The previous time the North Carolina men’s golf team played in a tournament, the men’s basketball team hadn’t played a game yet and the football team was riding a six-game winning streak.
This weekend — after a three-month hiatus during the winter — the Tar Heels joined 14 other teams in the Sea Best Invitational at TPC Sawgrass Valley Course in Ponte Vedra, Fla.
Although UNC didn’t defend the title it won a year ago, the team finished tied for third place with Arkansas behind a strong performance from first-year Joshua Martin.
Martin got off to a blazing start Monday in the first round, firing a tournament-best 6-under-par, good for the third-lowest score in UNC history.
His round of 64 included eight birdies, five of which came on the back nine.
Even Martin’s stellar first round couldn’t catapult the Tar Heels to the top of the leaderboard, though. Florida shot 15-under-par in the first round and took an insurmountable 18-stroke lead on UNC.
Martin followed up his first-round performance with a 2-under-par 68, but he cooled off dramatically in the third and final round with a 5-over-par 75.
The Tar Heels also saw impressive performances from sophomore William Register and junior Carter Jenkins, who both cracked the top-30 for the tournament.
The rest of the lineup was filled out by junior Henry Do and sophomore Ben Griffin, who finished tied for 46th and 51st, respectively.
