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University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
NCAA Stanford Regional Day One
Men's Golf Regional Begins Play on Monday
May 12, 2019 | Men's Golf
Tar Heels the No. 5 Seed at Stanford
• The Tar Heels are the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Stanford Regional. The entire field in seed order includes (with Golfstat ranking): Arizona State (2), Stanford (12), LSU (14), NC State (24), UNC (26), South Florida (36), Kansas (38), Virginia (47), Ole Miss (51), Georgia Southern (58), UNCG (67), Augusta (123) and Denver (129).
• Regional play is contested over 54 holes May 13-15. The low five teams, and low individual not on the five teams, will advance to the 2019 NCAA Championship May 24-29 at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.
• Carolina is paired in Monday's opening round with NC State and South Florida.
TAR HEEL LINEUP
Austin Hitt – Jr., Longwood, Fla. (3rd NCAA Regional)
Ryan Gerard – So., Raleigh, N.C. (1st NCAA Regional)
Ryan Burnett – Fr., Lafayette, Calif. (1st NCAA Regional)
Joshua Martin – Sr., Pinehurst, N.C. (3rd NCAA Regional)
Dougie Ergood – Fr., Mount Laurel, N.J. (1st NCAA Regional)
(alternate) Mason Elmore – So., Charlotte, N.C. (1st NCAA Regional)
Head Coach: Andrew DiBitetto
Assistant Coach: Matt Clark
SEASON RECAP
• Carolina is ranked No. 26 in the country in Golfstat and No. 27 by Golfweek (both rankings released on May 1).
• Carolina finished 10th in the ACC Championship, its lowest finish in 12 tournaments this season. That followed a fifth-place finish in the Arizona State Thunderbird Collegiate in Phoenix.
• UNC has finished sixth or higher in 11 of 12 tournaments this season. Carolina won the Tar Heel Intercollegiate (March 23-24) at its home course, placed second at the Hayt in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and was fifth in Phoenix in three of its last four starts.
• Carolina has shot under par in six of 12 events this year.
• Carolina's starting lineup in the Stanford Regional has started all six of UNC's previous spring events and each of the last seven tournaments dating back to the fall.
CURRENT RANKINGS
Golfstat: Hitt (38), Gerard (118), Martin (193), Burnett (201)
Golfweek: Hitt (47), Gerard (129), Burnett (214), Martin (245)
CAROLINA IN THE NCAA REGIONALS
• Carolina is playing in an NCAA men's golf regional for the 27th time and sixth time in the last seven years.
• The Tar Heels have played in a regional in 1989-90-91-92-93-94-95-96-97-98-99-2000-01-02-03-04-05-06-07-08-10-13-15-16-17-18-19.
• Carolina has advanced through regional play to the NCAA Championship 19 times, including 2017 and 2018.
• UNC's top finishes in a regional are a pair of second places in 1993 and 1995 and third place in 1989 and 2002.
• Carolina's low round in a regional was a 15-under-par 273 in the second round of the 1998 East Regional at the Melrose Golf Course in Daufiskie Island, S.C. That round included a 64 by Max Harris and a 66 by Don Hill. Harris's 64 is the lowest round ever by a Tar Heel in NCAA regional competition.
• The Tar Heels have finished under par three times as a team in regional play. UNC shot 21 under in finishing fourth last year in Kissimmee, Fla., was 5 under in finishing second in 1993 in Charlottesville, Va., and 2 under in tying for sixth place in 1999 in Barrington, R.I.
CAROLINA IN NCAA REGIONALS
Year Site Place To Par
1989 North Myrtle Beach, S.C. 3rd* +17
1990 Savannah, Ga. 9th* +2
1991 New Haven, Conn. 8th* +40
1992 Hamilton, N.Y. T-10th* +32
1993 Charlottesville, Va. 2nd* -5
1994 Opelika, Ala. 6th* +27
1995 New Haven, Conn. 2nd* +29
1996 Kiamesha Lake, N.Y. 4th* +36
1997 Hot Springs, Va. 5th* +46
1998 Daufiskie Island, S.C. T-6th* -2
1999 Barrington, R.I. 6th* +22
2000 Moosic, Pa. T-9th* +43
2001 Stillwater, Okla. 14th +31
2002 Roswell, Ga. 3rd* +13
2003 Manhattan, Kan. T-4th* +3
2004 New Haven, Conn. T-10th* +42
2005 Kingston Springs, Tenn. 14th +8
2006 Orlando, Fla. 4th* +10
2007 Alpharetta, Ga. 8th* +13
2008 Bremerton, Wash. 15th +31
2010 Bryan, Texas 12th +46
2013 Tempe, Ariz. 9th +12
2015 Chapel Hill 8th +6
2016 Marana, Ariz. 13th +53
2017 Stanford, Calif. 5th* +3
2018 Kissimmee, Fla. 4th* -21
* advanced to NCAA Championship
UNC's NCAA REGIONAL SUPERLATIVES
Best Team Finish: 2nd in 1993 and 1995
Best 54-Hole Score to Par in NCAA Regional: -21, 2018
Best 18-Hole Score (Par 70) in NCAA Regional: 277, 3rd round, 2017
Best 18-Hole Score (Par 71) in NCAA Regional: 276, 1st round, 2005
Best 18-Hole Score (Par 72) in NCAA Regional: 273, 2nd round, 1998
Best Individual Finish: Ross Bain, T2nd in 1996; Bob Cherry, 2nd in 2002
Low Round, Individual: 64 by Max Harris, 2nd round, 1998
Low 54-Hole Score: 206 by Martin Ureta, 2005; Brandon Dalinka, 2013; Austin Hitt, 2018
Low 54-Hole Score to Par: -10 by Austin Hitt, 2018
2018 NCAA KISSIMMEE REGIONAL
• Carolina shot 21-under-843 (283-282-278) to advance to the NCAA Championship with a fourth-place finish. The Tar Heels finished behind Florida, Central Florida and Vanderbilt, one shot ahead of Kent State (advanced) and three shots ahead of Arizona, which did not advance.
• The third and final round marked the first time in 26 NCAA regionals all five Tar Heels shot below par.
• Sophomore Austin Hitt tied for third place with a 10-under-206. He tied the UNC record for low score in a regional and set the school record for most strokes under par in a regional.
• Hitt's third-place finish was UNC's best in a regional since 2002.
• Junior Joshua Martin shot a 30 on his first nine holes in the third round and posted a season-best tying 67. He birdied 10, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 in one eight-hole stretch in the final round. Martin tied for 14th at 4 under.
2017 NCAA STANFORD REGIONAL
• Carolina shot 3-over-843 (288-278-277) to finish fifth and advance to the NCAA Championship. UNC finished behind Stanford (-17), Baylor (-17), Pepperdine (-6) and Baylor (-3), one shot ahead of Georgia Tech for the final spot to advance.
• Freshman Austin Hitt shot a 3-under-67 and Ben Griffin and Jose Montaño shot 69s in the third round. UNC was six shots out of the top five heading into the final round. Griffin (11th) and Montaño (17th) placed in the top 20.
AUSTIN HITT (Junior, Longwood, Fla.)
An All-ACC player in 2019 • Played in all 12 events this year and 36 as a Tar Heel • Ranked No. 38 by Golfstat and No. 47 by Golfweek • Has an 848-145 record this year • Played in two previous NCAA regionals and NCAA Championships • Tied for third at 10-under-206 in 2018 NCAA Kissimmee Regional • That was the lowest score to par and tied the lowest score ever by a Tar Heel in an NCAA regional • In 2017 Stanford Regional, shot 67 in the final round as UNC advanced to the NCAA Championship by one stroke • The 67 was the best final round in an NCAA regional by a Tar Heel since 2002 • Leads Carolina in stroke average at 70.78, which is the lowest in UNC single-season history (Ben Griffin averaged 71.06 in 2014-15) • Career average of 72.14 is No. 2 in Tar Heel history behind Griffin's 72.02 • Leads Carolina in score to par (17 under), sub-par rounds (19) and rounds in the 60s (12) • Has five top-10 finishes this season • Second at the Tar Heel, fourth at San Diego and sixth at Wake Forest and Arizona State • Three rounds in the 60s at Wake Forest (69-66-67).
RYAN GERARD (Sophomore, Raleigh, N.C.)
Played in all 12 events this season and 22 as a Tar Heel • Has a 722-271 record this year • Ranked No. 118 by Golfstat and No. 129 by Golfweek • Played in one round (fourth round) in 2018 NCAA Championship • Second on the team in stroke average (71.69), the 11th lowest in UNC history • Set all-time UNC 18-hole record with his 10 under 61 in the second round at Notre Dame • Finished second at Notre Dame, one of three top-10 and seven top-25 finishes this season • Also tied for 10th at Wake Forest and San Diego • Carolina's best finisher (14th) at the 2019 ACC Championship • Shot 67 in the second round at ACCs.
RYAN BURNETT (Freshman, Lafayette, Calif.)
Played in all 12 events • Third on the team in stroke average (72.28) • Has three top 10s and seven top-25 finishes with a season-best third at Duke • Low round of 67 at Notre Dame • Shot all three rounds in the 60s at Notre Dame (68-67-68) • Leads UNC with seven eagles • UNC's best finish at Duke, Royal Oaks (T14) and John Burns (T4).
JOSHUA MARTIN (Senior, Pinehurst, N.C.)
Carolina's only senior in the starting lineup • Played in 10 of 12 events this season and 38 as a Tar Heel • Earned honorable mention All-America honors last season after shooting 69 in the second round of the NCAA Championship • Played in the 2016 NCAA Arizona Regional and the 2018 Kissimmee Regional • Placed 14th in Kissimmee after shooting 69-67 in the final two rounds • Shot 30 on his first nine in the third round in Kissimmee • Fourth on the team this season in stroke average (72.83) • Has finished under par in three of the last six tournaments • Tied for eighth at Arizona State (field included five top-25 and 10 top-50 teams) at 3 under 210.
DOUGIE ERGOOD (Freshman, Mount Laurel, N.J.)
Played in 11 of UNC's 12 events, including each of the last seven • Fifth on the team in stroke average (73.06) • Shot seven sub-par rounds, including five in the 60s • UNC's best finish at Louisville when he shot 68 in each of the last two rounds and tied for fifth.
Players Mentioned
