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University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina's Men's Golf Team Ready To Tee Off Spring Season
March 4, 2005 | Men's Golf
March 4, 2005
Chapel Hill, N.C. - The North Carolina men's golf team will look to break through the competition this spring after a strong finish in the fall season. This year's squad returns many of its top golfers. However, it will miss the seniors who graduated in the spring of 2004.
Last year's seniors, Richard Treis and All-America Dustin Bray, played significant roles in the Tar Heels' success in the 2003-04 season, including a ninth-place finish in the NCAA Tournament. Although their absence will be felt, head coach John Inman thinks this year's team may be as good as any he's seen in his time at UNC.
"Losing a guy like Dustin Bray is tough," says Inman. "To lose a young man who has won seven golf tournaments in his career, the most of anybody in North Carolina history, will be difficult but not impossible to do. We've handled that by replacing his loss with depth."
This fall the Tar Heels displayed their new strengths with first and secondplace finishes in two tournaments at the end of the season.
Carolina won the Franklin Street Partners Invitational on its home course with an impressive tournament total of 25-under-par 839. The score set a record for the fourth lowest team total in Carolina history.
The Tar Heels had four golfers finish in the top 15, two of whom finished second and third. Sophomore Martin Ureta, from Santiago, Chile, shot a five-under 67 in the second round to finish one stroke behind the winner. Junior Jonathan Jackson, from Chapel Hill, finished one stroke behind Ureta for a third-place finish.
In their next tournament, the Duke Golf Classic, the Tar Heels took second place. Ureta fired a six-under-par 66 in the final round to force a playoff for the individual title. After four playoff holes he emerged victorious to claim the first individual medal of his collegiate career.
This fall's performance gives Coach Inman and the North Carolina men's golf team a lot to look forward to in the spring.
"I'm pleased with our performance but I'm ready for us to break through," says Inman. "We've had some really good scores this fall that have proved that we have the ability. Now we just have to believe that we have the ability.
"In the spring I'll be really excited to see some of the guys who weren't top performers in the fall to come out strong. They've been working hard and I've seen some good progress being made."
This year's freshmen include Barden Berry from Kinston, N.C., Ryan Holler, from Morehead City, N.C., Josh Moore from Cary, N.C., and Wallace Palmer from Augusta, Ga. Their work ethic has already had an impact on the team.
"These freshmen are out working hard and showing that they really want to play," says Inman. "They set a good example for the rest of the team.
Inman expects sophomores Reed Darsie from Chapel Hill and Martin Ureta to be impact players in the spring. Ureta finished in the top ten in four of Carolina's five fall tournaments.
"Martin is one of the best players in college golf," says Inman. "He's a special player who's very confident and very consistent in all aspects of the game."
Seniors Matt Crenshaw from Burlington, N.C., and Doug Kingston from Bethlehem, Pa., will also play important roles for the Tar Heels.
Crenshaw is coming off of a second surgery on his right wrist but has recovered very well and could be playing his best golf this spring.
The Tar Heels will look for other contributions from juniors Fernando Figueroa from San Salvador, El Salvador, Jackson, Kevin Silva from New Bedford, Mass., and Ted Smith from Westlake, Ohio.
"We'll have a lot of competition between the players for playing time and for the top spots because we have a lot of guys that want it," says Inman. "When you have that you see good things happen."
Even with the intense amount of competition, this year's squad has good team chemistry.
"The guys enjoy being around each other, playing together, and competing against each other," says Inman. "I think that's going to pay dividends. Even though they're competitors, they're rooting for each other and they want to help the team. These guys want to win championships."
Assistant Coach Don Hill is in his second year, and Inman notes that he plays an important role in team building.
The Tar Heels begin the spring season with the Seminole Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla., March 6-8, and play five tournaments before the ACC Championship.
"We have a solid spring schedule. We play a lot of tournaments in a row. We have a good, solid set of tournaments. There will be top flight competition in all of them."
Coach Inman always sets the goal of an ACC Championship and thinks that this year's team has as good of a shot as any he's seen.
"We have as much talent and depth as we've had in quite a while and we've had some pretty good teams in the past," says Inman. "We just want to go out and execute. We know what the schedule is and who we're going to see. We just have to do all the preparation that will make playing well easy."
Players Mentioned
