Griffin Ties UNC Record, Tar Heels Lead By Six

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
SATURDAY EVENING, OCT. 7, 2017

GRIFFIN TIES UNC RECORD, CAROLINA LEADS AFTER TWO ROUNDS

CHAPEL HILL – University of North Carolina senior Ben Griffin tied the school record for a single round with a 63 and UNC equaled the second-best round in school history and leads the Tar Heel Intercollegiate after 36 holes at UNC Finley Golf Course on Saturday.

Carolina shot 18-under-par 270 in the second round to take a six-shot lead over Jacksonville into Sunday's final round.

"We obviously know the golf course very well so today was a matter of our guys playing loose and free," says UNC head coach Andrew DiBitetto. "I think we did that for the most part today. You won't find more ideal scoring conditions and it was nice to see guys take advantage of that. Today was a good day for our team, but we haven't accomplished our goals for the weekend yet."

Griffin, a two-time honorable mention All-America from Chapel Hill, had seven birdies, an eagle and 10 pars to shoot a flawless 9-under-63. It was the fourth recorded 63 in UNC history and matched Carter Jenkins' 9-under-par score set in 2015. The 63 set the record for a tournament round in UNC Finley history; Griffin set the course record with a 62 earlier this semester in a team qualifying round.

"Ben was composed all day and did an excellent job of staying in the present, especially in the afternoon round when he shot 63. Tying any Carolina record is a tremendous accomplishment and this is something he should be very proud of."

Griffin shot a 5-under 67 in the morning round to tie for the lead after 18 holes with five others. He began his second round on the second hole in a shotgun start and promptly eagled the par-5 third hole. He added birdies on six, seven, 10, 13, 16 and 17, and concluded his record-setting round with a birdie on the first hole.

Griffin is 14 under after two rounds and leads Campbell's Jesper Svensson by two strokes and UNCG's Bryce Hendrix, Jacksonville's Raul Pereda and Coastal Carolina's Luis Ruiz by five.

Virginia Tech shot 17 under to lead the Tar Heels by four shots after the first round. All five Tar Heel starters shot under par in the afternoon session to post 18-under-270 for the round and 31 under for the tournament. It was the fourth time in school history UNC shot 270 or better and the third time the Tar Heels shot at least 18 under par.

Griffin was 9 under, Preyer Fountain and William Register shot 4-under-68s, and Jose Montaño and Austin Hitt were both 1 under. Montaño shot 67 in the opening round. He and Fountain are tied for seventh place after 36 holes at 6-under-138.

Register had seven birdies in his second round, including five in a row from holes two through six and another on eight.

Thirty-six of the 72 players and 10 of the 12 teams enter Sunday's final round under par.

Sunday's final round will also be a shotgun start beginning at 8:30 a.m.

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Preyer Fountain

Ben Griffin

Austin Hitt

William Register

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