Men's Golf Set for NCAA Championship

• The 2021 NCAA Men's Golf Championship is May 28-June 2 at the Grayhawk Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

• Carolina is the No. 6 seed and will play the first two rounds with No. 4 Clemson and No. 5 Texas.

• UNC begins play at 11:52 a.m. Mountain Time (2:52 p.m. Eastern) on Friday, May 28, in the first round.

• Carolina was the No. 22 seed in 2017, No. 13 in 2018 and No. 25 in 2019.

• The Tar Heels are ranked No. 6 in the country by Golfstat and Golfweek.

• Carolina tied for second at the NCAA Noblesville (Ind.) Regional, shooting 15-under 849. The Tar Heels tied Tennessee for second, five strokes behind Texas.

• The Tar Heels were the No. 2 seed in Noblesville.

• Four of Carolina's six players in Scottsdale have played in previous NCAA Championship rounds, including Austin Hitt (2017, 2018, 2019), Ryan Gerard (2018, 2019), Ryan Burnett (2019) and alternate Dougie Ergood (2019).

• Each of the 30 teams plays three rounds of stroke play May 28-30. The top 15 teams advance to a fourth round on May 31. Eight teams then qualify for match play, with semifinal and quarterfinal matches on June 1 and the national championship match slated for June 2.

• The Golf Channel will have live coverage of the fourth round of stroke play (May 31) and all three rounds of match play (June 1-2).

TAR HEEL LINEUP (listed alphabetically)

Ryan Burnett– Junior, Lafayette, Calif.

Peter Fountain– Freshman, Raleigh, N.C.

Ryan Gerard– Senior, Raleigh, N.C.

Austin Greaser– Sophomore, Vandalia, Ohio

Austin Hitt– Fifth-Year Senior, Longwood, Fla.

Dougie Ergood– Junior, Mt. Laurel, N.J. (alternate)

NATIONAL RANKINGS

Golfweek/Golfstat: UNC (6/6), Peter Fountain (7/39), Austin Greaser (46/50), Austin Hitt (57/55), Ryan Burnett (130/103)

SEASON RECAP

• This is UNC's ninth tournament of the spring. The Tar Heels did not play any fall tournaments per ACC directive due to the pandemic.

• Carolina shared the team title with Arizona at The Prestige in La Quinta, Calif., in January and won the Tar Heel Intercollegiate in late March.

• The Tar Heels also won the stroke play portion of the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, then lost to Florida State in the semifinals in match play.

• Carolina's average finish in its eight tournaments is 2.8.

• The Tar Heels have a record of 92-14-3 in stroke play events this season.

• In addition to two wins and No. 1 in stroke play at the ACC Championship, Carolina was runnerup to Wake Forest at the Wake Forest Invitational at Pinehurst No. 2 and tied for second at the NCAA Noblesville Regional.

• Carolina is second in the ACC in strokes per round (281.4 behind Clemson) and third in score related to par (-3.6 behind Clemson and Florida State).

• Freshman Peter Fountain won the ACC Championship and ACC Freshman-of-the-Year honors. He is Carolina's first ACC champion since Richard Treis in 2003, UNC's first-ever freshman champion (the 10th ACC freshman to win the league) and first Tar Heel to win Freshman-of-the-Year honors since Kevin O'Connell in 2008.

• Fountain is second in the ACC in scoring (69.54) behind Clemson's Jason Bridgeman and second in score related to par (-1.7) behind FSU's John Pak.

• Fountain is one of five players in the country with an adjusted stroke average under 70 (69.93). The others include Pak, Wake Forest's Alex Fitzpatrick, SMU's Noah Goodwin and North Florida's Nick Gabrelcik.

• Prior to this season, Tar Heels averaged lower than 72.00 strokes over the course of a season 18 times (Ryan Burnett and Ryan Gerard averaged 70.21 and 71.08 in eight events last season, the lowest- and third-lowest in a season by Tar Heels with at least 24 rounds played). Entering the NCAA Championship, four Tar Heels are on pace this season to break 72 – Peter Fountain (69.54), Austin Greaser (70.75), Austin Hitt (70.95) and Burnett (71.57).

• Burnett is Carolina's all-time leader in stroke average at 71.48 in 29 tournaments.

• Ryan Gerard is third in career stroke average (72.05) and Hitt is fourth (72.13). Austin Greaser (71.42) is on pace to set the record but is four tournaments shy of the 20 needed to qualify.

THREE EARN ALL-ACC HONORS

• Fifth-year senior Austin Hitt, sophomore Austin Greaser and freshman Peter Fountain earned spots on the 2021 All-Atlantic Coast Conference team.

• It was Hitt's second All-ACC honor (also in 2019) and the first for Greaser and Fountain (the ACC did not select an All-ACC team in 2020 due to the pandemic).

• It marks the fourth time in UNC men's golf history three Tar Heels made the All-ACC team. The Tar Heels also had three honorees in 1977 (Bill Buttner, Kevin King, John McGough), 1986 (Kurt Beck, John Hughes, Bryan Sullivan) and 2003 (Ramon Bescansa, Dustin Bray, Richard Treis).

CAROLINA IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP

• Carolina is playing in the NCAA Championship for the 46th time and the fourth time in as many tournaments. The Tar Heels have 21 top-10 finishes, including six top-five finishes.

• UNC has advanced out of regional play four straight times for the first time since 2000.

• Carolina and Clemson are the only ACC men's golf programs to advance out of regional play to the NCAA Championship round in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments.

• Carolina has the eighth-longest streak of advancing to the NCAA Championship round (14–Texas, 10–Oklahoma, 9–Illinois, 8–Oklahoma State, 7–Vanderbilt, 6–Arizona State, 6–Clemson and 4–North Carolina).

• Including regional play in seasons UNC did not advance to the championship round the Tar Heels are playing in their 53rd NCAA Tournament.

• Carolina's best finishes include a pair of second-places in 1953 and 1991, third in 1993, fourth in 1960 and 1984 and fifth in 1978.

• Harvie Ward won the NCAA title in 1949 in Ames, Iowa, and John Inman won in 1984 in Houston.

• Carolina's last top-10 individual finish was by Max Harris, who tied for sixth in 1999.

• The Tar Heels have finished in the top 20 in their previous three NCAA Championships – T-18th in Sugar Grove, Ill., in 2017, 15th in Stillwater, Okla., in 2018 and 19th in Fayetteville, Ark., in 2019.

• That is the first time UNC has finished in the top 20 three straight seasons since five consecutive top-20s from 1993-97.

2021 NCAA NOBLESVILLE REGIONAL

• Carolina shot 15-under 849 (285-284-280) to tie for second place, which equaled UNC's best finish in an NCAA regional. UNC was second in the 1995 East Regional and tied for second in its previous regional in 2019 at Stanford.

• Carolina shot 8-under 280 in the final round, the second-best team score of the day, to climb one spot into a tie for second with Tennessee. The Tar Heels and Volunteers finished five strokes behind Texas, which shot a third-round 283 to finish at 20-under 844.

• Peter Fountain and Austin Greaser tied for 10th (3-under 213), Ryan Burnett tied for 18th (1-under 215), Ryan Gerard tied for 23rd (even 216) and Austin Hitt tied for 35th (3-over 219).

• It was the first time UNC had three players finish in the top 20 in an NCAA regional since 2007.

• The Tar Heels led the 13-team field in scoring on the par 4s (6 under), tied for the lead in birdies with Texas (67) and tied for second in scoring on the par 3s (16 over, four strokes behind Texas).

2021 ACC CHAMPIONSHIP

• The Tar Heels won the stroke play portion of the tournament, setting a school record and an ACC Championship record with a 26-under-par 814 finish. UNC's 814 strokes were the fewest in any tournament in UNC history and the fewest by any school in a three-round ACC Tournament.

• In the match play semifinals, which began immediately after the conclusion of stroke play, Florida State, the No. 2-ranked men's golf team in the nation, defeated Carolina, 4-1.

• Carolina defeated the Seminoles by 31 shots in the three rounds of stroke play.

• The ACC Championship was contested at the Capital City Club's Crabapple Course (par 70) in Milton, Ga.

• Peter Fountain won the ACC individual title at 10-under-par 200. He became the first Tar Heel to win the title since 2003, the first UNC freshman to ever win the ACC title and the 10th freshman in league history to do so.

• Austin Hitt finished third, his highest finish in four career ACC Championships, at 8-under 202.

• Austin Greaser, who tied for fifth place in stroke play, delivered Carolina its one point in the semifinals, defeating No. 1-ranked John Pak, 4&3. Greaser jumped out to an early lead, winning the first two holes and added another win at the seventh to lead by three. He finished off the top-ranked Seminole with wins on the 14th and 15th holes.

• Greaser was one of only three players (with Clemson's Jacob Bridgeman and Kyle Cottam) who finished among the top eight in stroke play to win his semifinal match. The top eight included Fountain, NC State's Benjamin Shipp and Hitt – who went 1-2-3 in stroke play – along with Pak and Carolina's Ryan Burnett, who lost to FSU's Brett Roberts.

• The Tar Heels shot 26-under-par 814 for the three rounds of stroke play, 15 strokes ahead of Clemson (829). NC State was third (831) and Florida State fourth (845). Georgia Tech and Wake Forest tied for fifth place at 846.

• Carolina's 814 total was the lowest 54-hole score in UNC men's golf history. The previous record was 815 in the 2017 Tar Heel Intercollegiate at UNC Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill. Ben Griffin, Jose Montaño, Preyer Fountain (Peter's brother), William Register and Hitt combined for the record.

• Carolina was tied with NC State for the best first round (6-under 274), had the best round ever in ACC Tourney play and school record for fewest strokes in round two (15-under 265) and the best team score in the third round (5-under 275).

• The Tar Heels also finished first in stroke play to win the league title, at ACC Championships in 1956, 1960, 1965, 1977, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1995, 1996 and 2006.

• Fountain is the 10th freshman to win an ACC Championship and the first since Georgia Tech's Cameron Tringale in 2006. He tied the all-time record for fewest strokes in an ACC Championship. Fountain shot 71-63-66 for a 10-under-par total of 200. Virginia's Thomas Walsh also shot 200 on the par-72 Old North State Course in New London, N.C., in 2018.

• Fountain tied the ACC Championship's 18-hole record with a second-round 63. It was the second 63 in ACC Tournament history with Clemson's Brad Clark in 1985. Clark was 9 under on a par 72 course at Bryan Park in Greensboro, N.C. Fountain began his second round with bogeys on the first and fourth holes. He birdied the fifth and sixth holes and made the turn at even-par 35. He then shot 7-under 28 over the final nine holes, making birdies at 10, 11, 12, 15, 17 and 18, a par at 13, an eagle 2 on the 480-yard par-4 14th hole and his one bogey on the back side on 16. He made eagle on the 14th by sinking a pitching wedge from 145 yards.

• Fountain's 63 was two shots better than John Hughes's 65 in the second round of the 1986 ACC Tournament, the previous low round in UNC history in an ACC Championship.

• Carolina's 265 in the second round (63 by Fountain, 66 by Hitt, 67 by Burnett and 69 by Greaser) broke UNC's all-time 18-hole record for team score, which was 268 in the second round of the Bridgestone Collegiate at Forest Oaks Country Club in Greensboro on Oct. 23, 2010. That Tar Heel lineup included Henry Zaytoun (65), Michael McGowan (66), Clark Palmer (67) and Jack Fields (70).

• The previous low team score in any ACC Championship round was 267 by Georgia Tech in the 2006 second round at the par-72 Old North State Club in New London, N.C.

• Carolina's second-round 265 was eight shots lower than its previous best in an ACC Tournament. In 1995, the Tar Heels shot 15-under 273 in the third and final round to win the title.

• Burnett (66-67-73) and Greaser (69-69-68) tied for fifth at 4-under 206. Hitt and Greaser join Ben Griffin (2018) as the only Tar Heels to shoot all three rounds in the 60s in an ACC Championship.

2019 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP

• Freshman Ryan Burnett tied for 30th (79-71-70-77 for 9-over 297). He shot 70-71 in the middle rounds to go into the fourth round tied for 23rd.

• Burnett's second-round 70 and third-round 71 were Carolina's only two rounds under par for the championship. He was one of five players in the field to shoot under par in the second and third rounds.

• Carolina shot 304-300-300 for 19th place at 40-over 904. UNC finished four strokes behind Southern California, which earned the 15th and last spot in the fourth round.

• Sophomore Ryan Gerard tied for 43rd at 7-over 223. He opened with 72-73-78, but closed the third round with birdies on 16, 17 and 18.

• Senior Joshua Martin finished at 230 (+14), junior Austin Hitt shot 233 (+17) and freshman Dougie Ergood shot 239 (+23).

RYAN BURNETT (Junior, Lafayette, Calif.)

Season– 71.57; Career– 71.48

Career Low Round: 63, 2018 NCAA Stanford Regional (Stanford Golf Course)

Career Low 54 Holes (strokes):198, 2019-20 Turning Stone Missouri Tiger Invitational, Verona, N.Y.

Career Low 54 Holes (to par): -18, 2019-20 Turning Stone Missouri Tiger Invitational, Verona, N.Y.

Career Best Finish: 1st, 2019-20 Turning Stone Missouri Tiger Invitational, Verona, N.Y.

NCAA Championship Appearances: 2019, 2021

Carolina's all-time leader in stroke average • His 2020 stroke average (70.21) is the second-lowest in UNC history (minimum 24 rounds) • Fourth on the team in stroke average this season • Three top 10s this season, including T4 at The Prestige (-3), T5 at the ACC Championship (-4) and T8 at the Tar Heel (-4) • Nine rounds in the 60s this season, including four in his last two starts at the ACC Championship and Noblesville Regional • Tied one other player in the field for the most birdies (17) in Noblesville and was tied for third in par-3 scoring at even par • Shot 68-69 in the last two rounds of the regional • Averaged 72.89 in his first three tournaments this season and 70.58 in his last four • Has 11 career top 10s, including a win in fall 2019 at the Turning Stone Missouri Tiger Invitational in Verona, N.Y. • Second-team All-America, All-East Region and All-ACC in 2020 • Qualified as an individual for the fourth round of the 2019 NCAA Championship and finished tied for 30th as a freshman.

PETER FOUNTAIN (Freshman, Raleigh, N.C.)

Season– 69.54

Career Low Round: 63, ACC Championship (Capital City Club, Crabapple Course Milton, Ga.)

Career Low 54 Holes (strokes): 200, ACC Championship

Career Low 54 Holes (to par): -15, Tar Heel Intercollegiate, Chapel Hill

Career Best Finish: 1st, ACC Championship and Tar Heel Intercollegiate

NCAA Championship Appearances: 2021

ACC champion, shooting 71-63-66 for 10-under 200 • Edged Benjamin Shipp of NC State by one stroke and UNC teammate Austin Hitt by two • First Tar Heel medalist in ACC Championship since Richard Treis in 2003, first UNC freshman to win ACCs and 10th freshman in league history (first since Cameron Tringale of Georgia Tech in 2006) • His second-round 63 included a 28 on the back nine and tied the all-time ACC Tournament 18-hole record with Clemson's Brad Clark in 1985 • His 200 total tied Virginia's Thomas Walsh in 2018 • ACC Freshman of the Year and member of the All-ACC team • Second Tar Heel to win the award with Kevin O'Connell in 2008 • Second in the ACC in scoring (69.54) behind Clemson's Jason Bridgeman and second in score related to par (-1.7) behind FSU's John Pak • One of five players in the country with an adjusted stroke average under 70 (69.93) • The others include Pak, Wake Forest's Alex Fitzpatrick, SMU's Noah Goodwin and North Florida's Nick Gabrelcik • On pace to break the single-season scoring record at UNC • Tournament finishes include 2-T36-T2-T11-1-T23-1-T10 (two wins, two seconds, four top 5s, five top 10s, seven top 25s in eight starts) • Is 41 under par in 24 rounds • Leads Carolina in scoring average, rounds under par (14 of 24), rounds in the 60s (11), low round (63), eagles (34), birdies (106), rounds counted (23 of 24) and overall record (543-78-25).

RYAN GERARD (Senior, Raleigh, N.C.)

Season– 72.96; Career– 72.05

Career Low Round: 61, Fighting Irish Classic, 2018-19 (Warren GC, Notre Dame, Ind.)

Career Low 54 Holes (strokes): 199, Fighting Irish Classic, 2018-19

Career Low 54 Holes (to par): -14, Fighting Irish Classic, 2018-19

Career Best Finish: 2nd, Fighting Irish Classic, 2018-19

NCAA Championship Appearances: 2018 (one round), 2019

Is third in UNC history in career stroke average (72.05) behind only Ryan Burnett (71.48) and Ben Griffin (72.02, 2014-18) • His 71.08 in eight tournaments in 2019-20 is the sixth-lowest in UNC history for at least eight starts in a season • Shot even par in all three rounds in the Noblesville Regional and tied for 23rd • Best round this season was 68 in the final round of the Wake Forest Invitational at Pinehurst No. 2 • Season-best seventh-place finish at No. 2 • Was his 11th career top-10 finish • Also shot 69 in the opening round of the ASU Thunderbird at the Papago GC in Phoenix in April • Averaged 72.00 in his last three tournaments • Set the UNC 18-hole record when he shot 10-under 61 at Notre Dame in October 2018 • Played the final round of the 2018 NCAA Championship as a freshman when teammate Jose Montaño had to depart for a tournament in South America and played three rounds in the 2019 NCAA Championship at The Blessings • Shot 72-73 in the first two rounds at The Blessings.

AUSTIN GREASER (Sophomore, Vandalia, Ohio)

Season– 70.75; Career– 72.13

Career Low Round: 64, 2019-20 Turning Stone Missouri Tiger Invitational (Kaluhyat Course at Turning Stone Resort, Verona, N.Y.)

Career Low 54 Holes (strokes): 205, 2019-20 Turning Stone Missouri Tiger Invitational

Career Low 54 Holes (to par): -11, 2019-20 Turning Stone Missouri Tiger Invitational

Career Best Finish: 2nd, 2019-20 Turning Stone Missouri Tiger Invitational

NCAA Championship Appearances: 2021

Earned All-ACC honors this season • Has the third-lowest single-season stroke average in UNC history at 70.75 • Career stroke average of 71.42 is on pace to be the lowest in Tar Heel history (needs four more tournaments to qualify) • Second on the team this season in stroke average, rounds under par (13 of 24), rounds in the 60s (10), score to par (-12), birdies (84) and record (532-93-31) • Has five top 10s this season and seven as a Tar Heel • Finished in the top 10 in five of his last six tournaments (T8-T5-T4-T23-T5-T10) • Tied for fifth at the ACC Championship at 4-under 206, becoming one of only three Tar Heels ever to shoot in the 60s in all three rounds at the ACC Championship (68-66-68) • Shot 67-69 over the final two rounds to tie for eighth at Pinehurst No. 2 • Was two shots off the lead through 50 holes at the NCAA Noblesville Regional before finishing tied for 10th at 3-under 213.

AUSTIN HITT (Fifth-Year Senior, Longwood, Fla.)

Season– 70.95; Career– 72.13

Career Low Round: 66, 2018-19 Old Town Club Collegiate (Old Town Club, Winston-Salem, N.C.); 2020-21 ACC Championship, (Capital City Club, Crabapple Course, Milton, Ga.)

Career Low 54 Holes (strokes): 202, 2018-19 Old Town Club Collegiate; 2020-21 ACC Championship

Career Low 54 Holes (to par): -10, 2017-18 NCAA Kissimmee Regional, Kissimmee, Fla.

Career Best Finish: T-2nd, 2018-19 Tar Heel Collegiate

NCAA Championship Appearances: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021

Carolina's most experienced player • Fifth-year senior who returned for another year of competition after the 2020 season was cut short due to the pandemic • Has played in 53 tournaments and 158 collegiate rounds • All-ACC in 2019 and 2021 • Career stroke average of 72.13 is the fourth best in UNC history • Has 14 career top 10s, including three this season (T4 at The Prestige, T4 at the Tar Heel and third at the ACC Championship) • This is his fourth appearance in the NCAA Championship round • Shot 69 in the third round to tie for 50th in 2017 at Sugar Grove • Is third on the team this season in stroke average at 70.95, which is the fourth best in UNC history • One of three Tar Heels under par this season at a career-best 10 under • Birdied the 16th and 18th holes in the final round helping UNC tie Arizona State for the team title at The Prestige • Sank a 25-footer for birdie on the final hole of the tournament to give UNC a share of the title • Tied his career low round with a 66 in the second round of the 2021 ACC Championship, where he tied for third (68-66-68 for 8-under 202).

Alternate

DOUGIE ERGOOD (Junior, Mt. Laurel, N.J.)

Season– 73.33; Career– 73.49

Career Low Round: 66, 2018-19 NCAA Stanford Regional (Stanford Golf Course)

Career Low 54 Holes (strokes): 207, 2018-19 Louisville Cardinal Challenge

Career Low 54 Holes (to par): -6, 2018-19 Louisville Cardinal Challenge

Career Best Finish: T5, 2018-19 Louisville Cardinal Challenge

NCAA Championship Appearances: 2019, 2021

Started in the 2019 NCAA Championship at The Blessings • Averaging 73.33 in six tournaments this season • Career stroke average of 73.49 is 16th best all-time at Carolina • In the starting lineup in three of six tournaments this season (Wake Forest Invitational at Pinehurst No. 2, General Hackler and the Tar Heel) • Season-best round 70 at Camp Creek and No. 2 • Last competitive round was April 17 as an individual entry at the ASU Thunderbird.

HEAD COACH ANDREW DIBITETTO

• DiBitetto and assistant coach Matt Clark are in their fourth season together in Chapel Hill.

• DiBitetto was the assistant coach at Carolina for six seasons, coming to Chapel Hill prior to the 2011-12 season.

• In his four seasons as the head coach, the Tar Heels have won seven tournaments, won the stroke play portion of the ACC Tournament, advanced out of NCAA regional play all three times regionals were played and finished 15th and 19th in previous NCAA Championships (no NCAA Championship was played in 2020).

• Carolina tied its best-ever finish in an NCAA regional in 2019 (tied second) and 2021 (tied second).

• Three Tar Heels have won individual tournaments (Ben Griffin, Ryan Burnett and Peter Fountain).

• Ryan Gerard set the 18-hole school record with a 61 at Notre Dame in 2018.

• Griffin set the 54-hole school record with a 19-under 197 in winning the Tar Heel Intercollegiate in 2017.

• Carolina has set team records for fewest strokes in a round and 54-hole tournament, most strokes below par in a 54-hole tournament and ACC Tournament records for fewest strokes in a round and 54-hole tournament.

• DiBitetto-coached players have established six of the seven lowest career scoring averages in UNC history and nine of the 10 lowest single-season stroke averages in UNC history.

FALL 2020 SIGNEES

• Carolina signed three high school seniors to join the program next season, including David Ford of Peachtree Corners, Ga., Narayan "Nanu" Mohan of Charlotte, N.C., and Luke Edwards of Chapel Hill.

• Ford attends Rivers Academy in Alpharetta, Ga., and is currently No. 1 in the country in the Rolex AJGA and Golfweek rankings. He earned first-team AJGA All-America honors in 2020 and honorable mention All-America honors in 2019. A four-time AJGA champion, Ford finished in the top 10 in all seven AJGA events in which he competed in 2020. He won the AJGA Wyndham Invitational at Sedgefield in Greensboro, N.C., the AJGA Junior PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass and the Bobby Chapman Junior Invitational at the Country Club of Spartanburg. Earlier this week Ford won medalist honors at the 2021 USGA Four-Ball Amateur Championship.

• Mohan attends the Cannon School in Concord, N.C. As a freshman in 2018, he won the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association's 3A state championship and was named the Independent Tribune's 2018 Boys Golfer of the Year. Mohan was previously ranked as high as seventh in the nation and second in the state in the Class of '21.

• Edwards, a senior at Cary (N.C.) Christian School, finished second in the North Carolina Independent Schools state championship in 2017 and 2019. He was ranked No. 8 in the state, won conference player of the year honors, is a two-time all-conference selection and two-time AJGA Junior Scholastic All-America.

Players Mentioned

Ryan Burnett

Peter Fountain

Austin Greaser

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