SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — With chaos encircling him, Fred Biondi knelt near his bag.
His head was down, seeking to avoid the commotion occurring on the 18th green. His eyes turned red. Tears fell from his face. His hands grasped his hat.
It was all over.
Fred Biondi came to Florida and wasn’t a blue-chip prospect. He didn’t get consistent playing time until his junior year. On Wednesday, his college career came to an end, and he’s one of the most successful Gators in program history.
Biondi earned the final point in Florida’s 3-1 victory against Georgia Tech at Grayhawk Golf Club in the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship match play final. He lagged a putt from 25 feet to within tap-in range, and his opponent, Hiroshi Tai, conceded the hole. Biondi won his match 1 up, and the Gators were national champions again for the first time in more than two decades.
“I promised (coach) J.C. (Deacon) when I first got to school that I would work as hard as I could and try to bring him a ring or two,” Biondi said, “and we did it.”
NCAA: Photos
The title is Florida’s fifth and the first since 2001. Biondi also won the 2023 individual title on Monday, winning by one shot.
The Gators’ path to a title wasn’t easy. They had to fight in the final round of regionals just to make it to Grayhawk Golf Club, finishing as the fourth seed in the Bath Regional. Then on Tuesday in the match play semifinals, Florida trailed 2-0 against in-state rival Florida State and was down in multiple matches before a late rally, including when senior Ricky Castillo flipped his match and was the clinching point to propel Florida into Wednesday’s championship match.
And the team effort continued against Georgia Tech. Senior Yuxin Lin closed his match out early, winning 4 and 3 after a Christo Lamprecht three-putt on the par-4 15th, but the remainder of the matches went late into the windy Arizona evening, including one match going 20 holes.
In the remaining four, Georgia Tech led in three of them and was tied in the other coming down the stretch. Yet the Gators never faltered.
“My dad’s probably the most optimistic person in the world,” Deacon said. “And I got that from him. I always believe we can do it until they tell me we lost the match. We had a chance, and we just had to stay in the moment.
“I can’t even write this story.”
Even as Georgia Tech looked to close in for a win, the Gators chomped back.
Matthew Kress was 2 down with two to play and was able to get the match to extra holes, eventually falling to Bartley Forrester after 20 holes. John Dubois was 1 down after 14 holes but won two of his last four, including on the 18th, to win 1 up.
Then there was Biondi, who won the 17th hole with a birdie and then held on come the 18th. Even Castillo, who was one down after 15, won back-to-back holes and was 1 up in the 18th fairway when Florida clinched the match.
“It’s so awesome that we did this together,” Biondi said. “It’s not just one of us. It’s their championship.”
Georgia Tech now has five runner-up finishes at the NCAA Championship but its first in match play. Deacon went out of his way after the match to praise Yellow Jacket coach Bruce Heppler, who he called a bonafide Hall-of-Famer.
However, it’s the Gators who are taking home the trophy in the final year of the championships at Grayhawk Golf Club. And for Deacon, in his ninth season as head coach, he has Florida back on top.
“The best part of the job is when I got here, you find out how special Florida is,” Deacon said. “It was actually a lot of pressure. They were big expectations to handle, but those just drive you to work really hard. This is definitely all those alumni who built this program and made it what it is today.”
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