Florida sinks Georgia Tech to win the 2023 NCAA Men's Golf National Championship at Grayhawk

The Florida Gators won the 2023 NCAA Division I Men's Golf National Championship as they beat Georgia Tech 3-1 on Wednesday. This is Florida's first title since 2001 and fifth overall in 56 appearances (1968, 1973, 1993, and 2001). For Georgia, it is their fifth runner-up finish, as they are yet to win the national title.

Yuxin Lin bested Christo Lamprecht 4 and 3 in the opener at the Grayhawk. In the second match, John DuBois bettered Connor Howe 1-up giving Florida a 2-0 lead. The third match, however, went in Georgia Tech's favor as Bartley Forrester beat Matthew Kress in a playoff to open the team's account. Kress was holding a 2-up lead before blowing it up in the last two holes.

The Georgia Tech win was aided by individual NCAA champion Fred Biondi, who defeated Hiroshi Tai 1-up with a par on the final hole. At that time, Florida's Ricky Castillo was also 1-up against Ross Steelman on 18.

Biondi became the first player since Aaron Wise in 2016 to win both individual and team championships in one season.

Florida Gators head coach J.C. Deacon said after the win that team always had talent but the players just needed to grow up.

He was quoted as saying via OnlyGators, the official site of Team Florida:

"They’ve committed to doing that the last three years, took a step last year and got a little bit better. And then they made the ultimate sacrifice to work harder than any team in the country and grow up."

He added that he was proud to be the team's coach.

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Who has won the most NCAA Men's Golf National Championship titles?

Technically, Yale has won the most (21) NCAA Men's Golf National Championships in the tournament's history. However, it has won just once since NCAA took over the tournament sponsorship in 1939. Since 1939, Houston has won the most (16) times.

Here's the list of most-time winners of the NCAA Men's Golf National Championship:

• Yale (21): 1897, 1898, 1902, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1915, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1936, 1943
• Houston (16): 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1977, 1982, 1984, 1985
• Princeton (12): 1914, 1916, 1919, 1920, 1922, 1923, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1937, 1940
• Oklahoma State (11): 1963, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2006, 2018
• Stanford (9): 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1953, 1994, 2007, 2019
• Harvard (6): 1898, 1899, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904
• LSU (5): 1940, 1942, 1947, 1955, 2015
• Florida (5): 1968, 1973, 1993, 2001, 2023
• North Texas (4): 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952
• Texas (4): 1971, 1972, 2012, 2022
• Wake Forest (3): 1974, 1975, 1986
• Alabama (2): 2013, 2014
• Arizona State (2) 1990, 1996
• Augusta (2): 2010, 2011
• Georgia (2): 1999, 2005
• Michigan (2): 1934, 1935
• Ohio State (2): 1945, 1979
• Oklahoma (2): 1989, 2017
• Pepperdine (2): 1997, 2021
• UCLA (2): 1988, 2008
• Arizona: 1992
• BYU: 1981
• California: 2004
• Clemson: 2003
• Dartmouth: 1921
• Minnesota: 2002
• Notre Dame: 1944
• Oregon: 2016
• Purdue: 1961
• San Jose State: 1948
• SMU: 1954
• Texas A&M: 2009
• UNLV: 1998