Griffin's 67 Leads UNC in First Round at ACC Championship

Friday, April 20

New London, N.C. (Old North State Club)

All Day

North Carolina

ACC Championship Day 1

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

April 20, 2018 | Men's Golf

Friday Results

Freshman Ryan Gerard 1 Under

By: Steve Kirschner

University of North Carolina senior Ben Griffin (Chapel Hill) birdied the 17^th and 18^th holes at the Old North State Club to shoot a 5-under 67 to lead the Tar Heels on Friday in round one at the 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships.

UNC shot 5-under 283 and stands in sixth place, seven shots behind the day one leader Georgia Tech.

In addition to Griffin's 67, freshman Ryan Gerard (Raleigh) shot 71, senior Jose Montaño (Cochabamba, Bolivia) carded an even par 72, senior William Register (Burlington) was 1 over and sophomore Austin Hitt (Longwood, Fla.) posted a 75.

Griffin birdied three of the first six holes and made four birdies before dropping his first shot of the day, three-putting the par 4 12^th hole. He sank a key five-footer for par on the 15^th, then birdied the par 3 17^th and the par 5 18^th holes. He finished the day with six birdies and the lone bogey.

The 67 was Griffin's team-high 10^th round in the 60s this season and tied his previous best round in an ACC Championship. He also shot an opening-round 67 last year when he finished the tournament tied for second place.

Other individual highlights for the Tar Heels included:

– Gerard, making his fifth consecutive start for the Tar Heels, opened with three birdies in the first four holes.

– Montaño eagled the 536-yard, par 5 first hole and birdied the 18^th hole to finish even.

– Register parred the first 16 holes before finishing bogey-bogey-birdie to post at 1 over.

– Four Tar Heels, including Hitt, birdied the final hole.

Georgia Tech shot 276 and leads Notre Dame by one and Clemson by three. The Yellow Jackets were led by Luke Schniederjans, who carded a 7-under 65. That tied the best round of the day with Virginia's Danny Walker.

Griffin is tied for fourth at 5 under, two behind the 18-hole leaders.

Second-round action is Saturday and may be seen live on ACC Network Extra (espn3.com) from 2-4 p.m.