On Sunday, the North Carolina women’s golf team placed seventh out of 15 teams in the three-round Mason Rudolph Championship in Nashville, Tennessee. First-year Kayla Smith tied for 12th in the individual rankings after her weekend was highlighted by a 2-under-par performance in the second round.
What happened?
On Friday, North Carolina opened with a solid overall performance from all of its golfers in the first round. The team collectively shot 288 for par. The Tar Heels shot a total of 17 birdies in the first round, which was second most from any team. Senior Brynn Walker led UNC with a score of 69 for an impressive 3-under-par performance, helping North Carolina tie for third overall in the round. Junior Ava Bergner, first-year Krista Junkkari and Smith each shot 1-over-par in the first round for scores of 73.
Smith shot 70 for a 2-under-par performance to lead the Tar Heels in the second round. After a 7-over-par day on Friday, sophomore Nicole Lu bounced back with a 71, 1-under-par showing on Saturday. Bergner finished 2-over-par with a 74 and Junkarri finished with a 77 for 5-over-par. The team finished with a 292 total score. The Tar Heels didn’t see too much movement in the standings as they moved to fourth heading into the final round.
With a total score of 298 in the final round, UNC slipped in the standings in the event's final day, falling to seventh. Walker led the Tar Heels with 72 and made par. Smith was 1-under-par through nine, but three bogeys on the back-nine resulted in a 74 for the day and a 2-over-par finish. Both Junkkari and Lu shot 76 in the final round.
Who stood out?
With a 1-over-par performance in the first round and a 2-under-par performance in the second, Smith was tied for sixth going into the third round. She was unable to maintain her strong form in the final round, but held on to finish 12th out of 81 participants.
When was it decided?
Throughout the early rounds, the Tar Heels shot better than most teams as shown by their 288 collective total and tie for third place at the end of Friday's round. The score of 292 in Saturday's round moved UNC down just one spot, but the third round is what hurt North Carolina the most. It was the the only round where the team was unable to have a player shoot below par.
