When sophomore Hiroshi Tai made his 5-foot putt on the par-four 9th hole in the final round of the NCAA national championships, he wasn’t sure it would be enough to win the title. Earlier, Tai appeared poised for an individual victory, but a major setback on the par-three 8th hole resulted in a triple bogey that cut his lead from four shots to one. He watched nervously for two more hours, but his anxiety turned to relief as Tai won the NCAA individual championship. He joined three other Jackets, Watts Gunn (1927), Charlie Yates (1934) and Troy Matteson (2002) as individual champions.
In late May, the Jackets traveled to Southern California to compete for an NCAA championship on the North Course at the Omni La Costa Resort. Head coach Bruce Heppler kept his usual starting lineup of Christo Lamprecht, graduate student Bartley Forrester, Tai and freshmen Kale Fontenot and Carson Kim. Tech got off to a flying start with Tai shooting a five-under-par 67 to take the individual lead and the team finishing fourth out of 30 in the first round. The worry for the Jackets came after the round when Lamprecht, who had shot a two-under-par 70, began experiencing back spasms that forced an early exit from the tournament. He was replaced by sophomore Aidan Tran.
Even without one of the top amateur golfers in Lamprecht, the Jackets remained within striking distance of the match play. Tech shot a 13-over 301 followed by a 4-over 292 to find themselves tied for ninth heading into the final round of stroke play. The Jackets needed to crack the top eight to qualify for the match play and have a chance to avenge their runner-up finish a year ago. After starting the championship in the lead after the first round, Tai found himself three points behind Ohio State’s Adam Wallin heading into the final round of the individual portion of the championship.
The final round was a stressful one for the Jackets. Tai and Kim both got off to a good start, shooting a pair of 34s, and the Jackets made the turn inside the projected cut line. The Jackets continued their solid first nine, but then Tai made a brutal mistake, six-putting the par-three eighth hole — a triple bogey. Now the Jackets were just inside the cut (+25) and were forced to wait and see how Florida and Oklahoma finished to determine if their season would continue. After Oklahoma’s Jase Summy bogeyed the par-five 18th and Florida collapsed over the final nine, Tech was well short of the cut. Even after it became clear Tech would advance to the match play, it was still a long wait for Tai to become the top amateur as opponents tried to catch up to his lead. After every player failed, Tai was officially crowned the 2024 National Individual Champion in a narrow one-shot victory over six different players. With this historic victory, Tai earned a spot in the 2024 US Open (in which he subsequently missed the cut) and the 2025 Masters.
The last team to qualify for match play, the Jackets faced the top-seeded Fighting Illini in the quarterfinals. Lamprecht, still dealing with back issues, was benched, leaving Tech to try to overcome the veteran team without its No. 1 player. The start of match play was rough for the Jackets. Forrester led the Jackets in the opening game and was left in holes early, with both he and Kim finding themselves in early deficits. The momentum continued to swing to the Illini, who took the lead on Tai in the final game, but the Jackets then began to turn things around. Tran took the lead against Illinois’ Piercen Hunt, and Forrester turned a two-down deficit into an up against Tyler Goecke. Forrester’s experience and match play prowess paid off and he won his match, but after the two freshmen fell behind, it was up to Tran and Tai to close out the match. Once Tai made his turn, he turned a one-down deficit into a three-up lead in the span of five holes. Tran sealed his match with a par on the par-three 16th hole, and the Jackets sent Illinois into the trash in style when Tai hit the flagstick on the 16th hole, and the ball landed just feet from the pin. The 3-1 victory propelled the Jackets to the semifinals where they would face Florida State, to whom they had lost in the ACC Tournament, for a chance to play for a national championship.
The rematch for a spot in the finals was a real fight for the Jackets. Just 20 minutes before the Jackets were set to play the Seminoles, Lamprecht stopped suffering from back spasms and decided to fight. Forrester continued its dominance in match play by winning the opening game, and it looked like Tech had control. Kim and Lamprecht both led in their games, and Fontenot kept the pace in his. Unfortunately, things started to go downhill in Lamprecht’s game when FSU star Luke Clanton started to make a comeback. Clanton turned the game around from two to two and beat Lamprecht to put a point on the board for FSU. Shortly after, it came down to Fontenot and FSU’s Tyler Weaver. On the 18th hole in regulation, Fontenot made a 5-foot birdie putt to extend the match into extra holes, but a 3-foot putt on the first playoff hole proved costly as the Jackets fell to the Seminoles, 3-2.
While the conclusion may have been disappointing, the season itself was full of historic achievements. Not only did Tai win the individual title, but Lamprecht broke Tech’s career scoring record with a 70.05 stroke average. Both Tai and Lamprecht earned first-team All-American honors for the 2024 campaign. While Heppler will be expected to replace Lamprecht and Forrester for next season, Tech’s golf pedigree reaches new heights each year. Many of its golfers will make their mark on the national tour this summer.
