Peter Fountain, Dylan Menante and David Ford each birdied the final hole of the day to help the University of North Carolina match the best team score of the second round and pull within five strokes of the top four teams after day one at the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Golf Championships Friday in Pinehurst.
The Tar Heels, the top seed in the 12-team field, followed a 2-over-par first round with an even-par trip in the afternoon around the Country Club of North Carolina. Carolina’s 288 total tied Florida State for the best second round, one stroke ahead of 36-hole leader Georgia Tech.
The top four teams after Saturday’s third round of stroke play advance to match play Sunday morning.
Carolina is in seventh place at 2-over 578. The Yellow Jackets opened with a 14-under 274 and have the lead at 13 under. Wake Forest shot 275 in the first round and is second at 11 under. Florida State is third (-4), Duke is fourth (-3), Virginia is even and Louisville is 1 over.
Menante is Carolina’s only player under par after two rounds. The senior from Carlsbad, Calif., playing in his first ACC Championships after transferring from Pepperdine, opened with an even-par 72, shot 2 under in the afternoon and is tied for seventh.
Ryan Burnett (71-73) is even-par 144, Ford (74-72) and Fountain (73-73), the 2021 champion, are 2 over and Austin Greaser (74-78) is 6 over.
The Tar Heels will be paired with NC State and Notre Dame in the third round, teeing off on the 10th hole beginning at 7:30 a.m. Saturday.
Wake Forest’s Michael Brennan has the individual lead at 9 under after rounds of 66-69 for a 135 total. Louisville’s Jiri Zuska is second at 6-under 138 and Hiroshi Tai of Georgia Tech is third at 5-under 139.
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