North Carolina
NCAA Championship Round One
NCAA Men's Golf Championship Begins Friday
May 23, 2019 | Men's Golf
Tar Heels in the Field for Third Straight Year
• The 2019 NCAA Men's Golf Championship begins Friday at the Blessings Golf Course in Fayetteville, Ark. This is Carolina's first time playing at the Blessings. The course also played host to the 2019 NCAA Women's Championship earlier this week.
• Carolina is playing in the NCAA Championship for the 45th time and third consecutive year. This is the first time UNC has advanced to the championship tournament in three straight seasons since 2002-03-04.
• Carolina advanced to the NCAA Championship by finishing in a tie for second place in the NCAA Stanford Regional. The Tar Heels shot 11-under-829, a dozen shots behind Stanford and even with second-ranked Arizona State. Georgia Southern was fourth at 6 under, LSU was the fifth and final team qualifier at 2 over. Ole Miss missed out on advancing by one stroke.
• Carolina is the No. 25 seed. UNC is paired with TCU and UNLV and will tee off in round one at 9:07 a.m. Eastern on the first hole. The trio has a 2:27 p.m. Eastern tee time in the second round.
TAR HEEL LINEUP
Austin Hitt – Jr., Longwood, Fla. (3rd NCAA Championship)
Ryan Gerard – So., Raleigh, N.C. (2nd NCAA Championship)
Ryan Burnett – Fr., Lafayette, Calif. (1st NCAA Championship)
Joshua Martin – Sr., Pinehurst, N.C. (2nd NCAA Championship)
Dougie Ergood – Fr., Mount Laurel, N.J. (1st NCAA Championship)
(alternate) Mason Elmore – So., Charlotte, N.C. (1st NCAA Championship)
Head Coach: Andrew DiBitetto
Assistant Coach: Matt Clark
SEASON RECAP
• Carolina is ranked No. 25 in the country in Golfstat and No. 26 by Golfweek (both rankings released on after the regionals).
• Carolina tied for second in the NCAA Stanford Regional, its fourth finish of second or higher this season (first at Tar Heel Intercollegiate, second at Duke, John Hayt and NCAA regional).
• UNC has finished sixth or higher in 12 of 13 tournaments this season.
• Carolina has shot under par in seven of 13 tournaments, including 11 under in the Stanford Regional. UNC finished 31 under at Notre Dame, 18 under at John Burns, 12 under at Wake Forest, 11 under at Stanford and 10 under at Duke.
• Carolina's starting lineup in the NCAA Championship has started all eight of UNC's previous spring events.
• Three Tar Heels have finished second this season – Ryan Gerard at Notre Dame, Austin Hitt at the Tar Heel and Ryan Burnett in the Stanford Regional.
• Hitt leads UNC in stroke average 70.79), score to par (-14), sub-par rounds (20 of 39) and rounds in the 60s (13).
• Hitt's stroke average of 70.79 is the lowest in UNC single-season history (previous 71.06 by Ben Griffin in 2015). Hitt's career average of 72.11 is second all-time behind Griffin (72.02).
• Ryan Burnett leads UNC with 10 eagles (the rest of the team has combined to make 14).
CURRENT RANKINGS
Golfstat: Hitt (43), Burnett (140) Gerard (155), Martin (164)
Golfweek: Hitt (58), Gerard (154), Burnett (164), Martin (212)
2019 NCAA STANFORD REGIONAL
• Carolina tied Arizona State for second place at 11-under-829.
• The second-place finish tied UNC's best finish in a regional. The Tar Heels also were second in 1993 and 1995.
• Freshman Ryan Burnett shot 73-67-63– 203 (-7) to tie for second, equaling the highest finish ever by a Tar Heel in a regional (with Ross Bain in 1996 and Bob Cherry in 2002).
• Burnett's 63 in the final round and 203 total were the lowest ever by a Tar Heel in regional play.
• The 63 was the lowest score in any round among the 75-player field.
• Burnett shot 11 under on the par 5s (no other player was better than 7 under) and made a tournament-best three eagles.
• Senior Joshua Martin tied for 12th after shooting 68-70-71–209 (-1). It was his second straight top-15 finish in an NCAA regional, the first Tar Heel to accomplish that since Martin Ureta in 2005 and 2007.
• Freshman Dougie Ergood shot a season-best 66 in the first round.
CAROLINA IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
• Carolina is playing in the NCAA Championship for the 45th time and the third time in as many years. The Tar Heels have 21 top-10 finishes, including six top-five finishes.
• Carolina's best finishes are second twice, in 1953 and 1991, third in 1993, fourth in 1960 and 1984 and fifth in 1978.
• Harvie Ward won the NCAA title in 1949 in Ames, Iowa, and John Inman won in 1984 in Houston.
• Carolina's last top-10 individual finisher was Max Harris, who tied for sixth in 1999.
2018 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
• Joshua Martin's second-round 69 and Ben Griffin's third-round 71 helped Carolina advance to the fourth and final round of stroke play.
• The Tar Heels finished 15th, their highest finish in the NCAA Championship since a tie for ninth in 2003.
• Martin earned honorable mention All-America honors after shooting 72-69-73 (-2) over the first three rounds.
2017 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
• Carolina tied for 18th at 11 over par in UNC's first appearance in the NCAA Championship since 2007.
• Ben Griffin tied for 11th place at 2-under-286. He shot 70-72-72-72.
• Austin Hitt shot 69 in his third and final round and finished 1-over-217.
AUSTIN HITT (Junior, Longwood, Fla.)
An All-ACC player in 2019 • Played in all 13 events this year and 37 as a Tar Heel • Ranked No. 43 by Golfstat and No. 58 by Golfweek • Has an 896-171 record this year • Played in two previous NCAA Championships • Tied for 69th in 2018 at Karsten Creek (Okla.) and 50th in 2017 at Rich Harvest Farms (Ill.) • Low round in NCAA Championship play is a 69 in the third round in 2017 • Tied for third at 10-under-206 in 2018 NCAA Kissimmee Regional • That was the lowest score to par by a Tar Heel in an NCAA regional • Leads Carolina in stroke average at 70.79, which is the lowest in UNC single-season history (Ben Griffin averaged 71.06 in 2014-15) • Career average of 72.11 is No. 2 in Tar Heel history behind Griffin's 72.02 • Leads Carolina in score to par (14 under), sub-par rounds (20) and rounds in the 60s (13) • 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 13 events this season and 23 as a Tar Heel • Has a 740-327 record this year • Ranked No. 154 by Golfweek and 155 by Golfstat • Played in one round (fourth round) in 2018 NCAA Championship • Second on the team in stroke average (71.99), the 12th lowest in UNC history • Shot 73-70-76–219 (+9) in the Stanford Regional • 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 13 events • Third on the team in stroke average (71.92) • Second-place finish in the regional improved his Golfstat ranking from 201 to 140 • Has four top 10s and eight top-25 finishes with a season-best T-2 in the NCAA Stanford Regional and third at Duke • 63 in the final round at Stanford was the lowest round by an player in the regional • Shot 73-67-63–203 (-7) at Stanford • Set UNC record for low round and low 54 hole total in a regional and tied the best-ever finish by a Tar Heel in a regional (third player to finish second) • Led the field in par-5 scoring (11 under) and eagles (three) • Shot all three rounds in the 60s at Notre Dame (68-67-68) • Leads UNC with 10 eagles • UNC's best finisher at Duke (3), Royal Oaks (T14), John Burns (T4) and Stanford (T2).
JOSHUA MARTIN (Senior, Pinehurst, N.C.)
Carolina's only senior in the starting lineup • Played in 11 of 13 events this season and 39 as a Tar Heel • Earned honorable mention All-America honors in 2018 after shooting 69 in the second round of the NCAA Championship • Was 2 under through 54 holes in the 2018 NCAA Championship • Top 15 in the last two NCAA regionals (T-12 in 2019 at Stanford and 14th in 2018 in Kissimmee) • Shot 68-70-71–209 (-1) at Stanford • Led the regional in pars (41) • Fourth on the team this season in stroke average (72.55) • Has finished under par in four of the last seven tournaments • Has four top-20 finishes in the last six events • 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 12 of UNC's 13 events, including each of the last eight (all eight in the spring) • Fifth on the team in stroke average (72.89) • Shot eight sub-par rounds, including six in the 60s • Season-low 66 in the first round of the NCAA Stanford Regional • Was tied for second after 18 holes in the regional • Shot even-par 70 in the final round to tie for 27th • UNC's best finish at Louisville when he shot 68 in each of the last two rounds and tied for fifth.
Players Mentioned
