The UNC men’s golf team topped the field after four rounds of stroke play at the NCAA Championship and will advance to Tuesday’s first day of match play as the No. 1 seed. Carolina finished at six-under par, four strokes ahead of second-place Florida. The Tar Heels will face No. 8 Arizona State on Tuesday morning in the quarterfinals. Should UNC advance, the semifinals would be played later that afternoon.
“Our guys have done a really nice job just trying to be smart and keep it as simple as possible,” said head coach Andrew DiBitetto. “They’ve also done a good job of staying composed.”
Carolina shot a record-low 275 in Sunday’s third round only to break that record a day later with a 273 on Monday. UNC’s seven-under par score in the final round was tied with Florida State for the best among the 15 remaining teams (half of the 30-team field had been cut after three rounds). The team’s four-day stroke total of 1,114 is the program’s best ever in a 72-hole NCAA Championship competition, smashing last year’s mark by 20 strokes.
Dylan Menante led the way for the Tar Heels, tying for fourth at five-under par. The former national champion with Pepperdine’s stroke total of 275 is tied for the second-best mark ever by a Tar Heel at an NCAA Championship, and his five-under par score is the third-best.
Austin Greaser finished tied for 11th after shooting a four-under 66 in the fourth round, tied for the lowest score of the day. His effort was no doubt helped by an ace on the fifth hole, the first ace by a Tar Heel since Greaser again in September of 2021. David Ford (68) and Ryan Burnett (69) each joined Greaser below 70 on the final day.
This is the second consecutive year Carolina has finished in at least a tie for first after stroke play, and the third straight year the Tar Heels have advanced to match play. UNC fell in the quarterfinals in each of the previous two years.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Tim Cowie
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