UNC Golf Teams Struggle at ACCs

Like the men and women's tennis and lacrosse teams, the Tar Heel golf teams fared poorly, finishing fifth and fourth at at Disney's Magnolia and Palm Golf Courses.

The Tar Heel men tied N.C. State at even par, and the UNC women finished behind Duke, Wake Forest and Florida State with a score of 81-over-par.

"It was a disappointing performance," UNC women's coach Sally Austin said. "Maybe it was confidence. The ball-striking was fine, getting it into the hole was not fine."

Freshman Ashley Prange was the lone bright spot for the women. She led the Tar Heels at 13-over-par, giving her an eighth-place finish.

After a solid tee shot on the 18th, Prange had to negotiate over a bunker and then two-putted to close out the tournament.

"For the most part it was a fairly decent weekend," Prange said. "Right now I'm striking the ball probably better than anyone out there."

Prange said having played at Disney's Palm Course several times before helped her with her shot selection.

But teammate Beth Lever didn't have such a luxury. This was the first time Lever had played at the Orlando course. She said that she wanted to finish within the top five, but her short game and inconsistency prevented her from achieving that goal.

"I was exhausted from the week, but really there's no excuse," Lever said.

She finished 16th, at 23-over-par.

The men struggled just as much.

Freshman Dustin Bray and senior Johno Harris were the Tar Heels low scorers at even-par. Bray shot a 67 the first round and a 77 in the last two.

"It wasn't exactly what we wanted to do," UNC men's coach John Inman said. "We just didn't play very well (Saturday). We just didn't come out and perform the way we're capable of."

Harris, who tied five others for 13th, said he felt like there was too much pressure on the team, knowing they'd have to play a mistake-proof match to win the conference title.

Harris struggled with putting throughout the tournament and couldn't capitalize on some opportunities to shoot under-par.

"That's the way golf is," Inman said. "Some days you have good days and some days you have bad days. And today was kind of a bad day for everybody."

The Sports Editor can be reach at sports@unc.edu.