Freshman Davis Bateman, starting in just his second tournament at the collegiate level, carried North Carolina to a fifth-place finish in the Rod Myers Invitational this weekend at Duke University Golf Club.
Bateman also finished fifth in the individual standings with a five-under-par 211, just four strokes behind Northwestern’s Matt Fitzpatrick, who is the top-ranked amateur player in the world. Fitzpatrick tied fellow Wildcat Jack Perry for first place, while Northwestern also pulled out the team victory.
“I was really impressed with Davis Bateman, as a freshman and only in his second start, to finish fifth, it was spectacular,” said coach Andrew Sapp. “He really carried us.”
Bateman recorded a 68 in the second round of the tournament, registering a par or birdie in every hole except the fifth. After a double bogey on that hole, Bateman told his coach he was frustrated at the bad break he had gotten.
“I told him I was going to birdie the last four,” he said. “I was just feeling it.”
And he did. Bateman recorded consecutive birdies on holes six through nine, then hit par on the back nine to finish the second round four under par, his best round of the tournament.
While Sapp said he was disappointed at the fifth-place finish for the team, he was certainly happy that the team improved from its previous tournament, a last-place showing at the Jack Nicklaus Invitational two weeks ago.
“Last tournament was a debacle,” he said. “That was the anomaly of our season.”
The Tar Heels were in second place after the first round, tied with Baylor for second after two rounds, then put in their worst round of the tournament to close it out. Sapp said he wasn’t unhappy about the third round as every team struggled Sunday. But he was disappointed in his team’s performance during the second round, when — despite Bateman’s four-under par outing — the Tar Heels tied for the second-worst team score.
