With an opportunity to play in its own backyard, the North Carolina women’s golf team capped off a successful run in the Tar Heel Invitational on Sunday, finishing in fourth place out of a field of 18 with a score of two under par.
Louisiana State was crowned victor with a combined team score of eight under followed closely by Alabama and Auburn — who finished just four and five shots behind the lead, respectively.
UNC coach Jan Mann said she was pleased with her team’s overall performance, highlighting the play of sophomores Casey Grice and Jackie Chang and senior Allie White — the Tar Heels’ lowest scorers — as a key to the team’s success.
But despite placing in the top five, Mann said the Tar Heels could have done a better job finishing.
“Overall, the team did well,” Mann said. “Obviously, we were in the hunt, but an area we need to improve upon is finishing and course management.
“We didn’t finish as well as we could have either day, and once we do that, we will see a lot better results.”
The poor finishing could have been attributed to the added pressure that the Tar Heels might have felt by playing at home.
“Playing at Finley can obviously be an advantage as the girls know how certain holes play compared to others,” Mann said. “But it can also be a little bit of a disadvantage as the girls tend to put a little more pressure on themselves to perform well.”
But the pressure never seemed to affect Grice — who finished as the Tar Heels’ lowest scorer and eighth overall in the tournament with a score of four under par.
