Cal's ZZ Tops the Field at the ACC Golf Championship

Ziqin Zhou birdies the 18th hole before winning a three-way, two-hole playoff

Ziqin Zhou celebrates at the ACC Championships | Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Ziqin Zhou achieved what no Cal golfer since Collin Morikawa has done.

A sophomore from the Chinese city of Shenzhen, Zhou won the ACC Championship on Saturday, beating two others in a playoff to become the Bears’ first conference champ since Morikawa in 2019.

Morikawa, now 29, a two-time major winner and the world’s sixth-ranked player, captured the Pac-12 title that season. 

Zhou became Cal’s first ACC golf winner in the school’s second year in the conference.

Ziqin Zhou | ACC Twitter

Zhou shot a final-round 2-under 70 — including a clutch birdie on the 19th hole — at Shark’s Tooth Golf Club at Panama City, Fla., giving him a three-day total of 8-under 208 and forcing the three-way playoff.

He tied with Stanford’s Eden Cui and Duke’s Ethan Evans after 54 holes, then won a two-hole playoff, aided by a birdie on the first hole.

Zhou became just the fourth Cal golfer to win an individual conference championship.

“He’s worked so hard these past two years and pulled out a really gritty win today,” Cal coach Michael Wilson said. “He started two-over through two holes, but battled back for a two-under-70 to force a three man playoff. 

“His birdie on the first playoff hole will go down as a legendary putt in Cal golf to push the match. He then made a solid par on the second playoff hole to win. We’re all so incredibly happy for Ziqin!" 

Zhou has been the Bears’ top performance all season, with a team-leading eight-event average of 69.91. He had four previous top-10 finishes this season, including a tie for second place at the Cabo Collegiate at Cabo San Lucas in Mexico in early March. 

A year ago, as a freshman, his best finish was a tie for ninth place at the Arizona Thunderbirds Intercollegiate.

Redshirt junior Charlie Bundy finished at 5-over-par 221 and a tie for 36th place on Saturday. Freshman Trevor Cox and senior Daniel Heo each shot 6-over-par 222 to finish in a tie for 41st place. 

The Bears finished 12th in the stroke play competition at 9-over. Stanford shot 20-under to win, beating runner-up Virginia by 16 strokes. Cal did not qualify for the three rounds of team match play on Sunday and Monday.

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