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University of North Carolina Athletics
Tuesday, October 8
Notre Dame, Ind.
All Day
North Carolina
at
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Classic Day Two
Men's Golf 2nd at Notre Dame by One Shot
October 8, 2019 | Men's Golf
Burnett, Gerard, Greaser All in Top Six
North Carolina shot the best round Tuesday and made up all but one stroke of a seven-shot overnight deficit, but finished second to host Notre Dame at the Fighting Irish Classic Tuesday at the Warren Golf Course.
Sophomore Ryan Burnett led Carolina with a final-round 67 and tied for second with a 6-under-par 207 total. He was one of three Tar Heels to finish in the top six – junior Ryan Gerard tied for fourth and freshman Austin Greaser was sixth.
Carolina led the event by four strokes over the Irish after 18 holes, but Notre Dame surged into the lead Monday afternoon, moving to 14 under par and building a seven-shot margin heading into today's final round.
The Tar Heels pulled even at 14 under on the back nine and evened the tournament again at 16 under after birdies on the 17th hole by Burnett, Gerard and sophomore Dougie Ergood. A bogey on the 18th hole dropped UNC back to 15 under and all four Notre Dame scorers parred the 18th hole to secure the one-shot victory on its home course.
The Irish finished 16-under-282, while the Tar Heels played the 54 holes in 15-under-283. Iowa was third at plus 3. No. 1-ranked Arizona State and Rutgers tied for fourth at 11 over, 26 shots behind UNC.
Notre Dame and Carolina were the only teams in the 14-school field to shoot under par in all three rounds. Four Tar Heels, led by Burnett's 4-under-67, shot par or better in the final round.
Ergood and Gerard both shot 2-under-69s, Greaser shot an even-par 71 and senior Austin Hitt posted a 72.
Burnett's second-place tie is his third top three finish in four fall events; he won at Turning Stone in Verona, N.Y., and was third at Duke. He shot an even-par 35 on the front side, today, then birdied 10, eagled the par-4 15th when he nearly drive the green and chipped in for a 2, and birdied 17.
It was Gerard's and Greaser's second-top 10 finish of the season for both players. Ergood's 69 was his second round in the 60s this season.
Christopher Gotterup of Rutgers won medalist honors at 14 under, shooting 68-63-68–199.
"There are a lot of emotions on a day like today," says UNC head coach Andrew DiBitetto. "Finishing second hurts. And finishing second by one shot hurts even more. The flip side to that are the feelings that it creates. It gets your insides turning and makes every guy look at their cards to find every shot possible where they could have been just a little better. It creates determination and a fire to continue to improve. With all that said, we're proud of our guys. They fought their rears off until the very end. We had four guys shoot par or better and had the low round of the day by five shots. Notre Dame is a really good team and we knew we needed a great round today to come from behind and beat them on their home course. We almost got them. The golf coming down the stretch, by both teams, was amazing. Tip of the cap to our guys and to Notre Dame."
Carolina returns to action Oct. 18-20 at the Golf Club of Georgia Intercollegiate in Atlanta.
Sophomore Ryan Burnett led Carolina with a final-round 67 and tied for second with a 6-under-par 207 total. He was one of three Tar Heels to finish in the top six – junior Ryan Gerard tied for fourth and freshman Austin Greaser was sixth.
Carolina led the event by four strokes over the Irish after 18 holes, but Notre Dame surged into the lead Monday afternoon, moving to 14 under par and building a seven-shot margin heading into today's final round.
The Tar Heels pulled even at 14 under on the back nine and evened the tournament again at 16 under after birdies on the 17th hole by Burnett, Gerard and sophomore Dougie Ergood. A bogey on the 18th hole dropped UNC back to 15 under and all four Notre Dame scorers parred the 18th hole to secure the one-shot victory on its home course.
The Irish finished 16-under-282, while the Tar Heels played the 54 holes in 15-under-283. Iowa was third at plus 3. No. 1-ranked Arizona State and Rutgers tied for fourth at 11 over, 26 shots behind UNC.
Notre Dame and Carolina were the only teams in the 14-school field to shoot under par in all three rounds. Four Tar Heels, led by Burnett's 4-under-67, shot par or better in the final round.
Ergood and Gerard both shot 2-under-69s, Greaser shot an even-par 71 and senior Austin Hitt posted a 72.
Burnett's second-place tie is his third top three finish in four fall events; he won at Turning Stone in Verona, N.Y., and was third at Duke. He shot an even-par 35 on the front side, today, then birdied 10, eagled the par-4 15th when he nearly drive the green and chipped in for a 2, and birdied 17.
It was Gerard's and Greaser's second-top 10 finish of the season for both players. Ergood's 69 was his second round in the 60s this season.
Christopher Gotterup of Rutgers won medalist honors at 14 under, shooting 68-63-68–199.
"There are a lot of emotions on a day like today," says UNC head coach Andrew DiBitetto. "Finishing second hurts. And finishing second by one shot hurts even more. The flip side to that are the feelings that it creates. It gets your insides turning and makes every guy look at their cards to find every shot possible where they could have been just a little better. It creates determination and a fire to continue to improve. With all that said, we're proud of our guys. They fought their rears off until the very end. We had four guys shoot par or better and had the low round of the day by five shots. Notre Dame is a really good team and we knew we needed a great round today to come from behind and beat them on their home course. We almost got them. The golf coming down the stretch, by both teams, was amazing. Tip of the cap to our guys and to Notre Dame."
Carolina returns to action Oct. 18-20 at the Golf Club of Georgia Intercollegiate in Atlanta.
Players Mentioned
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