University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Battle at the Beach Day 1
Tar Heels Head To Mexico For Fall Finale
November 2, 2017 | Women's Golf
SAN JOSE DEL CABO, MEXICO - The University of North Carolina women's golf team will close out its fall season at the inaugural Battle at the Beach in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, Friday-Sunday Nov. 3-5. The No. 24 Tar Heels again face a deep field featuring seven of the top-30 teams in the country, including top-ranked UCLA.
The individual talent on display at Club Campestre San Jose will feature 10 of the top-30 players in the country - No.3 Patty Tavatanakit of UCLA, No.5 Lilia Vu of UCLA, No.6 Sophia Schubert of Texas, No.12 Emilia Migliaccio and No.13 Jennifer Kupcho of Wake Forest, No.16 Bethany Wu of UCLA, No.18 Anna Redding of Virginia, No.20 Jaclyn Lee of Ohio State, No.22 Mariel Galdiano of UCLA and No.30 Ava Bergner of North Carolina.
THE FIELD
Auburn, Baylor, Mississippi State, TCU, Ohio State, Tulane, Vanderbilt (20), Wake Forest (22), UCLA (1), Houston, North Carolina (24), North Texas, Oklahoma (30), Texas (11) and Virginia (25).
TAR HEEL STARTING FIVE
Carolina's starting five will be freshman Ava Bergner (Ketsch, Germany), sophomore Brynn Walker (St. David's, Pa.), junior Kelly Whaley (Farmington, Conn.), senior Bryana Nguyen (Columbia, Md.) and sophomore Mariana Ocano (St. Petersburg, Fla.).
THE TOURNAMENT VENUE
The 2017 Battle at the Beach will be played at Club Campestre San Jose in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. The course has a par-71, 6209-yard set-up.
COMPETITION SCHEDULE
The Battle at the Beach is a 54-hole tournament with single rounds scheduled Friday (shotgun start at 11:30 a.m.), Saturday (shotgun start at 11:30 a.m.) and Sunday (shotgun start at 11 a.m.).
LIVE SCORING
Live results from the Battle at the Beach will be available at birdiefire.com.
LAST TIME OUT
The University of North Carolina wrapped up the 42nd Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational Oct. 15 in 5th place at 8-under-par 856. It was the highest finish for the Tar Heels in their home tournament since winning in 2012, and the 54-hole tournament score was their best Tar Heel Invitational score ever.
Carolina was once again led by freshman Ava Bergner (Ketsch, Germany), however this time in record-breaking fashion.
Bergner had the best Tar Heel Invitational score ever for a Tar Heel 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 on Sunday, 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.
TAR HEEL SCORES
T3 - Ava Bergner 70-70-66—206 (-10)
T23 - Brynn Walker 71-70-73—214 (-2)
T32 - Kelly Whaley 74-72-71—217 (+1)
T55 - Bryana Nguyen 74-73-76—223 (+7)
T67 - Mariana Ocano 81-71-74—226 (+10)
Team Totals 289-283-284—856, -8 (5 of 18 teams)
HEAD COACH JAN MANN - COMMENTS
On the team's performance in the Tar Heel Invitational
"I think they were overall pleased. It was certainly a very, very strong field, and we finished fifth. Was that where we wanted to finish? Absolutely not. Could the girls have played better? Absolutely. I would love to see us finish up this tournament with a really, really strong performance from each of them because I know each of them can give us a real strong performance. I think it would be a big boost going in to the offseason to have a good finish for the fall. I love this team. I love how they work. I love how they work together. They practice hard. They're doing all of the right things."
On Bergner's high-level play pushing the rest of the team
"Well I hope that everyone on the team wants to beat Ava's brains out. That's what you should want. She's your competitor. She's your teammate. You want to beat her, you want her to do well but you want to finish a shot or two better than her. So I think it's certainly given the team a great challenge to perform up to the level that she is. I think that Ava likes to win. She doesn't want to be beaten by anybody, including her teammates. I think it's a good, healthy competition."
On the Battle at the Beach field
"It might be as strong deep as we were top heavy [at the Tar Heel invitational]."
Players Mentioned
