Men's Golf Returns to Notre Dame for Fighting Irish Classic

Carolina men's golf returns to competition Oct. 7-8 in the Fighting Irish Classic at the Warren Golf Course on Notre Dame's campus. The Tar Heels are ranked No. 14 in the country in the latest Golfweek Bushnell Coaches Poll.

Last year, the Tar Heels shot a blistering 31 under par, but finished third behind Illinois (-44) and Georgia Southern (-34) in the Fighting Irish Classic. Ryan Gerard tied the course record and set the tournament record with a 10-under-61 in the final round. The 61 was the lowest round ever by a Tar Heel.

Gerard shot 65-73-61 for a 14-under-199 and finished second after Georgia Southern's Steven Fisk sank a 30-foot birdie on the final hole to edge Gerard by a single stroke.

Gerard's 199 finish was just the third 54-hole total under 200 by a Tar Heel.

Four of Carolina's five starters this season also played in the event last October. Joining Gerard are Ryan Burnett, who tied for seventh place at 10-under-203; Austin Hitt, who tied for 15th at 6-under-207; and Dougie Ergood, who shot 6-over-219.

Freshman Austin Greaser rounds out the starters and freshman Kenan Poole will compete as an individual entry.

This is Carolina's fourth event of the fall and first since a strong fourth-place performance at the Olympia Fields Country Club/Fighting Illini Invitational on Sept. 20-22. Hitt tied for seventh, Burnett for 17th and Greaser and Gerard finished in the top 30 at Olympia Fields, where the Tar Heels defeated a number of top programs, including Illinois, Texas A&M, Florida, Florida State, Texas, Alabama, California and Oklahoma State.

Burnett leads Carolina in stroke average at 68.78. The sophomore from Lafayette, Calif., earned ACC Player of the Month honors for September after winning at Turning Stone, finishing third at Duke and 17th at Olympia Fields.

This is the 14th Fighting Irish Classic. Notre Dame has won its home event three times, as has Michigan State, which is also in the 2019 field with UNC, Arizona State, Boston College, Georgia Southern, Iowa, Kent State, Michigan, Mississippi State, Missouri-Kansas City, Rutgers and Toledo.

The Tar Heels are paired with Arizona State and Notre Dame in Monday's first and second rounds. The event concludes with the third round on Tuesday.

The Warren Course runs 7,020 yards. It opened in 2000 and played host to the 2019 United States Senior Open.

"Warren is a fantastic course," says Tar Heel head coach Andrew DiBitetto. "It forces players to make decisions off the tee in certain spots where you can either hit driver into a tighter section of the fairway to set up a shorter approach shot or you take less club off the tee to make the fairway wider which gives you a longer approach. Many of the greens are narrow which puts an added emphasis on shots into the greens. We also assume we'll have to adjust to changing temperatures and wind directions. We enjoyed competing at Notre Dame last year and look forward to being back this week."

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Players Mentioned

Ryan Burnett

Dougie Ergood

Ryan Gerard

Austin Greaser

Austin Hitt

Kenan Poole

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