The North Carolina men’s golf team finished 19th in the NCAA Championship in Fayetteville, Ark., this week, while first-year Ryan Burnett placed 30th on the individual leaderboard. The Tar Heels did not qualify for the 15-team final round, ending their season.
What happened?
The Tar Heels golfers for the tournament were Joshua Martin, Ryan Gerard, Austin Hitt, Dougie Ergood and Burnett, who all began on Friday in pursuit of a team championship.
In the first round, Hitt shot 81 to finish 9-over-par. In addition, Gerard and Martin each shot four birdies in the round. Gerard and Martin shot an even-par in the first round, and were tied for 12th place on the individual leaderboard. Ergood shot 10-over-par, and Burnett shot 7-over-par on the day. After the first round, UNC shot a combined 16-over-par and were in 12th place on the team leaderboard.
On Saturday, Burnett led the way for the Tar Heels. On the day, he birdied two par fives and shot par on every other whole, putting him at 2-under-par for the day. Gerard carried his momentum from the first round into the second, shoot three birdies and finishing 1-over-par. UNC's 12-over-par on Saturday dropped them from 12th place to 18th. With one day to go, North Carolina was now four shots back from the top 15 and a spot in the final round.
In the third round, North Carolina shot a three-over-par through the first eight holes, but posted a 13-over-par over the next six holes. After 18 holes on Sunday, UNC shot a combined 300 for the second consecutive day and finished in 19th place, just short of qualifying for the final round.
Burnett, however advanced to the fourth round as an individual because he was one of the top nine individuals not on one of the top 15 teams.
On Monday, Burnett shot two birdies and finished the round 5-over-par, giving home a combined score of 9-over-par throughout the competition, good enough to tie for 30th place on the individual leaderboard.
