Carolina Finishes Sixth at Sea Best

Tuesday, February 5

Jacksonville, Fla. (TPC Sawgrass Valley)

All Day

North Carolina

Sea Best Invitational Day Two

February 5, 2019 | Men's Golf

Sea Best Rd 3

Hitt, Burnett Place in the top 15

By: Steve Kirschner

The University of North Carolina men's golf team shot an 8-over-par 288 Tuesday in the third and final round to finish in sixth place at the Sea Best Invitational hosted by Jacksonville University.

Tar Heel freshman Ryan Burnett led UNC in the final round with a 71, which moved him to a tie for 15^th place. Burnett shot 1 over 71s in all three rounds.

Austin Hitt shot 72 today to lead Carolina with a tie for 11^th place at 1 over 211. Ryan Gerard tied for 27^th (6 over 216), Joshua Martin tied for 40^th (9 over 219) and Dougie Ergood tied for 54^th (12 over 222).

Florida State shot the low round of the event today with a 9-under-par 271, which lifted the Seminoles to a three-stroke edge over North Florida to claim the team title. Florida, which led entering the final round, was third, eight shots behind the Seminoles. Liberty was fourth (+11), NC State finished fifth (+14) and Carolina was sixth at 18 over 858.

Florida's Gordon Neale, Jacksonville's Eduardo Carrete and FSU's John Pak tied for first in the individual standings at 4 under 206. Pak won medalist honors by parring the 18th hole in a three-way playoff.

"The Dye Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass is very demanding," says UNC head coach Andrew DiBitetto. "We handled some things well and some things not so well. When there's good and bad, you get average and that's what we were this week. We like coming to this tournament because it gives our guys a great test early in the spring semester and allows all of us to see where their games are at coming out of the holiday break. Our guys have a better understanding on what parts of their game are strengths right now and what areas need improvement. We'll be working hard at home for the next week and a half before heading to Hawai'i."

Carolina returns to action Feb. 23-25 at the John Burns Intercollegiate in Hawai'i.