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The Daily Tar Heel

Carter Jenkins, UNC leave Florida with title

Men's Golf Coach, Andrew Sapp.
Men's Golf Coach, Andrew Sapp.

In what Coach Andrew Sapp called a total team win, No. 12 UNC won the Sea Best Invitational in Dye’s Valley, Fla. — a tournament played on Monday and Tuesday.

The Tar Heels topped a field of 15 teams, including No. 2 Florida State.

The story of the tournament was of one player stepping up: Carter Jenkins.

Jenkins, a transfer from UNC-Greensboro, finished his introductory tournament for UNC at eight-over-par, tied for the team best with freshman standout Ben Griffin.

Jenkins’ final round, with an even-par score of 70, helped secure the tournament title for the Tar Heels.

“One of the big keys was Carter’s play. He came in for his first tournament and finished tied for seventh,” Sapp said.

The poor weather conditions in Florida provided the underlying theme throughout the tournament. The first round was plagued with rain, and players had to deal with windy conditions during the second round. The third and final round saw improvements in weather, but the temperature was still in the 60-degree range.

“It definitely affected our game,” Griffin said.

“Wind played a huge role, and the holes played very differently. We had to know where to hit it.”

In a tournament that took place in Florida — including four participating schools from the state — it might have been an advantage not being from the Sunshine State.

“Being from N.C., we play a lot of golf in 60-degree weather,” Jenkins said. “(People from) Florida play in 75-degree weather all the time.”

UNC went into the third round with a 3-stroke lead.

The Tar Heels spent most of the final round fighting off Florida, North Florida, Florida State and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, which had a surge late in the tournament.

“It was important that guys kept grinding and trying to birdie or par when they could,” Sapp said. “It was fun to see the guys fight and battle.”

At one point in the third round, UNC had a 9-stroke lead, eventually winning the tournament by seven strokes.

Four of the five UNC players finished the tournament in the top 15 on the player leaderboard.

Even sophomore Henry Do, who had the weakest outing for UNC, shot two-over-par in his final round to help his team to victory.

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“This gives everyone a shot of confidence,” Jenkins said after the tournament concluded.

A victory in the first tournament of the spring season was an important step for an ambitious UNC team.

“It means a lot — we needed to get off to a good start,” Griffin said.

“It was maybe our best tournament of the year.”

sports@dailytarheel.com