University of North Carolina Athletics
Women's Golf Fall Recap & Spring Preview
February 13, 2018 | Women's Golf
CHAPEL HILL -The 2017-18 University of North Carolina women's golf team is off to one of the best starts in school history. Records have been broken, the Tar Heels have star power, the veterans are keeping the team focused and, best of all, this team is having fun.
The spring season starts this Sunday, February 18, with the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate at the English Turn Golf & Country Club in New Orleans, La.
A NEW SEASON
Bryana Nguyen, the lone senior on the 2017-18 squad, junior Kelly Whaley and sophomore Brynn Walker are Carolina's three returners who competed in last season's NCAA Championships. Those Tar Heels finished just one stroke shy of qualifying for match play, ultimately claiming ninth, the team's highest finish at the championships since 2011.
Freshman Ava Bergner and junior-transfer Clementina Rodriguez are this season's Tar Heel newcomers. Bergner is a talented freshman with a wealth of national, European and international golf experience, while Rodriguez was a member of the Washington Huskies team when they claimed the national championship in 2015.
Carolina also added Associate Head Coach Aimee Neff to the staff during the offseason. Neff joined the Carolina coaching staff after the departure of Leah Buchmann, who stepped down from the position in May to focus on family. She has brought a young, high-energy personality to the staff with a focus on building relationships, which was the deciding factor for Mann in hiring Neff.
The team's mantra for the 2017-18 is "Stay The Course."
"What that means is we love, we fight and we focus," head coach Jan Mann said. "With love you celebrate the success of others, and you love the challenge. Fight would be persistence through difficulties and executing to the best of your ability. And then focus, you zero in on the task at hand, and you choose to engage in a positive mindset."
A STAR IN THE MAKING
Freshman Ava Bergner led Carolina from the very beginning in 2017, finishing 10th at the Ocean Course Invitational and continuing her hot start with an 18th-place finish at the Mason Rudolph Championship against some of the top golfers in the country. It was then at the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational where Bergner really shined, finishing tied for third and just two shots out of a lead against the most-competitive field in Tar Heel Invitational history.
Bergner had the best Tar Heel Invitational score ever for a Tar Heel golfer after finishing at 10-under-par 206. She finished tied for third, which is the highest finish for a Tar Heel at the Invitational since Catherine O'Donnell won the event in 2008. She tied Carolina records for best round (66) and best round vs. par (-6) in the third round, and her third-round score tied for the third-lowest round ever at the Tar Heel Invitational. The score was also the second highest 54-hole score and score vs. par in Carolina history.
Bergner wrapped up the fall with the lowest fall stroke average in school history at 72.08, and she is on track to finish with the lowest stroke average ever for a Tar Heel golfer. No Tar Heel has ever finished a season with a stroke average below a 73.
"To see Ava excel is just so great because it's hard for, number one, a freshman to come in, but, number two, a European to come in and make all of the adjustments that they have to make," Mann said. "She hasn't missed a beat, and it's been great."
FULL-TEAM RECAP
Whaley and Walker both had excellent falls as well, finishing with sub-74 stroke averages. Whaley closed the fall season at 73.42, highlighted by a 15th-place finish at the Ocean Course Invitational and a 1-over-par 217 score at the Tar Heel Invitational. Walker shot 74.98 for the fall with her career-best performance also coming at the Tar Heel Invitational where she finishing at 2-under par.
No more than two Tar Heels have ever finished a season below a 74 stroke average.
Nguyen closed out the fall on a high note for her career. Tying a career-low 68 in round one of the Battle at the Beach, Nguyen led the Tar Heels in the final tournament of the calendar year and finished tied for 26th. She closed the fall with a 74.17 stroke average.
Mariana Ocano is also off to a good start in her sophomore year, taking solid position in the starting lineup after competing at the fifth spot in the final three tournament with five rounds counting towards team scores
Rodriguez competed at the fifth spot for the Tar Heels at the Ocean Course Invitational and has also competed twice as an individual. Along with senior Cheni Xu and sophomore Roshnee Sharma, Rodriguez continues to push Ocano for a spot in the starting five.
The team's fall highlight came at the Tar Heel Invitational where Carolina took fifth at 8-under-par 856, their highest finish in their home tournament since winning in 2012. The 54-hole tournament score was their best Tar Heel Invitational score ever, and it also ranks top-five all-time in Carolina history.
Even though the ninth-place finish at the 2017 NCAA Championship was Carolina's best since 2011, the Tar Heels know they have the talent and the ability to do more.
If Carolina can get back to that final weekend, watch out for the Tar Heels.
SPRING PREVIEW
The Tar Heels kick off the spring season Sunday at the English Turn Golf and Country Club in New Orleans, La., with the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate Feb. 18-20. The Darius Rucker Invitational will follow March 2-4 at the Long Cove Club in Hilton Head S.C.
Over spring break, Carolina will play in the mountains of St. George, Utah, at the BYU at Entrada Classic. The two-day tournament will take place March 12-13 at the Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club. Just a week later, the Tar Heels will head to the Briar's Creek Invitational in Johns Ilse, S.C., March 19-20.
Carolina will then close out the regular season, like they have in six of the last seven seasons, at the Bryan National Collegiate in Browns Summit, N.C. The tournament will take place April 6-8 on the Champions Course at Bryan Park. The Tar Heels finished fourth at the tournament in 2017, led by a career-best tournament for Bryana Nguyen. She took second with one of the best 54-hole scores in school history - a 7-under-par 209.
The postseason begins when the Tar Heels travel to the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro for the 2018 ACC Championships on April 20-22. Following the conference championships, the NCAA regional tournaments will be held at Florida State, Stanford, Texas and Wisconsin from May 7-9. Last year, the Tar Heels made an 11-shot comeback in the Athens Regional to advance to the NCAA Championships.
The 2018 NCAA Championships will be held in Stillwater, Okla. at the Karsten Creek Golf Club from May 18-23. The Tar Heels have qualified for the NCAA Championships two years in a row and three times during Mann's eight seasons in Chapel Hill. Carolina had their highest finish of Mann's tenure in 2017, taking ninth.
