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University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina's Men's Golf Team At NCAA Championships
May 27, 2003 | Men's Golf
May 27, 2003
TAR HEEL GOLF NOTES
*CAROLINA IN THE NCAA:
Carolina has been to the NCAA Championships 32 times since 1949 and 21 times in the last 23 years. The Tar Heels have carded 24 top-20 finishes and 14 top-10 finishes in NCAA competition. Carolina has had 17 players finish in the top 10 of the individual race 18 times and 31 players finish in the top-20 individually 36 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, 2000 and 2002. This year's NCAA Championships will be played May 27-30 at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla., a par 72, 7,301-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 (271), breaking Ben Crenshaw's NCAA record by two strokes. That record, set at Houston's Bear Creek Golf World, was broken in 2000 by Charles Howell of Oklahoma State who fired a 23-under score of 266.
*TAR HEELS IN THIS YEAR'S NCAA CENTRAL REGIONAL: Carolina earned a spot in the NCAA Championships by tying for fourth place at the NCAA Central Regional played at Colbert Hills Golf Course in Manhattan, Kan. The Tar Heels posted a three-over-par 867 total with rounds of 283-295-289, just 11 strokes behind champion Oklahoma State which carded an 856 total. For the Tar Heels in the regional, Dustin Bray tied for 14th place with a three-under 213 total after firing rounds of 68-73-72. Kevin Silva tied for 27th place with a 216 total (70-75-71), Richard Treis tied for 43rd place (72-74-73), Jeremy Elliott tied for 48th (73-74-73) and Ramon Bescansa tied for 85th (75-74-75). Brett Callas of Houston was the individual champion with a nine-under 207 total.
The top 10 teams and top two individuals not on those 10 teams advanced to the NCAA Championships from each of the three NCAA Regionals. From the Central Regional, the team qualifiers are Oklahoma State, Illinois, NC State, North Carolina, Texas, Kentucky, SMU, Minnesota, Arkansas and Wichita State. From the East Regional, the teams advancing are Clemson, Georgia Tech, Florida, Tennessee, Duke, Wake Forest, Augusta State, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Auburn. From the West Regional, the team qualifiers are UCLA, Arizona, UNLV, Georgia, Arizona State, New Mexico, Washington, Southern California, Oregon and San Diego State. The individuals advancing from the Central Regional are Brett Callas of Houston and Chris Stroud from Lamar; from the East Regional are Ted Brown of VCU and Ryan Goldersleeve of South Alabama and from the West Regional are Michael Putnam of Pepperdine and Tony Giarratano of Denver.
*THREE TAR HEELS SELECTED TO ALL-ACC TEAM: Ramon Bescansa, a senior from Santiago, Spain, Dustin Bray, a junior from Asheboro, N.C. and Richard Treis, a junior from Baden-Baden, Germany, were selected to the 13-man All-Atlantic Coast Conference team as selected by the league's nine head coaches. This marks Bray's third consecutive appearance on the squad. They were joined on the team by Clemson's D.J. Trahan, Matt Hendrix, Gregg Jones and Jack Ferguson; Wake Forest's Brent Wanner, Chad Wilfong and Bill Haas; Georgia Tech's Troy Matteson and Nicholas Thompson and NC State's Justin Walters.
Wake Forest's Haas was named ACC Player of the Year while Duke's Ryan Blaum was selected Rookie of the Year and Larry Penley from Clemson received Coach of the Year accolades for the fifth time in his career.
*TAR HEELS' SUCCESS IN REGIONALS: Since the regional format was instituted in men's golf in 1989, Carolina has been selected to play in the Regionals each year and has qualified for the NCAA Championships 13 out of 14 times. The only year Carolina did not advance to NCAAs was in 2001 when they participated in the Central Regional.
*TAR HEELS IN THE POLLS: Carolina is ranked 10th nationally in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings. Tar Heel junior Dustin Bray is ranked ninth in the individual rankings and junior Richard Treis is ranked 30th.
*CAROLINA THIS SPRING: North Carolina has won two tournaments this spring - the Seminole Intercollegiate and the Birkdale Collegiate Classic. Two Tar Heels won individual titles in those tournaments as well. Dustin Bray won the Seminole Intercollegiate while Richard Treis tied for third place and Kevin Silva tied for 13th. Ramon Bescansa won the Birkdale Collegiate Classic as Bray tied for fifth place and Silva tied for 10th. Carolina tied for second place at The Intercollegiate with a five-under-par 279 total. Treis tied for third place while a trio of Tar Heels tied for 19th - Bray, Bescansa and Silva. The Tar Heels finished third at the ACC Championship as Carolina's Treis was crowned the ACC Individual Champion. Bescansa tied for seventh place, Bray tied for ninth and Jeremy Elliott tied for 17th place. Carolina carded a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Central Regional and has posted two eighth-place finishes this spring - the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational and the Cleveland Golf/Augusta State Invitational. Bray was the low Tar Heel at the Central Regional, tying for 14th place while Treis was the low Tar Heel at the Schenkel, tying for sixth place and Bray was low at Augusta State, tying for 11th place. Carolina finished in 11th place at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship, the first event of the spring campaign where Bray was the runner-up in the individual race.
*CAROLINA IN THE FALL: The Tar Heels posted two top-five finishes in their three fall events. Carolina was the runner-up at The Ridges Intercollegiate where three Tar Heels posted top-20 finishes. Dustin Bray tied for first place, his second win of the year, while Kevin Silva finished 17th and Jeremy Elliott tied for 18th. Bray's first win came at Carolina's first tournament of the year, The International Collegiate, played in St. Andrews, Scotland. Carolina carded a third-place finish as Bray posted a two-stroke victory, Ramon Bescansa tied for third place and Jeremy Elliott tied for 20th. Carolina finished in seventh place at the Carpet Capital Collegiate where Bray was again the low Tar Heel, tying for eighth place. Silva tied for 16th place.
*BRAY LEADS THE WAY FOR TAR HEELS: Dustin Bray, a junior from Asheboro, N.C., has picked up three victories this year. Last fall, he captured the individual title at The International Collegiate and tied for individual medalist honors at The Ridges Intercollegiate. This spring, he added the Seminole Intercollegiate to his collection of collegiate wins which includes the 2002 ACC Championship. Bray boasts the lowest scoring average on the team of 71.00 and has posted 10 top-20 finishes in Carolina's 11 events this year. In addition to his three wins, Bray tied for eighth place at last fall's Carpet Capital Collegiate, and this spring, he tied for runner-up honors at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship, tied for fifth at the Birkdale Collegiate Classic, tied for ninth place at the ACC Championship, tied for 11th at the Cleveland Golf/Augusta State Invitational, tied for 14th at the NCAA Central Regional and tied for 19th place at The Intercollegiate. He also tied for sixth place at last fall's 28th annual Western Refining Golf Classic where he was one of 24 collegiate golfers selected to participate. Bray is ranked ninth in the Golfweek/Sagarin Individual Rankings.
A semifinalist at the 2002 U.S. Amateur, Bray was named to the 2001-02 PING All-America second team and is a three-time All-ACC selection, 2000-01, 2001-02 and 2002-03. He will represent the United States on this summer's Palmer Cup team.
*BESCANSA PICKS UP WIN THIS SPRING: Ramon Bescansa, a senior from Santiago, Spain, picked up the first victory of his collegiate career this spring, a win at the rain-shortened Birkdale Collegiate Classic after firing rounds of 69-68 for a 137 total. Bescansa posted five additional top-30 finishes. He tied for third place at last fall's The International Collegiate, and this spring, he tied for seventh place at the ACC Championship, tied for 19th place at The Intercollegite, tied for 28th place at the Cleveland Golf/Augusta State Invitational and tied for 29th at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship. He was selected to this year's All-ACC squad and tied for sixth place at last fall's 28th annual Western Refining Golf Classic where he was one of 24 collegiate golfers selected to participate.
*TREIS SHINING THIS SPRING: Richard Treis, a junior from Baden-Baden, Germany, captured the 2003 ACC Championship by firing a five-under-par 211 total. After having seen sporadic action his first two years, Treis played in two B-team events last fall and won the individual title at the Shootout at Burning Ridge. After breaking into the starting lineup this spring, he has played in all eight of Carolina's tournaments, posting four top-10 finishes. In addition to his win at ACCs, he tied for third place at The Intercollegiate where he fired his career low round, a six-under-par 65 in the second round. Treis also tied for third place at the Seminole Intercollegiate and tied for sixth place at the Schenkel-E-Z-Go Invitational, where he was the low Tar Heel. Treis was selected to this year's All-ACC team and is ranked 30th in the Golfweek/Sagarin Individual rankings.
*ELLIOTT RETURNS TO LINEUP: Jeremy Elliott, a senior from Chapel Hill, N.C., returned to the lineup for the last three tournaments and will be a starter again this week. Elliott was a starter most of last year and last fall, but has struggled a bit this spring. He tied for 17th place at the ACC Championship and last fall he tied for 18th place at The Ridges Intercollegiate and tied for 20th at The International Collegiate.
*SILVA SEES ACTION AS A FRESHMAN: Kevin Silva, a freshman from New Bedford, Mass., has broken into the Tar Heel lineup in just his freshman season, having been a starter in eight of Carolina's 11 tournaments this year. Silva has posted five top-10 finishes. Last fall, he tied for 16th place at the Carpet Capital Collegiate and finished 17th at The Ridges Intercollegiate. This spring, he tied for 10th place at the Birkdale Collegiate Classic, tied for 13th at the Seminole Intercollegiate and tied for 19th at The Intercollegiate.
*JOHN INMAN IN FIFTH YEAR AS TAR HEEL COACH: John Inman, in his fifth year at the Tar Heel helm, led Carolina to top-20 finishes in the NCAA Championships in 1999, 2000 and 2002. Carolina has captured the team title in six tournaments since Inman was named head coach.
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.
