After finishing second in the NCAA Noblesville Regional last week, the No. 6 seed Tar Heels were unable to carry that momentum into Friday’s first round at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship — ending the day in a tie for 15th place after shooting 8-over-par as a team.

That represented the highest score UNC has posted in its last five tournaments, a span dating back to the final round of the General Hackler Championship in Myrtle Beach back on March 16.

Junior Ryan Burnett was the top-performing individual for the Tar Heels on Friday at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottdale, Arizona, finishing the round at even par and in a tie for 27th place overall.

It was the first time no UNC player finished under par since that same March afternoon in Myrtle Beach.

Ryan Gerard ended the day with a 2-over-par 72, while Austin Hitt and ACC Champion Peter Fountain each shot 73. Austin Greaser had a day to forget with an 8-over-par 78, but it didn’t affect the team score since only the best four scores count towards that total.

UNC enters the Saturday’s second round sitting 12 shots behind the leader, No. 19 Texas Tech at 4-under-par. The Red Raiders joined No. 24 seed Sam Houston State (-2) and No. 9 seed Pepperdine (-1) as the only three teams to finish below par on Friday.

On the individual side, Purdue’s Cole Bradley also used a score of 4-under-par to take control of the lead.

The top 15 teams following the third round on Sunday will advance to the fourth round on Monday. The top eight teams after the fourth round will move on to match play until a champion is crowned.

“We had a less than ideal start to the round, but our guys showed their toughness and grit,” UNC head coach Andrew DiBitetto said afterwards. “They fought incredibly hard and hung in there. We learned even more today about the course and conditions and look forward to our early-morning tee time tomorrow.”

 

 

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