University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Golfer Ben Griffin Earns All-America Honors
June 26, 2015 | Men's Golf
CHAPEL HILL—University of North Carolina freshman Ben Griffin has earned honorable mention All-America honors on the 2015 Division I PING All-America team as selected by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
The Chapel Hill native is Carolina's first men's golfer to earn All-America honors since Kevin O'Connell in 2008. He is one of nine freshmen to make one of the PING All-America teams this season.
Griffin led UNC in stroke average at 71.06. He won the Tar Heel Intercollegiate and the Bridgestone Golf Collegiate in Greensboro and had six other Top 10 finishes in 12 collegiate events.
He earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference honors for both his play on the course and his academic work, one of five players to receive both accolades.
“This is a wonderful honor for Ben and for Carolina Golf,” says head coach Andrew Sapp. “Our most recent All-America was in 2008, and Ben definitely came to UNC with the goal to add his name to that list. We are so proud of his efforts and accomplishments both on the golf course and in the classroom.”
Q&A WITH PING HONORABLE MENTION ALL-AMERICA AND ALL-ACC GOLFER BEN GRIFFIN
Q: Ben, what were your goals for your freshman season at Carolina?
BG: “My goal was to contribute as much as I could to the team. I knew that the other freshman, Will Register, and I had a lot of talent and had a chance to play this season, and we ended up starting every event. Even though we were freshmen we tried to push the upperclassmen to play better and work harder and they did. I wanted to win a college tournament my first year and luckily that came in my second event (at the Tar Heel Intercollegiate), which hit me by a surprise that it came that early. I won a second time, which going into the year was an individual goal. I wanted to win a couple more in the spring and I came close to that, so overall it was a really good freshman year that I am proud of.”
Q: Did winning a college tournament in just your second start add any pressure?
BG: “No, winning early didn't add any pressure, it motivated me to play even better. It was cool to get that off my back so early and reach for bigger goals. I played in a lot of big events as a junior, against many of the same players I competed against this year, so I don't think it was that big of a jump to college golf. I think I was ready to tackle that level of competition. I just tried to contribute as much as I could to our team.”
Q: What part of your game are you working on now?
BG: “Right now I am working toward getting back to the game I had in the fall. I accumulated a good amount of Top 10s in the spring, but my game wasn't really clicking. I was doing a lot of scrambling. But through the year, I've grown stronger and grown taller, too, and I am adapting to those physical changes. In the fall, I was hitting the ball a lot better but my short game was a little off, which is unusual for me. In the spring, I improved my short game but my ball striking was not quite there. I am working on my ball striking now.”
Q: What are your individual and team goals for next season at Carolina?
BG: “Next year, my goals are to rack up some more wins, because if I win a tournament or finish in the top 10 then I am contributing a lot to our team's success. I want every one of my rounds to count as one of our four team scores. We have a lot of good players returning and I am excited about the freshmen and seeing what they can bring to our team. I think our team can do a little better than what we did at the end of last year. Hopefully we can get off to a good start in the fall and carry that over to the spring and the NCAA Tournament.”
