UNC junior Ryan Gerard shot a 6-under-par 66 to place second overall in the John Burns Intercollegiate in Lihue, Kauai, Hawai'i. With Gerard leading the way, the men’s golf team finished 11th out of the 21 teams by the final day of the tournament.
What happened?
The Tar Heels got off to a slow start on the opening day when they tied for 17th as a team. With this early struggle, the team was disappointed and started looking to return to its normal level of play.
With the pressure on, the team took the course on the second day determined and prepared to rally. North Carolina's focus paid off when UNC made the one of the biggest comebacks of the second round, moving up five spots and finishing 13 strokes better than the previous day.
Gerard had an impressive day, notching a birdie his first two holes and going on to complete his Friday with five total birdies and two bogeys. He moved up to tie at 12th place at 1-under-143.
Despite the progress, UNC was heading into the final round twenty strokes behind the tournament's leader Texas A&M with one more day to improve on its 12th place standing.
In their finale, the Tar Heels shot 8-under-par, an eight-stroke improvement from Friday and a 21-stroke improvement from the first round. This ended as the sixth-best round of the field, but the Tar Heels only climbed one spot in the standings as the opposing teams kept up momentum into the final round.
Who stood out?
Despite the team not meeting expectations, Gerard had an impressive outing. He shot 74-69-66 for a 7-under-209 total to wrap up the tournament and take second place.
