The Clemson Tigers are in position to qualify for the ACC Match Play final.

Clemson shaved 3-shots off their first round score of 277 to hold one of the four qualifying spots to play in the Match Play finals at the Capital City Club in Atlanta.

Led by seniors Turk Pettit and Kyle Cottam, Clemson trails North Carolina and NC State going into the final round of the 54 hole stroke play portion of the championship.

UNC set tournament scoring records to take the top spot after 36 holes.

The Tarheels have three golfers in the top-3 spots led by Peter Fountain.

The UNC freshman tied the all-time single round scoring record to par with his 7-under par 63 in the second round.

Pettit and Cottam each posted 3-under par two round totals to finish the first day of competition tied with two other golfers in 7th place.

Jacob Bridgeman, who is on the Haskins Award Watch List, shot an opening round 1-over par 71, but came back strong in the second round of the day with a 3-under par 67. Bridgeman is tied for 11th.

“We played well today, but we were a little tentative at times because of the speed of the greens,” said Clemson head coach Larry Penley. “Jacob, Turk and Kyle turned in good rounds and I was pleased with Colby Patton. He made a triple bogey on the ninth hole in the second round, but he hung in there and played the back nine at 1-under par to shoot even for the round,” noted the coach.

NC State’s Benjamin Ship has the individual lead after posting rounds of 64 and 68 for an 8-under par total.

Ten of the twelve teams in the ACC Championship are ranked in the top-40, with four in the top-10.

The 17th ranked Tar Heels at 21-under par and 10th ranked Wolfpack at 12-under par lead the three nationally ranked top-5 teams going into the final round.

Following the 4th ranked Tigers in third place at 9-under par is the #2 ranked Seminoles at 3-under par.

Fifth ranked Wake Forest is 5th trailing the Seminoles by 5 shots for the last Match Play qualifying position.

“Nine under par for the first two rounds is a good score. Obviously the goal is to reach the top-four after the third round. We are in good position, but there can be big swings in the team scores quickly,” he added.

Penley, who will retire at the end of the year, is trying to coach his team to a 10th ACC Championship.

The weather forecast for Atlanta is marginal for the third round on Saturday. If the tournament can stay on schedule the first round of Match Play is set for Sunday with the Championship to be played on Monday.

ACC Championship scores from GolfStat http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=22382