Chapel Hill’s Ben Griffin could win the U.S. Amateur.

UNC golfer Ben Griffin has faced long odds almost from the day he picked up a club. Griffin was always under-sized, a peanut with a graphite shaft in his hands. As a freshman at East Chapel Hill High School, Griffin stunned a Wilmington senior a foot taller than him by chipping in on the first playoff hole to win the first of his two state championships.

Griffin won it again as a junior, but by that time he had grown into the body of a golfer. A lifelong Tar Heel fan, Griffin turned down dozens of scholarship offers to sign with UNC and new coach Andrew Sapp, the former Carolina golfer who returned to Chapel Hill after nine years at Michigan to revitalize the program. Griffin made All-ACC as a freshman and honorable mention All-American.

Early this summer, Griffin and classmate William Register of Burlington both qualified for the U.S. Amateur. In his first round of stroke play, Griffin shot a four-under par 66 to place fifth. Register shot an even-par 70 and is also in the hunt to finish among the top 64 players who will enter match play at the Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield, Michigan, which has hosted 16 of the most prestigious tournaments in golf, including the U.S. Open six times and three PGA championships on its South course.

Griffin and Register both opened Monday on the North course, and it gives them the advantage of having played good rounds before tackling the more-daunting South side today. Register is a 5 feet 9 inch lefty who teamed with Griffin and Carter Jenkins to keep Carolina in the national rankings since they all arrived in Chapel Hill.

Having grown to 6 feet 1 inch and retooling his once herky-jerky swing, Griffin has the length and short game to be among the best amateur players in the country. And in match play, Griffin would capitalize on having played pressure-packed matches from the tips of Chapel Hill Country Club as a kid, through his high school titles and into college and competing almost year round in tournaments.

Griffin bogeyed the par 4 second hole, then shot 5-under over the final 16 holes. He made birdies on the third and sixth holes to shoot 34 on the front side, and birdied 11, 12 and 16 to shoot 32 on the back for his 66, leaving him in great shape to post another good score and move into match play on Wednesday. Go, Ben!

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