The regular season for North Carolina men’s golf came to a close this weekend in the Cabarrus County Irish Creek Collegiate, as the Tar Heels looked to score a strong finish before the ACC Championship.
After getting off to a poor start in the first round on Saturday, the Tar Heels rallied to shoot even par for the course in the second round. UNC concluded the two-day tournament by scoring a 3-under-par 281 in Sunday's third round, earning a third-place finish.
As a team, the Tar Heels excelled in almost every field, ranking in the top five in almost every category and tying Wake Forest for the most eagles with three. The only area UNC struggled in was the amount of pars scored, as it tied for 10th with Mercer in that category.
Two UNC golfers recorded top-10 individual finishes. Juniors Carter Jenkins and Henry Do both played consistently well throughout the tournament and were a part of a four-way tie for fourth with a score of 211, or 2-under-par.
The success of Jenkins and Do played a large role in UNC’s comeback bid for a top-five finish. Jenkins was the only Tar Heel to score under par on par-4 holes, as he finished second overall with an average score of 3.91. Do led both the Tar Heels and the tournament field with an average score of 3.89 on par-5 holes and two eagles.
James Madison junior Ryan Cole proved to be the class of the field during the weekend.
Scoring a 67 and 70 in the first two rounds of the tournament, Cole posted a score of 66 in the final round to finish with an overall score of 203, or 10-under-par. Cole beat out Virginia Commonwealth senior Adam Ball and Wake Forest sophomore Will Zalatoris by seven strokes.
Zalatoris' score was good enough to play a major role in the conclusion of the tournament. Wake Forest and Kennesaw State were locked in a tight battle in the final holes of the tournament, but strong performances by Zalatoris and senior Davis Womble propelled the Demon Deacons to the overall win.
UNC head coach Andrew Sapp was proud of his team’s resiliency after struggling in the early portion of the tournament, and he believes his team is ready to take on a competitive conference tournament.
