UNC Freshman Peter Fountain wins ACC Individual Title
MILTON, Ga. (theACC.com) – Florida State and Clemson advanced to the finals of match play, and North Carolina’s Peter Fountain captured the individual title on a busy day at the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Golf Championship at Capital City Club’s Crabapple Course. Inclement weather on Saturday pushed the final round of stroke play to Sunday morning, followed by match play semifinals in the afternoon.
Florida State, which survived an early morning charge from Georgia Tech and Wake Forest to make the match play field as the No. 4 seed, defeated North Carolina 4-1 in the first semifinal match. The Tar Heels won the stroke play competition by 15 strokes, but could not maintain their momentum in the afternoon. FSU jumped out to early leads in both of the first two match play pairings and secured points with Frederik Kjettrup’s 5&4 victory over Fountain and Greyson Porter’s 5&4 win over Austin Hitt.
FSU’s Brett Roberts made a clutch par on No. 16 and closed out the match with a birdie on No. 17 to defeat UNC’s Ryan Burnett 2&1 and send the Seminoles to the championship finals. Florida State’s Vincent Norrman knocked off Ryan Gerard 3&1, and Austin Greaser claimed Carolina’s lone match 4&3 over John Pak.
Clemson held off No. 3 seed NC State 3-1-1 in the other semifinal match. Kyle Cottam gave the Tigers their first point with a 3&2 victory over Easton Paxton. Clemson’s Jacob Bridgeman led NC State’s Benjamin Shipp by as many as four holes though the first nine, but saw his lead slip to just one before a birdie on No. 8 closed out a 2&1 victory. Colby Patton recorded Clemson’s final point with a short birdie putt on No. 11 – the 20th hole of match – to record a 1UP victory over Carter Graf and send the Tigers to the finals.
Clemson and Florida State will meet in the ACC Championship final match Monday morning at 9 a.m. The match will be carried live on ACC Network Extra. No. 2-ranked Florida State and fourth-ranked Clemson are the two highest ranked teams in the ACC according to Golfstat.
During the stroke play competition, Fountain was at his best, firing a third-round 66 to become the 10th freshman in league history to claim the individual title and first since Georgia Tech’s Cameron Tringale in 2006. Fountain, who trailed by two entering the final round, carded a three-day total of 200 to tie for the lowest 54-hole mark in ACC Championship history with Virginia’s Thomas Walsh (2018). Fountain held off NC State’s Shipp, who shot a 1-under par 69 for a 201 total (-9), and teammate Austin Hitt (-8, 202). As the league’s individual medalist, Fountain has secured a spot on the 15-person All-ACC team.
North Carolina recorded a 275 in the third round of stroke play, and its three-day total of 814 (-26) was the lowest in ACC history. The previous low was Georgia Tech’s 827 in 2019, which came at the par-72 Old North State Golf Club in New London, North Carolina. The Yellow Jackets still hold the record for lowest score relative to par (-37). Capital City Club’s Crabapple Course is a 7,319-yard, par-70 layout.
Clemson (-11) began the day in third but shot 2-under as a team (278) to move ahead of NC State (-9) and secure the No. 2 seed in match play. Florida State (+5) held off Wake Forest (+6) and Georgia Tech (+6) to claim the final match play position. Virginia (+19) was seventh, followed by Duke (+23), Louisville (+25), Virginia Tech (+27), Notre Dame (+30) and Boston College (+33).
Clemson last won the ACC men’s golf title in 2016, while Florida State’s most recent championship was in 2008. Both of those victories came in stroke play competition. A new ACC Championship format this year included 54 holes of stroke play with the top four teams advancing to match play.
2021 ACC Men’s Golf Championship - Match Play Semifinals
#2 Clemson def. #3 NC State, 3-1-1
Colby Patton (Clemson) def. Carter Graf (NC State), 1UP, 20 holes
Maximilian Steinlechner (NC State) def. Zack Gordon (Clemson), 1UP
Jacob Bridgeman (Clemson) def. Benjamin Shipp (NC State), 2&1
Turk Pettit (Clemson) vs. Christian Salzer (NC State) – halved
Kyle Cottam (Clemson) def. Easton Paxton (NC State), 3&2
#4 Florida State def. #1 North Carolina, 4-1
Frederick Kjettrup (FSU) def. Peter Fountain (UNC), 5&4
Greyson Porter (FSU) def. Austin Hitt (UNC), 5&4
Brett Roberts (FSU) def. Ryan Burnett (UNC), 2&1
Vincent Norrman (FSU) def. Ryan Gerard (UNC), 3&1
Austin Greaser (UNC) def. John Pak (FSU), 4&3
Team Leaderboard – Stroke Play
1. North Carolina (-26)
2. Clemson (-11)
3. NC State (-9)
4. Florida State (+5)
T5. Wake Forest (+6)
T5. Georgia Tech (+6)
7. Virginia (+19)
8. Duke (+23)
9. Louisville (+25)
10. Virginia Tech (+27)
11. Notre Dame (+30)
12. Boston College (+33)
Individual Top Three
1. Peter Fountain, North Carolina (-10)
2. Benjamin Shipp, NC State (-9)
3. Austin Hitt, North Carolina (-8)