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University of North Carolina Athletics
Griffin Ties for 11th at NCAA Championship
May 30, 2017 | Men's Golf
University of North Carolina's Ben Griffin shot an even-par 72 for the third straight day to finish in a tie for 11th place at the 2017 NCAA Men's Golf NCAA Championships Monday at Rich Harvest Farms.
The Chapel Hill native earned All-America honors for the second time (he was an honorable mention All-America in 2015). He tied ACC champion Jimmy Stanger as the low finisher at the NCAA Championship among ACC players. Griffin's 11th place finish is the best by a Tar Heel at the NCAA Championship since Max Harris was sixth and Don Hill was 10th in 1999.
"Ben had an amazing round today," says head coach Andrew Sapp. "The course conditions were so difficult and he played great. His birdie on 18 was clutch as it helped him secure an All-America berth. We are so proud of his play. Coach (Andrew) DiBitetto did a great job coaching Ben all week as he walked step for step with him most of the four rounds."
Griffin bogeyed the first hole, birdied the second, then parred the next nine holes today. He birdied 12 to go to 1-under on the day, before dropping shots at 16 and 17. He then birdied the 525-yard, par-5 18th hole for the fourth time in as many days to finish at even for the round.
Griffin opened the tournament on Friday with a 2-under-par 70 then shot 72-72-72 over the final three days to finish at 2-under-286, nine shots behind medalist Braden Thornberry of Ole Miss.
Griffin's 72 was more than five shots better than the average score in the final round.
Monday's play concludes the team stroke play and individual competition at the NCAA Championship. The top eight teams advance to Tuesday's match play beginning with the quarterfinal round. The top eight seeds are 1-Vanderbilt, 2-Oklahoma, 3-Illinois, 4-Oklahoma State, 5-Oregon, 6-Southern California, 7-Baylor and 8-UNLV.
Players Mentioned
