Tar Heels Head To Utah For Spring Break Competition

Monday, March 12

St. George, Utah (Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club)

All Day

North Carolina

BYU at Entrada Classic Day 1

Mariana Ocano

Photo by: Andy Mead

March 11, 2018 | Women's Golf

Live Results

By: Matt Hodgin

ST. GEORGE, UTAH - The University of North Carolina women's golf team travels to the Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club in St. George, Utah, to compete in the BYU at Entrada Classic over spring break. The tournament will be held from March 12-13.

The Tar Heels are coming off a seventh-place finish at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate where sophomore Mariana Ocano had one of the best performances of her career. She tied for 11th at 6-over par, which is the best showing for her in a major tournament - last season, Ocano tied for fourth with a 3-over-par 219 at the River Landing Classic against a significantly weaker field. She also shot 1-under-par 70 in the final round, which was a career-best round for Ocano.

The 54-hole BYU at Entrada Classic will play host to 14 teams over the two days. Four teams are ranked in the Golfstat Top 50 and two players in the top 50.

Fans can follow @uncwomensgolf on Twitter and Instagram for updates throughout the tournament. UNC Women's Golf is also on Facebook. A recap and results will be posted on GoHeels.com following the conclusion of each day of competition.

THE FIELD
Boise State, BYU (48), Kent State (18), North Carolina (26), Oral Roberts, Oregon State, Santa Clara, SMU (49), Southern Utah, Texas Tech, Tulsa, UT- San Antonio, Utah Valley, Wyoming .

TAR HEEL STARTING FIVE
Carolina's starting five will be sophomore Mariana Ocano (St. Petersburg, Fla.), sophomore Brynn Walker (St. David's, Pa.), freshman Ava Bergner (Ketsch, Germany), junior Kelly Whaley (Farmington, Conn.) and senior Bryana Nguyen (Columbia, Md.).

THE TOURNAMENT VENUE
The BYU at Entrada Classic will be played at the Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club in St. George, Utah. The course has a par-72, 6098-yard set-up.

COMPETITION SCHEDULE
The BYU at Entrada Classic is a 54-hole tournament with two rounds scheduled Monday, March 12 (shotgun start at 10:30 a.m. ET), and one round Tuesday, March 13 (shotgun start at 10:30 a.m. ET).

LIVE SCORING
Live results from the BYU at Entrada Classic will be available at Golfstat.com

HEAD COACH JAN MANN - COMMENTS
On how the team is handling the quick turnaround
"The most important thing is to let the student-athletes catch up with their school work and get some rest so that going into this tournament, even though it is going into spring break, that they are not feeling overwhelmed because if they are overwhelmed, then obviously they are not going to perform at their best. We really try to give them some time. Wednesday, we had an open practice where they could work on anything they felt like they needed to work on. Thursday, we got out on the golf course and got some work done out there, and then we left on Friday."

On if the stressful periods during the year can affect her players' game
"I think it definitely can. I think stressful times can definitely affect a player and how they perform. We like to think that they keep their golf, their academics and their social life compartmentalized, but that is easier said than done sometimes. So, do we ever see how playing in a tournament is affected by the time of year, definitely, particularly with our first years. Sometimes it's a bigger adjustment for them because just managing their time is more difficult. I was talking to Ava yesterday, and I was really surprised that most of my first years have 'melt downs' early in the year but Ava has done very well. I think it maybe caught up with her this last tournament. There is a lot going on, but there is no doubt she will do just fine and get through it. We are looking forward to a bit of break."

On what she knows about this course

"It's in the desert portion of Utah. I think our weather is going to be decent. We were paired with the Arizona State coach at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate and she has played in that tournament before. She said it's a great golf course. Part of it is surrounded by volcanic rock, so it can be very intimidating to the eye in that you just have to have a strong game plan going in for a few of the holes. They are a little odd, so you really just have to have a game plan you can't waver from. She told me on a couple of holes that if you hit a ball into the volcanic rock and you hit a provisional and the provisional is in the fairway, then you don't go looking for the other ball; you just take the provisional. We are anxious to get out to Utah and for some nice weather. Entrada is supposed to be an exceptionally nice resort golf course."