Tar Heels, Fountain Win Big at Tar Heel Intercollegiate

Monday, March 29

Chapel Hill (UNC Finley GC)

All Day

North Carolina

Tar Heel Intercollegiate Day Three

March 29, 2021 | Men's Golf

Tar Heel Intercollegiate Final Results

Freshman Wins First College Title by 4 Shots

By: Steve Kirschner

Peter Fountain fired a 6-under-par 66 to win the individual competition by four strokes and lead the University of North Carolina to an 18-stroke win Monday in the Tar Heel Intercollegiate at UNC Finley Golf Course.

Carolina shot 13-under 275 in today's third and final round, the best team round of the tournament, to finish the three-day event at 28 under par (276-285-275–836). Campbell was second in the 14-team field at 10-under 854, Michigan State was third at 7-under 857, Arkansas State was fourth at 5-over 869 and JMU placed fifth at 7-over 871.

The tournament title is UNC's second of the season and third straight in its home event. Carolina's 28-under 836 finish is the second-best team score and finish to par in the eight-year history of the tournament.

Fountain, a freshman from Raleigh, N.C., won for the first time in just his fifth collegiate start after finishing second in January at the Camp Creek Invitational in Watersound, Fla., and the Wake Forest Invitational earlier this month at Pinehurst No. 2.

Fountain shot 65-70-66 for a 15-under-par 201. The 201 total is the sixth best in Carolina men's golf history and 15 under par equals the fifth best by a Tar Heel. He was tied for the lead at 7 under after round one and had a three-stroke overnight lead after 36 holes.

Fountain three-putted the first hole today for only his second and final bogey of the tournament, then made four straight birdies on holes 3-4-5-6 to play the front nine in 33. He parred the seventh through 15th holes, and made birdie on 16 to increase his lead to two shots over Campbell's Pontus Nyholm.

On 17, he hit a 3-wood from 275 yards out to within two feet and made the eagle putt to get to 15 under, four shots clear of the field.

"That shot was definitely the best I hit all week," says Fountain. "It was perfect yardage. I was 275 yards and I had to hit it really hard to get it there. But it was nice because the pin was in the back, so I couldn't go over. I was able to hit one really well and it went up there to about two feet, which is always nice."

"The neatest part of that shot is he turned to me right before he hit it and said, 'This couldn't be more perfect for a 3-wood,'" says UNC head coach Andrew DiBitetto. "That goes to his focus, the confidence he has. He zaps a number, then goes and drills it and throws a dart to about two feet from 275 yards."

"I was definitely ready to win," says Fountain. "I felt pressure from the last couple of second-place finishes so I knew what I had to do to get it done this time. It was nice not knowing the scores, because I was able to just play my game and not stress over anything but focus on playing well for the team.

"There was a lot of wind out there today, so knowing I was 6 under on the day I figured I had picked up a shot or two on the field. After I made eagle on 17 I thought I was in a good spot and then on the green on 18 Coach DiBitetto told me where I stood. I putted really well and I missed only five greens the entire tournament, none today. I played very stress-free this week."

Nyholm (70-69-66) was second at 11-under 205 and Michigan State's James Piot (70-68-69) was third at 9-under 207. Nyholm made his second eagle of the day at the 17^th hole to pull within a shot of Fountain, but Fountain sank a two-foot birdie putt on 16 to regain a two-stroke lead.

Carolina's Austin Hitt (72-69-69) and Austin Greaser (67-76-67) tied for fourth at 6-under 210 and Ryan Burnett, playing as an individual entry, tied for eighth at 4-under 212.

Hitt made two birdies on the front and back nines and bogeyed only the 10th hole in tying for fourth place for the second time in four starts this season. It was his 13th top-10 finish and fifth time in the top five in his career in a college tournament.

Greaser shot 67 for the second time in three days. The Vandalia, Ohio, native birdied 3, 6, 10, 12 and 13 and played his third bogey-free round of the season. It was his third straight top-10 showing after finishing eighth at Pinehurst and fifth at the General Hackler in Myrtle Beach.

Dougie Ergood (72-74-73–219) tied for 22nd and Ryan Gerard (73-72-77–222) tied for 36th.

"Overall, I feel very fortunate to get 54 holes in with the weather challenges," says DiBitetto. "Credit to an amazing staff at Finley and the athletic department. Obviously our team is comfortable on our home course, but we had a lot of really high-quality play, especially by Peter Fountain, Austin Hitt and Austin Greaser.

"Peter (Fountain) is just really good. The funny part is we have been giving him some grief, because in qualifying, especially here at Finley, he hasn't played that great. Tournaments matter the most, though, and he's been brilliant so far in his brief and young career. He was phenomenal this week, making 15 birdies, an eagle and only two bogeys in 54 holes. He just executes at a really high level and is an excellent ball striker. He's also a smart, disciplined player.

"Winning in our sport is always hard, whether as a team or an individual. So it's always nice to win. It helps with confidence, but I think we do plenty with the process. When we get done with tournaments we think about what we did well as individuals and how we can get better as a team. And that's what we will do again to get ready for our next tournament."

Carolina returns to action Friday, April 2, in a newly-scheduled match play dual against NC State at the Carolina Country Club in Raleigh.

The Tar Heels return to tournament play April 16-17 at the Arizona State Thunderbird Collegiate in Phoenix, the final event of the regular season before the ACC Championship April 23-26 in Milton, Ga.