GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Florida State senior John Pak has been named the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Golf Player of the Year and headlines a talented 15-person all-conference team. North Carolina’s Peter Fountain is the ACC Freshman of the Year and Clemson’s Larry Penley is the ACC Coach of the Year.
The All-ACC Team, Player, and Freshman of the Year are decided by a combination of the Golfstat and Golfweek/Sagarin rankings in conjunction with a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches. Coach of the Year was selected by a vote of the coaches.
A native of Scotch Plains, New Jersey, Pak is the No. 1 ranked player in the country by Golfstat and is No. 2 by Golfweek. This spring, he finished in the top 10 in seven of eight tournaments, capturing The Calusa Cup and finishing second at the Seminole Intercollegiate. He also had two third-place finishes and was fifth at the ACC Championship. Pak competed this past weekend in the Walker Cup for the victorious United States Team.
Fountain, a Raleigh, North Carolina, native won the ACC individual title at 10-under par and is ranked No. 6 in the country by Golfweek. He became the first UNC freshman to win the ACC title and the 10th freshman in league history to do so. Fountain also won the Tar Heel Intercollegiate, finished second at the Wake Forest Invitational at No. 2 and was second at the Camp Creek Seminole Invitational.
Penley led No. 3 Clemson to a dramatic 3&2 match play victory over Florida State in the ACC Championship match at Capital City Club’s Crabapple Course in Milton, Georgia, last month. It was Penley’s 83rd all-time team tournament victory, which is the most of any ACC coach. This is the ninth time Penley has been named ACC Coach of the Year, and first since 2016. Now in his 38th season, Penley announced before the year that he would retire at the end of the season.
Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina and Wake Forest each placed three players on the All-ACC team, followed by NC State with two and Duke with one.
Ten ACC teams earned bids to the 2021 NCAA Regionals, which begins May 17. Clemson, Florida State and Wake Forest earned three of the six No. 1 regional seeds and are joined in this year’s competition by Duke, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame and Virginia. The 10 league representatives are the second most from any conference and equals the ACC record set in 2015.
ACC Player of the Year: John Pak, Florida State
ACC Freshman of the Year: Peter Fountain, North Carolina
ACC Coach of the Year: Larry Penley, Clemson
2021 All-ACC Men’s Golf Team
Player, Year, School
Jacob Bridgeman, Junior, Clemson
Colby Patton, Senior, Clemson
Turk Pettit, Senior, Clemson
Ian Siebers, Freshman, Duke
Vincent Norrman, Graduate, Florida State
John Pak, Senior, Florida State
Brett Roberts, Freshman, Florida State
Peter Fountain, Freshman, North Carolina
Austin Greaser, Sophomore, North Carolina
Austin Hitt, Senior, North Carolina
Benjamin Shipp, Graduate, NC State
Maximilian Steinlechner, Sophomore, NC State
Michael Brennan, Freshman, Wake Forest
Alex Fitzpatrick, Junior, Wake Forest
Mark Power, Sophomore, Wake Forest