Men's Golf Regional Begins Monday

The University of North Carolina men's golf team, winners of the stroke play portion of the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, is the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Noblesville (Ind.) Regional May 17-19 at the Sagamore Club.

UNC is playing in its sixth consecutive NCAA regional (2015-19, 2021). Overall, this will be Carolina's 28^th appearance since the NCAA began regional play in 1989.

Texas is the top seed among 13 teams in the Noblesville Regional. UNC is No. 2, followed by Tennessee, North Florida, Louisville, South Florida, UAB, Duke, UNCW, Arkansas State, Campbell, UT Martin and Loyola (Ill.).

Eighty-one teams and 45 individuals from across the country were invited to play in the six regionals. The top five teams and one individual not on those teams will advance from each regional to the NCAA Championship round May 28-June 2 at the Grayhawk Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

"It's been a busy couple of weeks for our guys with final exams and preparing for the NCAA regional," says Andrew DiBitetto, who is in his fourth season as head coach of the Tar Heels and 10^th in Chapel Hill. "Exams just ended and our focus is on the Noblesville Regional. This is the best part of the year and we really enjoy it. We look forward to seeing the Sagamore Club for the first time during Sunday's practice round and we're excited to get started on Monday."

The Tar Heels advanced from regional play to the NCAA Championship round in their previous three appearances in 2017 (finishing fifth in the Stanford Regional), 2018 (fourth in the Kissimmee, Fla. Regional) and 2019 (tied for second in the Stanford Regional). The NCAA Tournament was canceled in the 2020 due to the pandemic.

Carolina has won two tournaments this spring, sharing the team title at The Prestige in La Quinta, Calif., and winning at home in the Tar Heel Intercollegiate. UNC also won the stroke play portion of the ACC Championship in its most recent tournament, April 23-25, in Milton, Ga.

The Tar Heels set the ACC stroke play record at 814, which included a record-low 265 in the second round. Carolina finished 15 strokes ahead of Clemson, and beat NC State by 17 and Florida State by 31. Those four teams advanced to match play, where the Seminoles defeated UNC, 4-1.

Peter Fountain became the first Tar Heel to win the individual ACC Championship since 2003 and the first UNC player to ever win the title as a freshman. The Raleigh native shot 71-63-66 for a 10-under-par 200 to beat NC State's Benjamin Shipp by one shot and Tar Heel teammate Austin Hitt by two. Ryan Burnett and Austin Greaser tied for fifth place at 4 under, giving UNC four top-5 finishes in the ACC Tournament for the first time in school history.

Fountain tied the ACC Tournament 18-hole record with a second-round 63 that featured a 28 on the back nine and tied the 54-hole stroke record of 200. He leads UNC and is second in the ACC in stroke average at 69.33, which is on pace to be the lowest in UNC single-season history. Golfweek ranks Fountain sixth in the country; he is one of only four players nationally with an adjusted stroke average under 70.

Hitt, a fifth-year senior, and Greaser, a sophomore, have compiled the second- and third-lowest single-season stroke averages in UNC history at 70.61 and 70.71, respectively.

Burnett, a junior, is fourth on the team in scoring this season, but continues to hold the career record at Carolina at 71.47.

Senior Ryan Gerard rounds out the starting lineup. He is third all-time at UNC with a stroke average of 72.05.

Hitt will be playing in an NCAA regional for the fourth time. In 2018, he shot 68-68-70 to tie for third at the Kissimmee Regional with a 10-under 206, the lowest score to par ever by a Tar Heel in NCAA regional play. As a freshman in 2017, Hitt shot a final-round 67, the best score by a Tar Heel in the final round of regional play in a dozen years.

Burnett tied for second at the 2019 Stanford Regional, the best finish by a Tar Heel ever in a regional. The Lafayette, Calif., native shot 67-63 over the final 36 to finish 7-under 203.

The Noblesville Regional is hosted by Ball State and the Hamilton County Sports Authority.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Ryan Burnett

Peter Fountain

Austin Greaser

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