The North Carolina women's golf team placed fourth in the NCAA Stanford Regional over the weekend. With the finish, the Tar Heels qualified for the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore.
What happened?
North Carolina entered the Regional as the No. 12 seed, and played like it during the first round on Thursday. After hanging around in the middle of the pack for the first 17 holes of the day, each of the five UNC golfers took turns struggling on the par-4 10th hole.
The Tar Heels shot a combined 8-over-par on the 10th hole on Thursday, dropping the team down to 15th place with an 18-over-par 302 for the round.
Only the top-six teams would get a bid to the NCAA Championships, so after a rough Thursday, the Tar Heels needed to get out of whatever funk they were in fast.
Coach Jan Mann called the players together after Thursday's round to try and instill some faith into her team, and also had the five golfers meet on their own to discuss what they needed to do to get back in the tournament.
Whatever was said in the player-only meeting Thursday night, it sure seemed to work. On Friday, the Tar Heels shot 5-over-par for the round, and jumped from 15th place all the way to 6th.
Mann gathered the team together again on Friday night, but this time with a different request. UNC was in position to move on to the NCAA Championships, but she wanted the team to keep attacking.
"We weren't sure how they were going to react on the third day. I mean that's a very nerve-wracking position to be put into," Mann said. "What I told them was, 'We're not going out there to protect the sixth spot. We're going to try to advance."