University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Mason Rudolph Championship Day 3
Bergner 18th At The Mason Rudolph Championship, Tar Heels Finish 11th
September 17, 2017 | Women's Golf
FRANKLIN, Tenn. - Freshman Ava Bergner shot a 2-under-par 70 to lead the University of North Carolina in the final round of the Mason Rudolph Championship Sunday. She finished the tournament tied for 18th at 4-under par.Â
Bergner was Carolina's top performer for the second tournament in a row after finishing tied for 10th at the Ocean Course Invitational two weeks ago. She already has three under-par, two even-par rounds and a 72.00 stroke average to begin the year. That is best start to a freshman season since Casey Grice had three under-par rounds, an even-par round and a 71.83 stroke average through her first two tournaments in 2010.Â
"She has been extremely impressive as a freshman," head coach Jan Mann said. "Her poise on the golf course is just tremendous and you would never guess she was a freshman by the way that she handles herself on the golf course. She's got a fighting instinct about her that's just tremendous to see, and she has fun doing it."
Carolina finished the nationally-competitive tournament in 11th at 9-over par.Â
Brynn Walker walked off with an eagle to finish even on the day and tied for 44th at 3-over par for the weekend. Bryana Nguyen shot a 74 to finish 6-over and tied for 54th, and Mariana Ocano rounded out the scoring Sunday with a 75 to finish at 10-over par and tied for 62nd. Kelly Whaley shot a 76 to finish tied for 57th at 7-over. Competing as an individual, Clementina Rodriguez shot a 78, finishing the tournament tied for 75th at 19-over par.Â
"There are a lot of positives to build on for sure," Mann said. The ball striking overall I thought was very good. The area that we really have to focus on is the putting, learning to putt with great confidence and not worrying about the outcome. There were a lot of short putts that should have gone in that didn't, and that was the difference between us playing good golf and playing excellent golf."
For the Tar Heels, it isn't so much technique, but mentally seeing the putts go in, believing they are going in and stroking with confidence.
"There were so many times where I saw great shots in the greens and we come away with a par instead of a birdie," Mann said. "That made the difference."
Arkansas won the Mason Rudolph in impressive fashion. They led after each round, shot 15-under on Sunday and finished at 41-under par for the tournament. Alabama, defending-national champion Arizona State, host Vanderbilt and 2017 NCAA runner-up Northwestern rounded out the top five. Â
Laura Stephenson of Alabama and Maria Fassi of Arkansas tied at the top after shooting 64s in the final round to both finish at 16-under par. Arkansas claimed three of the top five places on their way to the winning the tournament.Â
The Tar Heels now head home to sharpen their game after two tournaments in three weekends. Next up, Carolina will host the annual Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational Oct. 13-15 at the UNC Finley Golf Course.
TAR HEEL SCORES
T18 - Ava Bergner 70-72-70—212 (-4)
T44 - Brynn Walker 76-71-72—219 (+3)
T54 - Bryana Nguyen 75-73-74—222 (+6)
T57 - Kelly Whaley 73-74-76—223 (+7)
T62 - Mariana Ocano 79-72-75—226 (+10)
Team Totals 294-288-291—873, +9 (11 of 15 teams)
(competing as an individual)
T75 Clementina Rodriguez 78-79-78—235 (+19)
TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. Arkansas 273-277-273—823 (-41)
2. Alabama 284-272-273—829 (-35)
3. Arizona State 277-276-286—839 (-25)
4. Vanderbilt 275-283-284—842 (-22)
5. Northwestern 285-280-282—847 (-17)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD
T1. Laura Stephenson (Alabama) 68-68-64—200 (-16)
T1. Maria Fassi (Arkansas) 65-71-64–200 (-16)
3. Alana Uriell (Arkansas) 67-69-68—204 (-12)
T4. Linnea Strom (Arizona State) 67-69-70–206 (-10)
T4. Dylan Kim (Arkansas) 70-67-69—206 (-10)
T4. Abbey Carlson (Vanderbilt) 66-69-71-206 (-10)
Players Mentioned
