The UNC men’s golf team earned the team title at the Williams Cup in Wilmington for the third straight season on Tuesday. The Williams Cup is named after former UNC men’s basketball head coach Roy Williams.

In addition, junior David Ford won the tournament’s individual title by sinking a birdie putt on the first playoff hole. It’s Carolina’s first individual title via a playoff since 1990. Ford had to play the extra hole after giving up a five-shot lead in the final nine holes in the third round, but recovered to defeat North Florida’s Nick Gabrelcik in the playoff for his second collegiate title. Teammates Dylan Menante and Austin Greaser each tied for third.

Senior Peter Fountain also made headlines by shooting an ace on his first hole of the third round. It was the first hole-in-one of Fountain’s collegiate career and the first by a Tar Heel in the 2023-24 season. It helped Fountain shoot 69 in the third round, the best UNC score of the day.

On the team leaderboard, Carolina led wire-to-wire and was the only team in the field to finish below par at 11-under. Second-place Auburn – the No. 2 team in the country in the coaches poll and No. 1 in the Golfweek poll – was 18 strokes behind the Tar Heels. The title is UNC’s second in three tournaments this season and the 17th of head coach Andrew DiBitetto’s seven-year career with the Tar Heels.

Up next for Carolina is a trip to Scotland to compete in the first-ever St Andrews Links Collegiate, a four-team event featuring the Tar Heels, Georgetown, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt. The tournament will begin on October 23.

 

Featured image via Andy Mead


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