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University of North Carolina Athletics
Ryan Gerard
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
GoHeels Exclusive: Confident Gerard Thriving
April 6, 2018 | Men's Golf, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
At age 6, playing in a U.S. Kids Golf tournament at Hillandale Golf Course in Durham, Ryan Gerard broke 40 for the first time.
But aside from the wide smile on his father's face, Gerard, who said he lost by about 20 strokes to Joshua Martin in his only other tournament before then, can only recall one other detail from that nine-hole round, which he finished with a 1-under-par 35.
"I remember the big takeaway was, 'Why did they put my score up there in red? It's not like everyone else's. I don't like it,'" Gerard said. "I guess that was one of the times I was like, 'OK, maybe you're kind of good at this.'"
That's all the confirmation he needed.
From there, Gerard ascended through the ranks to become one of the top junior golfers in the country. His confidence built over time. And since joining the North Carolina men's golf team in August, he's helped bring tenacity and competitiveness to a program seeking such traits under first-year head coach Andrew DiBitetto.
"I've just always thought highly of the way he went about his business," said DiBitetto, who spent the last six seasons as UNC's assistant coach. "We knew we were going to get a pretty fiery guy who at the end of the day the most important thing to him is how quickly he's getting the ball in the hole. And that's the one thing that matters most in golf."
Gerard began learning that at an early age.
Just 15 months old, Gerard said he started practicing with his father, Bob, on the putting green at Wildwood Green Golf Club in Raleigh. Too small for an adult-sized putter, he used a cutdown one instead. He then received his first set of clubs when he turned 2.
It might not come as much of a surprise that Gerard became hooked on golf; Bob played for Florida Atlantic and some professionally. But Gerard said his father, who possesses a similar swing, never pressured him into playing.
"He always wanted what's best for me and he wanted me to play the best I could," Gerard said. "Obviously, there's some disagreements along the way. I was this young 12-, 13-year-old kid who thought he knew everything. And the reality is I just didn't.
"My dad was there for me the whole time and really knew what was best for me because he had been there."
In the seventh grade, Gerard joined the varsity team at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh. UNC began showing interest two summers later. And after two visits, he committed to the Tar Heels in February of his sophomore year.
At the time, Carter Jenkins, one of Gerard's childhood friends, was playing for UNC. Jenkins' pitch, among several other factors, ultimately sold Gerard.
"I ended up falling in love with the place, falling in love with the campus, falling in love with this building right here," said Gerard, sitting inside the Chapman Golf Center last Friday. "And I always played well at this golf course for some reason.
"It seemed in my mind like, 'Alright, why should I even wait?'"
Gerard went on to win five junior titles. His most notable victories came at the AJGA Polo Golf Junior Classic and the AJGA Midwest Junior Players Championship in 2015. He also earned 2016 AJGA Rolex All-America and 2017 USA Today All-America honors.
Because of this success and his self-assurance, Gerard said he expected he'd enter the Tar Heels' starting lineup as soon as he joined the team last fall. But that didn't happen.
He opened his collegiate career playing as an individual. In his first tournament, the Wolfpack Intercollegiate, he shot an 8-over 224 at N.C. State's Lonnie Poole Golf Course, where he said he's played "a million times." He says now he "was probably a little rattled."
Gerard played two more tournaments during the fall season, both as an individual. But although he improved on his collegiate debut, recording a pair of top-20 finishes, the challenges that come with adjusting to college, especially those related to time management, and some rare putting struggles tested him.
"It wasn't a lack of motivation in the fall," Gerard said. "It was just maybe a lack of confidence."
So he used the winter break to build it back up.
Gerard initially went to Florida, where he said he spent some time with his grandmother and also played in a couple of professional tournaments. He then played in the Patriot All-America Invitational in Litchfield Park, Ariz.
Competing against PING All-Americas from the 2017 season in NCAA Divisions I, II and III, as well as All-Americas from the NAIA, NJCAA and AJGA ranks, Gerard carded a 3-over 213 at the 54-hole amateur event. He tied for 29th among 84 participants.
"All of a sudden," he said, "I played with a couple professionals who I started playing a little bit better against and then started playing with some of the better players and started playing a little better against them. So it was like, 'OK, guess I'm ready to go.'"
Gerard opened the spring season with an 14th-place finish at the Sea Best Invitational, where he shot a 1-under 209 as an individual. He moved into the starting lineup for the John Burns Intercollegiate. And he's since stayed there.
Entering the the Western Intercollegiate, held Saturday and Sunday in Santa Cruz, Calif., Gerard has recorded six straight top-20 finishes. That includes two top-10s over his last three tournaments. In that span, he's posted a 71.1 scoring average.
No UNC freshman has registered as many top-20 finishes as Gerard since Ben Griffin and William Register each had 10 during the 2014-15 campaign. Before them, the last Tar Heel freshman with at least six top-20 finishes was Kevin O'Connell. He had nine during the 2007-08 season, when he was named the program's first and only ACC Freshman of the Year.
Gerard will face stiff competition for that honor this season. Even at No. 123 in Golfweek's latest men's collegiate individual rankings, by no means the deciding factor in the ACC Freshman of the Year race, he is still ranked behind three other freshmen in the conference.
But he should at the very least receive consideration for the award. That might not have seemed likely just a few months ago, as he battled through adversity.
"I'm very proud of Ryan for sticking with it and for really continuing to believe in himself because in our sport, that's a really hard thing to do," DiBitetto said. "When things don't go your way – it doesn't matter if it's for a week or two months or two years – people have a tendency to kind of lose that belief, lose that confidence in themselves.
"Ryan didn't. He just stuck with it, and he's maintained that very high self-belief."
That and Gerard's competitiveness have also rubbed off on his teammates.
Whether it's during a practice at the Chapman Golf Center, a qualifying round or a practice round, DiBitetto said competition is "important to what we're doing on an everyday basis." Gerard's intensity helps fuel that.
"Everybody is different, every personality is different," DiBitetto said. "But there are some personalities on our team that are now running kind of side by side with Ryan in that competitive environment."
Gerard believes there's a line between being confident and being cocky. At times, he said, it's difficult for him not to cross it.
Yet he also knows that element of his personality, a product of the work he's put in and his overwhelming desire to avoid losing at a sport in which wins so infrequently occur, is important to achieving his aspirations.
"I want to be one of the best players ever," Gerard said. "I want to be the best at this program ever. I want to be up there with the names that you put when you say, 'Oh, man, these guys could really hit a little white ball around.' I think to get there, you kind of have to have confidence."
Gerrard would know. It's gotten him this far.
At age 6, playing in a U.S. Kids Golf tournament at Hillandale Golf Course in Durham, Ryan Gerard broke 40 for the first time.
But aside from the wide smile on his father's face, Gerard, who said he lost by about 20 strokes to Joshua Martin in his only other tournament before then, can only recall one other detail from that nine-hole round, which he finished with a 1-under-par 35.
"I remember the big takeaway was, 'Why did they put my score up there in red? It's not like everyone else's. I don't like it,'" Gerard said. "I guess that was one of the times I was like, 'OK, maybe you're kind of good at this.'"
That's all the confirmation he needed.
From there, Gerard ascended through the ranks to become one of the top junior golfers in the country. His confidence built over time. And since joining the North Carolina men's golf team in August, he's helped bring tenacity and competitiveness to a program seeking such traits under first-year head coach Andrew DiBitetto.
"I've just always thought highly of the way he went about his business," said DiBitetto, who spent the last six seasons as UNC's assistant coach. "We knew we were going to get a pretty fiery guy who at the end of the day the most important thing to him is how quickly he's getting the ball in the hole. And that's the one thing that matters most in golf."
Gerard began learning that at an early age.
Just 15 months old, Gerard said he started practicing with his father, Bob, on the putting green at Wildwood Green Golf Club in Raleigh. Too small for an adult-sized putter, he used a cutdown one instead. He then received his first set of clubs when he turned 2.
It might not come as much of a surprise that Gerard became hooked on golf; Bob played for Florida Atlantic and some professionally. But Gerard said his father, who possesses a similar swing, never pressured him into playing.
"He always wanted what's best for me and he wanted me to play the best I could," Gerard said. "Obviously, there's some disagreements along the way. I was this young 12-, 13-year-old kid who thought he knew everything. And the reality is I just didn't.
"My dad was there for me the whole time and really knew what was best for me because he had been there."
In the seventh grade, Gerard joined the varsity team at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh. UNC began showing interest two summers later. And after two visits, he committed to the Tar Heels in February of his sophomore year.
At the time, Carter Jenkins, one of Gerard's childhood friends, was playing for UNC. Jenkins' pitch, among several other factors, ultimately sold Gerard.
"I ended up falling in love with the place, falling in love with the campus, falling in love with this building right here," said Gerard, sitting inside the Chapman Golf Center last Friday. "And I always played well at this golf course for some reason.
"It seemed in my mind like, 'Alright, why should I even wait?'"
Gerard went on to win five junior titles. His most notable victories came at the AJGA Polo Golf Junior Classic and the AJGA Midwest Junior Players Championship in 2015. He also earned 2016 AJGA Rolex All-America and 2017 USA Today All-America honors.
Because of this success and his self-assurance, Gerard said he expected he'd enter the Tar Heels' starting lineup as soon as he joined the team last fall. But that didn't happen.
He opened his collegiate career playing as an individual. In his first tournament, the Wolfpack Intercollegiate, he shot an 8-over 224 at N.C. State's Lonnie Poole Golf Course, where he said he's played "a million times." He says now he "was probably a little rattled."
Gerard played two more tournaments during the fall season, both as an individual. But although he improved on his collegiate debut, recording a pair of top-20 finishes, the challenges that come with adjusting to college, especially those related to time management, and some rare putting struggles tested him.
"It wasn't a lack of motivation in the fall," Gerard said. "It was just maybe a lack of confidence."
So he used the winter break to build it back up.
Gerard initially went to Florida, where he said he spent some time with his grandmother and also played in a couple of professional tournaments. He then played in the Patriot All-America Invitational in Litchfield Park, Ariz.
Competing against PING All-Americas from the 2017 season in NCAA Divisions I, II and III, as well as All-Americas from the NAIA, NJCAA and AJGA ranks, Gerard carded a 3-over 213 at the 54-hole amateur event. He tied for 29th among 84 participants.
"All of a sudden," he said, "I played with a couple professionals who I started playing a little bit better against and then started playing with some of the better players and started playing a little better against them. So it was like, 'OK, guess I'm ready to go.'"
Gerard opened the spring season with an 14th-place finish at the Sea Best Invitational, where he shot a 1-under 209 as an individual. He moved into the starting lineup for the John Burns Intercollegiate. And he's since stayed there.
Entering the the Western Intercollegiate, held Saturday and Sunday in Santa Cruz, Calif., Gerard has recorded six straight top-20 finishes. That includes two top-10s over his last three tournaments. In that span, he's posted a 71.1 scoring average.
No UNC freshman has registered as many top-20 finishes as Gerard since Ben Griffin and William Register each had 10 during the 2014-15 campaign. Before them, the last Tar Heel freshman with at least six top-20 finishes was Kevin O'Connell. He had nine during the 2007-08 season, when he was named the program's first and only ACC Freshman of the Year.
Gerard will face stiff competition for that honor this season. Even at No. 123 in Golfweek's latest men's collegiate individual rankings, by no means the deciding factor in the ACC Freshman of the Year race, he is still ranked behind three other freshmen in the conference.
But he should at the very least receive consideration for the award. That might not have seemed likely just a few months ago, as he battled through adversity.
"I'm very proud of Ryan for sticking with it and for really continuing to believe in himself because in our sport, that's a really hard thing to do," DiBitetto said. "When things don't go your way – it doesn't matter if it's for a week or two months or two years – people have a tendency to kind of lose that belief, lose that confidence in themselves.
"Ryan didn't. He just stuck with it, and he's maintained that very high self-belief."
That and Gerard's competitiveness have also rubbed off on his teammates.
Whether it's during a practice at the Chapman Golf Center, a qualifying round or a practice round, DiBitetto said competition is "important to what we're doing on an everyday basis." Gerard's intensity helps fuel that.
"Everybody is different, every personality is different," DiBitetto said. "But there are some personalities on our team that are now running kind of side by side with Ryan in that competitive environment."
Gerard believes there's a line between being confident and being cocky. At times, he said, it's difficult for him not to cross it.
Yet he also knows that element of his personality, a product of the work he's put in and his overwhelming desire to avoid losing at a sport in which wins so infrequently occur, is important to achieving his aspirations.
"I want to be one of the best players ever," Gerard said. "I want to be the best at this program ever. I want to be up there with the names that you put when you say, 'Oh, man, these guys could really hit a little white ball around.' I think to get there, you kind of have to have confidence."
Gerrard would know. It's gotten him this far.
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