PINEHURST, N.C.— The No. 2 UNC men’s golf team had an early exit from the ACC Tournament Sunday after not making the cut for match play.
What happened?
The Tar Heels found themselves in a hole after their first-round performance Friday where they finished with a final score of two-over par. Despite being the top-seeded team in the competition, North Carolina was nowhere near the top of the leaderboard after the first round of play. Following this, UNC finished the second round even at par, making no adjustments to their position in the standings.
“We just never found our rhythm at all this week,” head coach Andrew DiBitetto said. “We just looked off.”
Round three, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, was postponed to Sunday morning due to inclement weather after each golfer got only a handful of shots in.
The Tar Heels went into the cut determination round with work to do. They needed to climb into a top four spot in order to advance to match play. While there were numerous chances for North Carolina to lower their score, notably on the fourth hole where fifth-year Ryan Burnett was forced to bogey, it was unable to break into the negatives.
When one golfer birdied, another bogeyed to leave the Tar Heels stagnant for the third round. The Tar Heels finished the third round even at par. Overall, North Carolina finished tied for sixth with Louisville at two-over par to force an early exit despite their high ranking.
Who stood out?
Burnett was the only Tar Heel to finish in the negatives in the first round, recording a final tally of one-under par. In the second round, senior Dylan Menante finished two-under par. This was the lowest score for North Carolina in the second round of competition.
