Tar Heels Open Spring at Pete Dye Course

Carolina begins the spring season on February 5-6 in the Sea Best Invitational at TPC Sawgrass Valley in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

The Tar Heels posted a win, two runner-ups and two ninth-place finishes in their five fall tournaments. This is UNC's first action since October 29^th.

Joining Carolina in the Sea Best are Arkansas, Campbell, Duke, East Carolina, Florida, host Jacksonville, Liberty, Lipscomb, LSU, North Florida, South Florida, Tennessee, USC Upstate and Winthrop.

The teams will play 36 holes beginning at 8 a.m. on Monday and finish with 18 more on Tuesday at famed course architect Pete Dye's Valley Course.

This is the 10^th year of the Sea Best Invitational. Carolina won the event in 2015 and the Tar Heels' second round 273 last season is the third-best round in the tournament's history.

Carolina's starting five includes senior Ben Griffin, senior Jose Montaño, senior William Register, junior Joshua Martin and junior Preyer Fountain. Freshman Ryan Gerard is playing as an individual entry.

"We sat down at the end of the fall season and collectively made a list of things we wanted to work on during the winter and spring," says head coach Andrew DiBitetto. "We want to become more comfortable being uncomfortable – for example, playing with a lead, finishing a round strong or playing a shot that isn't visually appealing to that player.

"We want to be a smarter team this spring and play with higher golf IQs; we want to improve from inside 130 yards; and we want to have our bodies and minds ready to play our best at all times. We expect our guys to compete and grind for every possible shot. We expect them to be confident and when faced with adversity be extremely resilient."

Griffin led the Tar Heels in the fall with a stroke average of 70.80 and has the lowest stroke average in school history at 72.18.

Montaño shot 67 in the second round of this event last year and was second in the fall at 71.87. His collegiate stroke average is 71.87.

Register has the third-lowest stroke average in Tar Heel history at 72.31.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Preyer Fountain

Ryan Gerard

Ben Griffin

Joshua Martin

William Register

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