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University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels Head To NCAA Championships
May 30, 2000 | Men's Golf
May 30, 2000
CAROLINA IN THE NCAA: Carolina has been to the NCAA Championships 30 times since 1949 and 18 times in the last 19 years. The Tar Heels have carded 21 top 20 finishes and 13 top 10 finishes in NCAA competition. Carolina has had 17 players finish in the top 10 of the individual race 18 times and 28 players finish in the top 20 individually 32 times. Prior to this year, the Tar Heels made trips to the NCAAs in 1949, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1960, 1962, 1971, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. This year's NCAA Championships will be played May 31-June 3 at the Grand National Golf Club Lake Course in Opelika, Ala., a par 72, 6,943-yard layout.
CAROLINA'S TWO CHAMPS: Two Tar Heels, John Inman and Harvie Ward, have won NCAA Individual Championships. On his way to the title in 1949, Ward defeated Oklahoma's Bo Winninger, LSU's Gardner Dickinson and Notre Dame's Tommy Veech before dispatching Texas' Morris Williams Jr. in the 36-hole final, five and four. Thirty-five years later in 1984, Inman captured the title with a 17-under-par score, breaking Ben Crenshaw's NCAA record by two strokes. That record, set at Houston's Bear Creek Golf World, was tied in 1992 by Phil Mickelson of Arizona State, in 1994 by Justin Leonard of Texas and in 1998 by James McLean of Minnesota.
LAST YEAR IN THE NCAA: Carolina posted a 10th-place finish in last year's NCAA Championship played at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. The Tar Heels carded a four-round total of 1201. Max Harris tied for sixth place with a 294 total while Don Hill finished 10th at 296, Brad Hyler tied for 16th place at 299, Paul Daniel finished 77th at 319 and Rob Simmons finished 83rd at 330. Georgia won the team title with an 1180 total while Northwestern's Luke Donald won the individual title with a four-under-par 284 total.
TAR HEELS IN THE 2000 NCAA EAST REGIONAL: Carolina tied for ninth place in the NCAA East Regional to advance on to the NCAA Championships. The Tar Heels carded an 895 total after rounds of 301-293-301 and were led by senior Max Harris who finished third after firing a three-under-par 68 in the final round and posting a pair of 73s in the first two rounds. Clemson ran away with the team title firing an 871 total, 12 strokes better than runner-up North Florida at 883. Georgia Tech finished third at 884. The 54-hole event was played at the Glenmaura National Golf Club in Moosic, Pa., which features a par 71, 6,847-yard layout. Michael Morrison of Georgia captured the individual title with a one-under 212 total while Virginia's James Driscoll was the runner-up one shot back at 213. Carolina's Harris was one shot back in third place while a trio of Clemson players tied for fourth at 215 -- Jonathan Byrd, John Engler and Lucas Glover. For the Tar Heels, in addition to Harris' third-place finish, Whitten Meares posted a 226 total to tie for 43rd place, Rob Simmons carded a 229 and tied for 62nd, Brad Hyler finished at 232 and tied for 80th place, and Paul Daniel shot 233 to tie for 87th place.
TAR HEELS' SUCCESS IN EAST REGIONAL: Since the regional format was instituted in men's golf in 1989, Carolina is one of only two teams to qualify for the NCAA Championships out of the East Regional each year. Clemson is the other team which has accomplished this feat.
CAROLINA LOOKING FOR RIGHT COMBINATION: North Carolina is still searching for all the right pieces and its first win of the 1999-2000 campaign. The Tar Heels tied for ninth place at the NCAA East Regional earning the right to advance on to this week's NCAA Championships. Earlier this spring, Carolina posted an eighth-place finish at the San Juan Shoot-Out, tied for 10th place at the Las Vegas Intercollegiate, finished 10th at the Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational, finished ninth at The Intercollegiate at MacGregor Downs and finished fifth at the ACC Championship.
Last fall the Tar Heels began the year with a fifth-place finish at The Ridges Intercollegiate. They followed that with a 16th-place finish at the Ping/Golfweek Preview, a 12th-place finish at the Carpet Capital Classic, an 11th-place finish at the Iron Duke Classic and a tie for 11th at the Golf World/Palmetto Dunes Collegiate.
HARRIS ENJOYING STELLAR SENIOR CAMPAIGN: Max Harris, a senior from Worthing, England, is leading the way for the Tar Heels this year. He picked up his second collegiate championship this year as he captured the team title at The Ridges Intercollegiate, the first tournament of the fall campaign. Harris was recently named to the All-ACC team for the third consecutive year.
Harris finished third at the NCAA East Regional after firing a three-under-par 68 on the final day and carding a pair of 73s in the first two rounds for a 214 total. Harris has posted seven top 10 and eight top 20 finishes this year. In addition to his win at The Ridges Intercollegiate and third-place finish at the East Regional, he was the runner-up at the Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational this spring, tied for seventh place at the Las Vegas Interollegiate, tied for eighth place at the ACC Championship and the Carpet Capital Classic and tied for ninth place at The Intercollegiate at MacGregor Downs. Harris also tied for 11th place at the Golf World/Palmetto Dunes Collegiate.
Harris was selected third-team All-America in 1999 and was chosen second-team All-America in ˇ98. He was named to the All-ACC team in ˇ98 ˇ99 and ˇ00. Harris is currently ranked 10th in the MasterCard Collegiate Individual Rankings and ranked 11th in the Golfweek/Sagarin Individual Rankings. In addition to his win at The Ridges Intercollegiate last fall, his other collegiate victory came in the fall of ˇ97 when he won the Black & Decker Duke Golf Classic. Harris was chosen to participate in the Savane College All-America Golf Classic last fall in El Paso, Texas, where he posted a 20th-place finish.
DANIEL HOPES TO CONCLUDE CAREER IN STONG FASHION: Paul Daniel, a senior from Burlington, N.C., has posted three top 20 finishes. He tied for 11th place at The Ridges Intercollegiate, the first event of the fall season. He tied for 19th place at the Iron Duke Classic last fall and tied for 18th place at this spring's San Juan Shoot-Out where he was low scorer for Carolina.
SIMMONS TWO-YEAR STARTER FOR TAR HEELS: Junior Rob Simmons, from Walterboro, S.C., has posted three top 25 finishes this year. He tied for 11th place at the Golf World/Palmetto Dunes Collegiate last fall. He started off the spring campaign with a tie for 18th place at the San Juan Shoot-Out and he tied for 24th place at The Intercollegiate at MacGregor Downs.
HYLER AND MEARES ROUND OUT LINEUP: Brad Hyler, a senior from Raleigh, N.C., and Whitten Meares, a sophomore from Fair Bluff, N.C., round out Carolina's lineup for the NCAA Championships this weekend.
Hyler has played in five tournaments this year and his top finish came in the ACC Championship where he tied for 10th place with a 217 total.
Meares has played in two B-team tournaments, competed in The Intercollegiate at MacGregor Downs as an individual and played in Carolina's two tournaments since that time. In the first round of The Intercollegiate at MacGregor Downs, he carded a double eagle on the par five, 560-yard ninth hole where he holed out his second shot. Meares' top finish this year came last fall where he tied for fourth place at the Johnny Palmer/Old North State Invitational, a B-team event for the Tar Heels.
TAR HEELS IN THE POLLS: Carolina is ranked 41st in the latest MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings administered by the College Golf Foundation. The Tar Heels are ranked 31st in the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings.
North Carolina senior Max Harris is ranked 10th in the MasterCard Individual Collegiate Golf Rankings and ranked 11th in the Golfweek/Sagarin Individual Rankings.
JOHN INMAN IN SECOND YEAR AS TAR HEEL COACH: John Inman, in his second year at the Tar Heel helm, led Carolina to a 10th-place finish in last year's NCAA Championships. Carolina has captured the team title in three tournaments since Inman was named head coach, all coming during the 1998-99 season.
Inman came to Carolina in the summer of '98 after spending 12 years on the PGA Tour. A native of Greensboro, N.C., and a 1984 graduate of Carolina, Inman won two tournaments during his professional career -- the 1987 Provident Classic and the 1993 Buick Southern Open. He posted eight top 10 finishes and 32 top 25 finishes.
Inman, a three-time All-America (1982-84) and three-time All-ACC performer (1982-84), played on the Tar Heel team from 1981-84. He won the NCAA Individual Championship in 1984 and was the recipient of the 1984 Fred Haskins Award as the National Player of the Year. Inman won five individual titles while donning a Tar Heel uniform, including the '84 NCAA Championship and the '82 ACC Championship. Inman was also a member of the 1984 World Amateur Team and the '84 Western Amateur champion.
Players Mentioned
