The No. 25 North Carolina men’s golf team fell flat at the NCAA men’s golf Tucson Regional from May 16-18. The Tar Heels finished 13 out of a 14-team field at The Gallery at Dove Mountain Golf Club, shooting a three day total of 917, which was 53-over-par.
What Happened?
The team put itself in an early hole, after shooting a 22-over-par 310 in the opening round on Monday. Junior Carter Jenkins was the team leader shooting a 74. Fellow junior Henry Do began the tournament with a 75, and sophomore William Register shot an opening-round 77. Sophomore Ben Griffin and first-year Joshua Martin began with 83s.
“They got off to a bad start in the first round. We told them this is about advancing and being in the top five,” said Coach Andrew Sapp. “Might as well go for broke the last two rounds because it doesn’t matter if your 6 or 14, those people are ending their season.”
Day two went much like day one did for the Tar Heels. At the end of the round they were still in 13th place and looking at a 42-shot gap between themselves and the California Bears who were sitting in fifth place. This was an important number because only the top five teams and the end of day three would advance to the NCAA Championship in Eugene, Ore., later this month.
“Well obviously we didn’t play quite as well as we hoped,” Carter said. “This course is very forgiving, but if you do miss the fairways it’s very penalizing, and unfortunately I think we just had a few to many golf balls go into the desert.”
The Tar Heels shot their best round of golf on Wednesday with a 7-over-par 295, but it was just too little too late. Jenkins again claimed the team lead shooting a two-under-par 70 for the round. All five of the starters shot under 80 for the round for the first time in the regional.
Who Stood Out?
Despite his second round score of 81, Carter Jenkins was the best player on the course for the Tar Heels.
