Men's Golf 2nd at Pinehurst

Tuesday, March 2

Pinehurst, N.C. (Pinehurst No. 2)

All Day

North Carolina

Wake Forest Invitational at No. 2 Day Two

Peter Fountain
University of North Carolina Men's Golf
Pinehurst #2
Pinehurst, NC
Monday, March 2, 2021

Photo by: Andy Mead

March 2, 2021 | Men's Golf

Wake Forest Invite at No 2 Final Results

Fountain One of Three Tar Heels in Top Eight

By: Steve Kirschner

Freshman Peter Fountain Leads UNC to Second Place at Pinehurst No. 2

PINEHURST, N.C. – University of North Carolina freshman Peter Fountain shot a final-round 68 to tie for second and two other Tar Heels finished in the top eight to lead UNC to a second-place finish Tuesday at Pinehurst No. 2 in the Wake Forest Invitational at No. 2.

The second-ranked Demon Deacons won the team title, shooting 6 under par over the 54-hole event to defeat 13th-ranked UNC by nine strokes. NC State was third at plus 17, Duke was fifth at plus 21 and Virginia fifth at plus 37.

UNC's Ryan Gerard finished seventh at 1-over 211 after a 68 today and Austin Greaser tied for eighth at 2-over 212. Greaser opened with a 76 yesterday, but shot 67-69 over his final 36 holes. Dougie Ergood tied for 22nd (10 over) and Ryan Burnett tied for 32nd (12 over).

"Overall it was a really good tournament for us," says Tar Heel head coach Andrew DiBitetto. "It was a slow start for us in round one. We had some rain come in at times and some wind. We just didn't play our best. After that we were pretty darn good. It's just phenomenal to be here in Pinehurst at No. 2 on a major championship golf course. Every time out is an opportunity to learn about your game, but you learn even more, and sometimes harder lessons, on venues like this."

Fountain (Raleigh, N.C.) entered the final round one stroke behind eventual medalist Michael Brennan, a freshman from Wake Forest. Fountain and Brennan were paired together and both shot 68s. Brennan finished 71-66-68 for a 5-under 205. Fountain shot 72-66-68 for a 4-under 206. NC State's Maximillian Steinlechner carded a 67 today, which equaled the best round of the day, to share second place with Fountain.

Fountain birdied the first hole to pull even, and took a one-stroke lead when Brennan made bogey at the second. Brennan pulled even with a birdie at nine and went two strokes ahead of Fountain on the 10th, when Brennan made a birdie 4 while Fountain carded a 6.

Fountain reclaimed a share of the lead with back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12, but Brennan answered with a 3 on the par-4 14th hole to move ahead for good. Both players parred out, with Fountain just missing a birdie try on the final hole.

"This was an unbelievable experience for Peter," says DiBitetto. "We tried not to think of it as a match play deal, but when you are in that situation where you are paired with a guy that you are either tied with, one behind or have the lead on, you know what's going on. So for Peter to be in that situation and really continue to execute down the stretch, making birdies on 11 and 12, making a lot of quality golf shots, including on 18, is really good. He smoked one right down the middle on 18, hit it right over the top of the pin and had a putt that had a chance to tie at the end. I think you are going to see a lot of Peter Fountain and Michael Brennan, two really good freshmen."

Carolina returns to action March 14-16 at the General Hackler Championship in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where the Tar Heels are the defending champions.