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The Daily Tar Heel

UNC women's golf places ninth of 17 teams in Cougar Classic

Women's golf, Ava Bergner
UNC's Ava Bergner during a 2018 round.

On Tuesday, the North Carolina women’s golf team placed ninth of 17 teams in the three-round Cougar Classic in Charleston, S.C. to begin its season. First-year Krista Junkkari led the Tar Heels with a 3-under-par showing.

What happened? 

Due to weather, the Tar Heels played both the first and second round of the event on Monday.

The first round saw sophomore Jennifer Zhou post a 3-under-par 69. Junkkari excelled as well, as she shot a 70 and sunk three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the back nine. Sophomore Nicole Lu sunk four birdies and finished with a 71, while both senior Brynn Walker and junior Ava Bergner posted scores of 74 in the first round.

In the second round, Junkkari, who earned three birdies on the front nine, and Walker, who sunk four birdies total, both posted scores of 71, one under par. These were the two best performances from North Carolina in the second round. Bergner shot a 74 in the second round, while Zhou recorded a 75 and Lu an 81.

The Tar Heels’ score totaled 575 between the two rounds, good for a one-under-par performance. Junkkari, sitting at 3-under-par, led the team and was tied for eighth place of all competitors going into the final round, while UNC as a whole was tied for fifth.

North Carolina played the third round on Tuesday, shooting a collective 292 to place ninth. Junkkari and Lu lead the team with scores of 72 each, while Zhou and Bergner both shot 74 and Walker finished with 80. 

Who stood out? 

Junkkari excelled in her first collegiate competition as she shot 70, 71 and an even-par 72 in her three rounds.

Zhou's 69 in the first round was the second-best collegiate round of her career.

When was it decided? 

At the conclusion of the first two rounds on Monday, North Carolina was tied for fifth place with a combined score of 575. In the third and final round, though, the Tar Heels slid to ninth place, where they would ultimately finish their season-opening event.

Why does it matter? 

Head coach Jan Mann said the team performed well, and showed improvement in areas of concern. 

“We’ve been working hard on trying to get up and down and not having excessive high numbers, and I think for the most part they did very well,” Mann said. “We’ve also been working hard on par-five scoring, and I think overall we were under par as a team, so that was certainly good."

Mann also praised Junkkari’s performance in the South Carolina heat.

“I give Krista Junkkari certainly a lot of credit because she, coming from Finland, is obviously not at all use to this sort of heat," Mann said. “She held tough."

Where do they play next? 

North Carolina will travel to Nashville, Tennessee to compete in the Mason Rudolph Championship from Friday, Sept. 20 through Sunday, Sept. 22.

@Areynolds_DTH

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com

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