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The Daily Tar Heel

UNC women's golf places ninth in season-opening tournament cut short due to hurricane

Briar's Creek Invitational
The North Carolina women's golf team won the Briar's Creek Invitational two weeks ago. Whaley (holding trophy) also won the individual title. Photo courtesy of UNC Athletic Department.

The North Carolina women’s golf team finished ninth in the Cougar Classic on Monday, after play was shortened due to the anticipation of Hurricane Florence making landfall on Friday morning. 

The tournament, the Tar Heels' first of the season, hosted a competitive field that included No. 3 Arkansas and No. 14 Furman. Eight of the 19 teams that played in the tournament finished in the Golfstat Top 25 at the end of last season.  

The Tar Heel golfers for the tournament included junior Brynn Walker, senior Kelly Whaley, sophomore Ava Bergner and first-years Jennifer Zhou and Nicole Lu. The first round was halted when play was suspended for the day due to inclement weather. Because of the suspension, only Zhou was able to finish 18 holes on Sunday. At the time of the delay, North Carolina had shot a combined 10-over-par and was 15th on the team leaderboard. 

The original schedule of the tournament included rounds on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. But after the postponement Sunday, golfers had to finish round one on Monday and also play round two the same day. After the end of the first round, UNC stood at 5-over-par, which put the team in 13th place.

North Carolina jumped four spots on the leaderboard following a 1-under-par second round. But after an improved performance in the second round, College of Charleston, the tournament's host, canceled the weekend's events because of the approaching hurricane. 

After 36 holes, the tournament ended and North Carolina finished in ninth place with a score of 4-over-par for the event.

Walker stood out as the most successful Tar Heel. She finished in a five-way tie for 24th place. After shooting an even-par 72 to complete the first round, she shot 1-under-par in the second. On that last day of competition, she shot two birdies and had one bogey. 

In her first collegiate tournament, Lu shot 4-over-par in the first round. In the second round, she made an eagle on the 18th hole, and finished the day 1-under-par. In the tournament she shot an overall 3-over-par and finished tied for 44th. 

Although North Carolina advanced four spots on the team leaderboard after day two, it still finished far behind the University of Florida, who remained in first place for both rounds of competition, and shot a combined 30-under-par. 

After failing to qualify for the NCAA Championship last season, North Carolina missed a chance to begin the season on a high note in the Cougar Classic. Despite the tough field, the Tar Heels will hope to see better results than a ninth-place finish in their next tournament.

UNC will have a chance to improve in the Mason Rudolph Championship in Franklin, Tenn., which will be held from Sept. 21-23. 

@TorreNetkovick

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com

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