PANAMA CITY, Fla. — No. 18 Stanford men’s golf secured its first ever runner-up finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Men’s Golf Championships on Monday as the Cardinal golfed well, but eventually fell to No. 2 Virginia in match play, 3-1. Stanford earned its first-ever appearance in the championship match having won the final two points to wrap up a semifinal win over No. 24 Florida State earlier in the morning before facing the defending ACC Champions, Virginia, in the final.
With Stanford trailing 2-1 to the Seminoles in the wrap-up of Sunday’s semifinal that was halted due to darkness, Dean Greyserman and Edan Cui secured Stanford’s first championship match appearance taking both points to clinch a 3-2 win. Greyserman, who led 2Up thru 15 heading into the morning, secured a 1Up win with a tie on hole 18 while Cui, who sat tied after 16, birdied hole 18 to propel Stanford to the championship match.
Against Virginia, Stanford held strong against the No. 2 team in the nation, keeping the Cavaliers off the board until late in the afternoon. UVA picked up the first two points of the match with a pair of multi-hole wins as Jay Leng fell to No. 2 Ben James, 6&5, while Ethan Gao fell 4&3 to Brian Lee. Leng secured one birdie and one hole victory over James while Gao secured two birdies and one hole victory to keep the Cavaliers at bay as the remainder of the matches continued with UVA leading, 2-0.
Stanford, though, held leads late in the afternoon in the first two matches with Edan Cui and Nathan Wang battling to clinch points for the Cardinal. Cui, who led by as many as three holes, twice fought back from one-down, before taking the lead in hole 12. The freshman secured his third match play win of the tournament with six birdies and five hole wins to grab a 1Up win over Michael Lee.
Wang, meanwhile, also fought back from two separate one-hole deficits, claiming five birdies during the day. Wang grabbed the lead following consecutive birdies on holes eigth and nine as part of five hole wins during Monday’s final. Wang led 1Up over UVA’s Josh Duangmanee heading into hole 18 before the match was abandoned.
The anchor match saw Dean Greyserman battle hard against Paul Chang in a match that saw four ties and five lead changes. Greyserman, who led early at 1Up through two holes, nabbed three birdies in the first 10 holes to hit hole 11 tied. However, Chang rattled off four-straight hole wins - including an eagle on 13 - to push Greyserman on the brink. Though Greyserman made things interesting having won his fifth and final hole of the day on hole 15, Chang drew Greyserman on hole 16 to clinch the 3&2 result as the Cardinal fell 3-1.
Stanford now awaits its postseason fate as the Cardinal will find out its regional placement in the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships on May 6. Regional play begins on May 18.
No. 2 Virginia def. No. 18 Stanford, 3-1
Match 1: Edan Cui (STAN) def. Michael Lee (UVA), 1Up
Match 2: Nathan Wang (STAN) v. Josh Duangmanee (UVA), 1Up thru 17
Match 3: Ben James (UVA) def. Jay Leng (STAN), 6&5
Match 4: Bryan Lee (UVA) def. Ethan Gao (STAN), 4&3
Match 5: Paul Chang (UVA) def. Dean Greyserman (STAN), 3&2