Cole Anderson of Camden and his fifth-seeded Florida State University golf team have advanced to Wednesday’s NCAA Division I Championship final against sixth seed Auburn University (Alabama) by virtue of match play wins over fourth seed North Carolina (3-1) and eighth seed Georgia Tech (3-2) on Tuesday at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa North Course in Carlsbad, Cal.
Anderson lost both of his head-to-head matches on Tuesday, 2-and-1, to UNC’s Dylan Menante and 3-and-2 to Georgia Tech’s Bartley Forrester.
Auburn advanced with a 3-2 win over seventh seed Ohio State in their semifinal after upsetting third seed Virginia 3-1 in the quarterfinals.
North Carolina had beaten Florida State 3-1 in the championship round of the ACC Tournament last month with Anderson being the only Seminole to win his match.
Florida State finished fifth in stroke play among 30 teams at the NCAA Division I championships with a score of 12-over-par 1,164 over the four days.
The top eight teams advanced to the match play portion after four rounds.
The Seminoles finished one stroke behind North Carolina, which tied for third with Virginia.
Illinois was the top seed thanks to its six-under-par 1,146. Illinois was the only team under par.
Vanderbilt was second at 10-over 1,162.
Auburn shot 1,171.
Redshirt senior Anderson shot a six-over-par 294 over four rounds which left him in 31st place with three other golfers in the individual competition.
He was second-best among the Seminoles.
Teammate Luke Clanton shot a two-under 286 to share second with five other golfers, one shot behind winner Hiroshi Tai from Georgia Tech.
Anderson rallied from an opening-round three-over-par 75 to post three consecutive one-over-par 73s.
His previous best finish came a year ago when he tied for 29th.
He had tied for 40th in 2022.
Anderson and the Seminoles were ousted by eventual national champ Florida in the semifinals last season, 3-2.
Florida failed to reach the final eight this year.
Anderson, who plays out of the Samoset Resort Golf Club in Rockport, had three top-10 finishes in 11 tournaments this season.
Anderson won three individual state Class A championships at Camden Hills High School in Rockport, sharing one with Scarborough’s Anthony Burnham in 2017.
He won back-to-back State Amateur titles in 2019-20 and was Maine’s Player of the Year in 2019.
He finished tied for third in the PGA’s Korn Ferry Tour’s Live and Work in Maine Open in 2022 at the Falmouth Country Club.
