the day with the lead.”
The Noles finished 17 strokes better over the next best team in the regional with 2nd-ranked Georgia placing second at 17-under. Georgia Tech (-16), Liberty (-15), and TCU (-9) rounded out the top five teams that will be advancing to the NCAA Championship next week.
Graduate transfer Vincent Norrman had a stellar performance in the third round with a score of 3-under 69 to finish the tournament at 9-under (68-70-69).
Norrman led all Noles in scoring for the week and placed third overall on the player’s leaderboard. He also scored his third straight round under par and led all players in par-three average (-5) throughout the regional.
Senior John Pak was not far behind Norrman in the leaderboard with an overall score of 8-under (67-72-69) to finish in fourth place.
The All-American led the field in birdies with 18 after recording four birdies in the first five holes during Wednesday’s round. This was also his sixth tournament this season that he’s finished within the top five players. Pak capped his last competitive round at home with a 69.
“I think this is very important,” Pak added. “We’re going to ride this momentum to the national championship. I’ve been here four years and I’m a little inexperienced I guess because I’ve never been to a national championship. I think that gives us a lot of momentum and we’re all real excited to get to Arizona.”
Freshman Frederik Kjettrup also had six birdies on the day and led all Noles in scoring during the final round at 4-under 68. He improved his score each day to finish with a combined score of 3-under (73-72-68) and tied for 17th overall.
Freshman Brett Roberts followed his great day on Tuesday with another strong outing of even-par 72. He falls right behind Norrman and Pak on the leaderboard tied for fifth at 7-under (68-69-72) overall.
Redshirt sophomore Cole Anderson shot 2-over 74 on the day and completed the round at 4-under (68-70-74) combined. He finished tied for 15th on the leaderboard and had the second-best par-five average (-9) throughout the tournament.
The Seminoles were the only team to have all five of their golfers shoot under par combined through all three rounds of the regional. Three players for the Noles shot even-par or better in each of the three rounds, while the other two players only had one round each that was over par.
They were also the only team with three players in the top five and five in the top 20 of the overall leaderboard. No other team in the regional had more than two players placed in the top 10.
FSU led in average scoring for par-three (-6), par-four (+1), and par-five (-26) holes throughout the regional. They also recorded the most birdies with 71, which was 14 more than the next team.
The Seminoles will look to win their first NCAA Championship in program history next week when they play in Scottsdale, Ariz. from May 28th-June 2nd at the Grayhawk Golf Club.
