Virginia Advances to ACC Final in Thrilling Fashion

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Virginia defeated Georgia Tech, 3-0 in the quarterfinal and Clemson, 3-2 in the semifinal on Sunday (April 27) to advance to the match play final of the 2025 ACC Men’s Golf Championship. The Cavaliers will face defending champion North Carolina on Monday with a league title on the line.

Monday’s match play final will air live on ACCNX beginning at 11 a.m. The Tar Heels defeated FSU, 3-1 in the semifinal and Wake Forest 3-2 in the quarterfinal to earn a trip into the championship match.

Junior Bryan Lee outlasted Clemson’s Lucas Augustsson on the 21^st playoff hole to clinch the semifinal match for Virginia, which will make its first-ever appearance in the final. Lee was down one and evened the match with a birdie on the 16th hole. After missing a bogey putt on the third playoff hole, Augustsson conceded the hole to Lee, clinching the match for Virginia.

All would have not been possible without the herculean comeback of Deven Patel, who was down by three with four holes to play. Patel rallied to win his last four holes, which included a 30-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to move the match to all square. Patel was just short of the green in two shots on the par-5, 18th hole before the hole was conceded by Clemson’s Andrew Swanson, who found trouble off the tee.

Josh Duangmanee put the first point on the board in the semifinal for Virginia, closing out Clemson’s Rich Wills on the 17^th hole.

The Cavaliers cruised to a 3-0 victory over Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals with wins from Paul Chang, Ben James and Patel. Chang won the first match of the day for the Cavaliers with an eagle on the 18^th hole to defeat Albert Hansson 1 up. Patel clinched the match on 16, defeating Yellow Jacket Paul Fontenot 3&2.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Virginia will play in the ACC match play final for the first time. The ACC first started using match play to determine the league champion in 2021.
• Today marked Virginia’s second ACC match play appearance and the quarterfinal win was the first in program history. UVA is 2-1 all-time in ACC match play with its only loss coming in 2023 to Wake Forest.
• All five Cavaliers won a match between quarterfinal and semifinal matches with Patel the only one to win two matches. The two wins for Patel moved him to 3-2 in match play for his career.
• Chang, Duangamanee, James all recorded the first match-play victories of their collegiate careers on Sunday.
• Virginia and North Carolina only played in one tournament together in the 2024-25 regular season, The Hayt in Jacksonville, Fla. hosted by the University of North Florida. The Tar Heels (-1) finished one stroke ahead of UVA (E), placing fourth.

ACC SEMIFINAL RESULTS

UVA 3, Clemson 2
Rose (CU) def. Chang (UVA) – 3&2
Duangmanee (UVA) def. Wills (CU) – 2&1
Higgins (CU) def. James (UVA) – 1 UP
Patel (UVA) def. Swanson (CU) – 1 UP
Lee (UVA) def. Augustsson (CU) – 1 UP (21 holes)

ACC QUARTERFINAL RESULTS

UVA 3, Georgia Tech 0
Chang (UVA) def. Hansson (GT) – 1 UP
Ben James (UVA)  def. Rueter (GT) – 2&1
Deven Patel (UVA) def. Fontenot (GT) – 3&2
Duangmanee (UVA)  vs. Kim (GT) – Unfinished
Lee (UVA) vs. Tai (GT) – Unfinished