Tar Heels 12th After 18 Holes in NCAA Championship

Friday, May 24

Fayetteville, Ark. (The Blessings GC)

All Day

North Carolina

NCAA Championship Round One

Photo by: Andy Mead

May 24, 2019 | Men's Golf

Gerard and Martin Shoot Even Par

By: Steve Kirschner

Senior Joshua Martin (Pinehurst) and sophomore Ryan Gerard (Raleigh) shot even-par 72s Friday to lead the University of North Carolina in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Golf Championship at the Blessings Course.

Carolina shot 16-over-par 304 and heads to the second round tied for 12^th place. All 30 teams in the field shot over par. Number-one ranked and top-seeded Oklahoma State holds the 18-hole lead at 2 over par, a stroke ahead of Stanford and two clear of Auburn and California.

Martin was two over on the front side, then played the inward nine with seven pars and birdies on 10 and 15. Gerard tied Martin for the team lead with four birdies on the day. He played both sides in par 36.

Ryan Burnett (Lafayette, Calif.) had two birdies and a dozen pars, but also counted a double and took a nine on the par-4 11^th. He rebounded after that to play par golf over the next seven holes, finishing his day with a birdie on No. 18.

Austin Hitt (Longwood, Fla.) shot a season-high 81 and freshman Dougie Ergood (Mount Laurel, N.J.) shot 82.

Gerard and Martin are tied for 12^th place. Only 11 of the 156 players in the field shot under par. California's Collin Morikawa leads at 5-under-67, two shots ahead of Arizona State's Chun An Yu, Oklahoma State's Austin Eckroat and Utah's Kyler Dunkle.

The Tar Heels are one of six ACC teams in the NCAA Championship. Wake Forest is tied for fifth (+8), Clemson is 10^th (+12), UNC is tied for 12^th (+16), ACC champion Georgia Tech is tied for 17^th (+19) and Duke and Louisville are tied for 27^th (+25).

The Tar Heels begin play in the second round on Saturday at 2:27 p.m. Eastern time. The top 15 teams after Sunday's third round advance to the fourth and final round of stroke play on Monday. The top eight teams after Monday move on to the quarterfinals of match play on Tuesday.