2024-25 Men's Golf Roster
David Ford
- Weight:
- null
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Peachtree Corners, Ga.
- High School:
- Rivers Academy (Alpharetta, Ga.)
Hometown: Peachtree Corners, Ga.
High School: Rivers Academy, Alpharetta, Ga.
CAREER COLLEGIATE STATS
Scoring Average: 70.13 (UNC record, 2nd ACC history, 6th NCAA)
Score to Par: -162 (UNC record)
Average Score to Par Per Round: -1.13 (UNC record)
Tournaments/Rounds: 48/144
Rounds Counted: 129 of 144 (89.6%)
Par Rounds/Below Par Rounds: 7/91
Rounds in the 60s: 66 (UNC and ACC records)
Match Play: 10-4 (UNC record for wins)
AWARDS
National Player of the Year: 2025 Fred Haskins Award, 2025 Jack Nicklaus Award, 2025 Golfweek
All-America: 2022 (3rd team Golfweek, HM GCAA), 2023 (1st team GCAA, Golfweek), 2024 (3rd team Golfweek, HM GCAA), 2025 (1st team GCAA, Golfweek)
ACC Player of the Year: 2023, 2025
All-ACC: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
All-PING East Region: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
ACC Rookie of the Year: 2022
ACC Player of the Month: October 2022, October 2023, October 2024, March 2025, April 2025
Freshman All-America: 2025
ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year: 2025
Academic All-ACC: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
All-America Scholar: 2023, 2025
Patterson Medal (UNC career achievements): co-winner
PGA TOUR University Standings: First in 2025
Best Finish: 1st seven times (tied UNC record): 2022-23 Jackson T. Stephens Cup, 2023-24 Williams Cup, 2024-25 Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational, 2024-25 Williams Cup, 2024-25 Valspar Collegiate Invitational; 2024-25 Augusta Haskins Award Invitational; 2024-25 Tar Heel Intercollegiate
Low UNC Round: 62, 2nd round, 2022-23 Jackson T. Stephens Cup
Low Overall Round: 62, 2nd round, 2022 Southern Amateur, Sea Island Golf Club’s Plantation Course, St. Simons Island, Ga.; 2020 AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions, 3rd round, PGA National Fazio Course, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; 2nd round, 2022-23 Jackson T. Stephens Cup, Seminole Golf Club, Juno Beach, Fla.
Low UNC 54 Holes: 195, 2024-25 Valspar Collegiate Invitational, Floridian National Golf Club, Palm City, Fla.
Low UNC 54 Holes (to par): -18, 2024-25 Valspar Collegiate Invitational, Floridian National Golf Club, Palm City, Fla.
UNC Career: National Player of the Year as a senior in 2025 as he won the Fred Haskins Award, the Jack Nicklaus Award and Golfweek’s Player of the Year award • Two-time ACC Player of the Year in 2023 and 2025 • First to win multiple ACC Player-of-the-Year since 2015 (11th all-time to win two or more times) • Only Tar Heel ever to win ACC Player of the Year • Became the second men’s golfer to win the Patterson Medal, UNC’s most prestigious award for career achievement (awarded annually since 1926) • Led Carolina to three NCAA top-five finishes, the 2024 ACC championship and 17 team titles • Four-time All-America, All-ACC and All-PING/East Region • First Tar Heel ever to earn first-team All-America honors twice and the first to win first-, second- or third-team All-America four times • First-team All-America (GCAA and Golfweek) in 2023 and 2025 (GCAA), third team in 2022 and 2024 • Joined Dustin Bray as the only Tar Heels to earn All-ACC honors in each of his four seasons • First Tar Heel to earn PING/All-East Region honors in each of his four seasons • ACC Freshman of the Year in 2022 • Five-time ACC Player of the Month, the only player in the conference to accomplish that during his four seasons • Carolina’s all-time leader in stroke average (70.13), score to par (162 under), average score to par per round (-1.13), rounds in the 60s (66) and most match play wins (10) • Scoring average of 70.13 is second in ACC history (behind 69.91 by Florida State’s John Pak) and sixth in NCAA history • One of two Tar Heels to play 75 or more rounds and shoot cumulative under par (Austin Greaser was -34) • Set UNC record for fewest strokes in consecutive rounds (63-64 at Valspar in 2025) and tied the UNC record for fewest strokes in 54-hole tournament (195 at Valspar) • His 66 rounds in the 60s are the second most in NCAA history behind 68 by North Florida’s Nick Gabrelcik.
Tied Bray’s UNC record with seven career wins • Medalist in the 2022-23 Stephens Cup at Seminole, 2023-24 and 2024-25 Williams Cups at Eagle Point, 2024-25 Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational at Colonial, 2024-25 Valspar Collegiate Invitational at Floridian National, 2024-25 Augusta Haskins Award Invitational at Forest Hills and 2024-25 Tar Heel Intercollegiate at Finley Golf Club • As a senior, he became the first Tar Heel to win three consecutive tournaments and won a UNC-record five times in one season.
Member of United States winning teams in the 2023 Walker Cup, 2023 and 2024 Palmer Cups and 2023 World Amateur Team Championship • Helped U.S. to a 14.5-11.5 win in the Walker Cup at the Old Course at St Andrews with a 3&2 win over Alex Maguire in the anchor match in the Sunday singles • Made a 12-footer for birdie on the 16th hole to officially clinch the Walker Cup for the U.S • 8-under 64, the best round of the day, in the final round to lead the U.S. to the title in the World Amateur Team Championship in Dubai • Tied three matches to earn 1.5 points as U.S. won the 2024 Palmer Cup • Won the 2022 Southern Amateur and the 2023 Jones Cup Invitational • Reached the round of 16 in the 2023 U.S. Amateur.
Has the first-, third- and seventh-best scoring averages in a season in UNC history • In addition to seven wins, he placed second six times, had 17 top 5s and 28 top 10s in 48 starts • Shot par or better in 98 rounds with 66 in the 60s • Tied for fifth in the 2022 NCAA Championship at 1-over 281 (71-70-69-71) • Went 5-1 in match play in the ACC Championship and 3-1 in the NCAA Championship • Made his PGA Tour debut in 2023 in the Barbasol Championship, where he made the cut by two shots and finished T58 at 7-under 281 (71-67-71-72) • Made eight birdies in the second round at the Barbasol • Also competed in the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational, earning an exemption by vote of his Palmer Cup teammates in 2023 based on the teammate who best represents the legacy and values of Arnold Palmer • Four-time Academic All-ACC honoree and two-time All-America Scholar • Fifth men’s golfer to win ACC Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the same academic year.
2024-25: Won three National Player of the Year Awards – the Fred Haskins Award, the Jack Nicklaus Award and Golfweek – and was the ACC Player of the Year • Finalist for the Ben Hogan Award • First Tar Heel to win the Haskins Award since John Inman in 1984 • First Tar Heel to win the Nicklaus Award and Golfweek’s POY Award • GCAA and Golfweek first-team All-America • First Tar Heel to earn first-team All-America honors in two seasons (2023 and 2025) • First ACC player to win multiple ACC Player-of-the-Year awards since Georgia Tech’s Ollie Schniederjans in 2014 and 2015 • All-ACC for the fourth time in as many seasons • All-PING/East Region for the fourth time (first Tar Heel to accomplish that in each of his four seasons) • ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, an All-America Scholar and Academic All-ACC honoree • No. 1-ranked player in the country and No. 1 in scoring average and adjusted scoring average • No. 1 in the PGA TOUR University standings, which earned him his PGA TOUR card for 2025 and 2026 • Set UNC single-season records with five wins, 68.78 scoring average, 89 strokes below par, -2.47 score to par per round and 25 rounds in the 60s • Scoring average (68.78) was the lowest in ACC history and the fourth lowest in NCAA history behind Collin Morikawa of Cal’s 68.68 in 2017-18, Matthew Wolff of Oklahoma State’s 68.69 in 2018-19 and Justin Suh of USC’s 68.73 in 2017-18 • Adjusted stroke average of 67.5 led the nation • Five wins tied the 15th most in NCAA single-season history • Won the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational and Williams Cup in the fall and Valspar Collegiate Invitational, Augusta Haskins Award Invitational and Tar Heel Intercollegiate in consecutive starts in the spring • Became the first Tar Heel ever to win three consecutive starts • Tied the seventh-most consecutive wins in NCAA history • Three-time ACC Player of the Month (October, March and April) • Won the Hogan with rounds of 69-65-67 for a 9-under 201 • Hogan field included Arizona State, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Texas and Vanderbilt • Defended his title at the Williams Cup, beating a field that included Arizona State and Auburn, with rounds of 68-68-70 for 10-under 206 • Was 25 under par in 12 career rounds at Eagle Point and had two wins and two runner-up finishes in the Williams Cup • Shot 69-63-64 for his collegiate-best 18-under 195 total to win Valspar, defeating one of the strongest tournament fields of the season (Auburn, Texas, Arizona State, Oklahoma among 11 top-25 teams) • His 195 total equaled the fewest in a 54-hole tournament by a Tar Heel and 18 under equaled the third best by a Tar Heel • Set Valspar’s 54-hole record, breaking the previous lows of 14-under 199 by Florida State’s Luke Clanton in 2024, Pepperdine’s Dylan Menante in 2022 and Oklahoma State’s Matthew Wolff in 2019 • Broke his own UNC record for fewest strokes in consecutive rounds with second-round 63 and final-round 64 (held the previous record with matching 64s in the final two rounds at Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish Classic in 2022) • Won Augusta Haskins with a birdie to defeat Illinois’ Max Herendeen on the first playoff hole after rounds of 69-66-69 for 12-under 204 total • Closed 64-67 for a three-shot victory in the Tar Heel Intercollegiate for his third win in a row and his first on his home course • Tied for ninth in stroke and went 3-0 in match play in leading UNC to a second-place finish in the ACC Championship • Shot 67-69 in his final two rounds in the NCAA Urbana Regional to finish 4-under 209 in his final collegiate tournament.
2023-24: Third-team (Golfweek) and honorable mention (PING/GCAA) All-America • All-ACC and All-PING Region • Third in ACC Player of the Year voting • Averaged 71.38, third on the team • Final Scoreboard ranking No. 28 • Shot below par in 18 of 34 rounds, including 10 in the 60s • Low round of 64 in the first round of the Amer Ari Invitational, the lowest round by a Tar Heel all season • Won the Williams Cup at Eagle Point, shooting 4-under 212 before defeating North Florida’s Nick Gabrelcik with a birdie on the first playoff hole • Second in stroke play at East Lake Cup, T4 at the Amer Ari Invitational, T5 at Hogan and T7 at Haskins • Went 3-2 in match play with wins over Georgia Tech’s Hiroshi Tai (5&4) and Florida State’s Frederik Kjettrup (4&3) in the East Lake Cup and FSU’s Luke Clanton (2&1) in the ACC Championship • Shot 17-under 199 at the Mauna Lani North Course to finish T4 at the Amer Ari Invitational.
2022-23: First-team All-America (GCAA and Golfweek) • ACC Player of the Year • All-ACC and All-PING/East Region • Haskins Award finalist • Palmer Cup Team USA automatic qualifier • First Tar Heel to win ACC Player of the Year (award began in 1992) • First sophomore to win ACC Player of the Year since 2010 • First to win ACC Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year in consecutive seasons since Florida State’s Brooks Koepka in 2010-11 • Led Carolina in scoring (69.89, at the time the second-lowest in UNC history), score to par (-46, a UNC record e broke in 2024-25), rounds at par or better (28) and rounds in the 60s (16) • Had a win, three seconds, five top-5s and eight top-10s in 12 starts • Shot 68 in the final round to help Carolina finish first in stroke play at the NCAA Championship for the second straight season • Won the 15th, 16th and 17th holes to defeat Arizona State’s Michael Mjaaseth 1 up in the quarterfinals • Also rallied from two down to beat Georgia Tech’s Hiroshi Tai 1 up in the semifinals • Shot 68-62-70 for a 16-under 200 to win the Jackson T. Stephens Cup at Seminole Golf Club • Made eight consecutive birdies in the second round to shoot 62, which tied his competitive low round • Runner-up at Notre Dame (in playoff with Colorado’s Dylan McDermott), the Williams Cup and Valspar • Final rankings No. 7 Golfweek/Sagarin and No. 12 Golfstat • Academic All-ACC.
2021-22: Golfweek second-team All-America, GCAA honorable mention All-America and All-Freshman team, PING All-East Region and All-ACC • ACC Freshman of the Year • Academic All-ACC and member of the ACC Academic Honor Roll • Tied for fifth in the NCAA Championship at 1-over 281 (71-70-69-71) • Shot 1 over or better in all four rounds in the national championship when the average score was 3.13 over par • Birdied the 17th hole and parred the final hole of match play to defeat Joe Highsmith of Pepperdine 1 up in the NCAA quarterfinals • Pair of 1-under 69s in the NCAA Yale Regional • Tied for seventh at the ACC Championship at 8-under 208 and won his semifinal match 4&3 over Wake Forest’s Parker Gillam • Had the fourth-lowest stroke average in UNC history (second lowest by a freshman) • Averaged 70.54 in 37 rounds • Final rankings include No. 19 by Golfstat and No. 28 by Golfweek • Led UNC in rounds under par (23) and was second in combined score to par (-28) • Two top 5s and six top 10s with a season-best second-place finish at the Williams Cup • Shot 71-67-69 for a 9-under 207 at Eagle Point • Season-best 14-under 202 and low round of 64 at the Amer Air Invitational.
Personal: Son of Karen and Patrick Ford • Born Sept. 14, 2002, in Peachtree Corners, Ga., • His father played golf at Georgia State • His twin brother, Maxwell, played 2021-23 at Georgia and 2023-25 at UNC, earning All-ACC and third-team All-America honors in 2024 • Likes to play ping pong • Favorite food is sushi • Listens to Christian music • Home course is the Atlanta Athletic Club • Lowest career rounds are 10-under 62 at the 2020 AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions, 10-under 62 at Seminole Golf Club in the second round of the 2022 Stephens Cup and 9-under 62 at the 2022 Southern Amateur • Favorite golfer is Webb Simpson • Best golf advice is from Bob Rotella’s book “Putting Out of Your Mind” • Go-to clubs under pressure are his driver and putter • Swing coach is Chris Moore.
