After an impressive start to the season which included two tournament wins, both in team and individual regards, the UNC men’s golf team has ascended to No. 1 in the newest Golfweek rankings.

“The vision we had four years ago certainly included Carolina being in the top spot of college golf,” said head coach Andrew DiBetto in a release from Carolina Athletics. DiBetto was hired as head coach in 2017.

“We’ve all worked very hard to reach our goals, especially our student-athletes,” he said. “It’s nice to see all that work pay off, but everyone in our program knows the end goal isn’t to be ranked No. 1 in the country in September or October. We have our eyes locked in on being the last team standing on June 1 [after the NCAA championships].”

The Tar Heels have defeated all comers in the young season, taking first place in both the Rod Myers Invitational and the Olympia Fields Invitational in September. The latter tournament is particularly notable, as it featured each team ranked in the preseason Top 5, including UNC. Carolina topped a field which included No. 5 Texas, No. 3 Arizona State, No. 2 Oklahoma State and defending NCAA champions No. 1 Pepperdine.

Those results have shot UNC up from their preseason ranking of No. 4 to the top spot in the country this week.

In addition to their No. 1 team ranking, four UNC golfers are ranked in the Top 100 individually. Ryan Gerard is No. 3, Austin Greaser is No. 22, David Ford is No. 36 and Peter Fountain is No. 76.

Gerard, Greaser and Fountain all represented UNC at the U.S. Amateur Championship this summer, with Greaser taking second place overall. Gerard and Greaser won the individual titles at the Rod Myers Invitational and the Olympia Fields Invitational, respectively.

To view the full Golfweek team poll, click here. To view the individual poll, click here.

The Tar Heels will take their No. 1 ranking into the Blessings Collegiate Invitational in Johnson, AR, to be played between Monday, October 4 and Wednesday, October 6. The tournament is hosted by the University of Arkansas, whose men’s golf team ranks No. 10 in the new poll.


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