Carolina is Stanford Bound for NCAA Regional
May 1, 2019 | Men's Golf
Tar Heels the No. 5 Seed in Palo Alto
The University of North Carolina men's golf team is the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Stanford Regional, one of six regionals to begin play in the 2019 NCAA Championship. The top five teams in each regional, which will be played May 13-15, will advance to the NCAA Championship, which begins May 24 in Fayetteville, Ark.
This is the sixth time in the last seven years the Tar Heels have been invited to play in an NCAA regional. UNC advanced out of regional play to the national championship in each of the last two seasons, including the 2017 Stanford Regional. Tar Heel junior Austin Hitt competed in the 2017 Stanford Regional as a freshman and led UNC with a final round 67 to help Carolina advance by a single stroke over Georgia Tech.
Second-ranked Arizona State is the top seed in the 2019 Stanford Regional. The host Cardinal are the second seed. The rest of the 13-team field includes No. 3 seed LSU, No. 4 NC State, No. 5 UNC, No. 6 South Florida, No. 7 Kansas, No. 8 Virginia, No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 10 Georgia Southern, No. 11 UNCG, No. 12 Augusta and No. 13 Denver.
Hitt leads Carolina this season at 70.78 strokes per round, which is the lowest in UNC single-season history.
"It'll be a long trek across the country but we will love every minute of it," says Carolina head coach Andrew DiBitetto. "We made a successful trip to the NCAA Regional at Stanford two years ago. Austin (Hitt) played well, especially down the stretch when every shot made a difference whether we advanced or not. It's also a bit of a homecoming for freshman Ryan Burnett, who is from Lafayette, about an hour from Palo Alto. It's a beautiful part of the country, Stanford's course is great and we look forward to heading that way next week."
Joining Hitt (Longwood, Fla.) in the lineup for the Tar Heels are sophomore Ryan Gerard of Raleigh, Burnett, senior Joshua Martin from Pinehurst and freshman Dougie Ergood of Mount Laurel, N.J.
The 2019 Stanford Regional is the 27th time UNC has played in an NCAA regional and the 52nd time the Tar Heels have played in the post-season. Last year was the 19th time Carolina advanced from the regional to the NCAA Championship since the regional format began in 1989.
Players Mentioned
