Men's Golf Competes at Duke on Saturday-Sunday

Sophomore Dougie Ergood will tee off at 8:22 a.m. on the 10^th hole Saturday in the first round of the Rod Myers Invitational hosted by Duke at the Washington and Duke Golf Club. This is the first of four tournaments UNC will compete in this season in the Tar Heel State, but the only local event this fall.

Carolina is paired with Cincinnati and Wake Forest in Saturday's morning and afternoon rounds.

This is the Tar Heels' second tournament of the season. Earlier this month, Carolina shot 42 under par to win the Turning Stone Tiger Intercollegiate in Verona, N.Y., by 35 strokes. Sophomore Ryan Burnett and freshman Austin Greaser went one-two and junior Ryan Gerard (T4) and senior Austin Hitt (T7) also finished in the top 10.

The win was Burnett's first as a collegian. He shot 69-65-64 for an 18-under-198 finish, becoming just the fourth Tar Heel to shoot under 200 in a 54-hole tournament.

Greaser's second-place finish is the best recorded tournament finish for a Tar Heel in his first event. He edged out Burnett, who set the mark a year ago at the Rod Myers Invitational where he was third at 5-under-211.

Greaser set the course record at Turning Stone's Kaluhyat Course with a second-round 64, a standard Burnett equaled the very next day.

The Tar Heels tied host Duke at 10 under for second place at last year's Rod Myers. Penn State, which returns to the field this season, shot 10-under-278 in the opening round and won at 12 under, two strokes ahead of the Tar Heels and Blue Devils.

Four of Carolina's starters this weekend also played in the 2018 Rod Myers. Burnett tied for third at 5 under, Hitt tied for sixth at 4 under, Ergood tied for 12^th at 1 under and Gerard tied for 17^th at even-par 216.

We look forward to competing at the Rod Myers Invitational," says Tar Heel head coach Andrew DiBitetto. "It's special to play in the event named after Coach Myers. He was not only a fantastic coach, but a first-class person in every way.

"Our players are familiar with Duke's course. We enjoy playing there and were in contention with Duke and Penn State coming down the stretch last year. Penn State won by a couple of shots, which left a sour taste with a number of our guys who are back in the lineup.

"We travel out of state for most of our tournaments, so it will be nice to play just a short ride from home this weekend. We hope a lot of Tar Heel fans will wear their Carolina Blue and come support our guys in Durham."

Carolina's lineup for the Rod Myers Invitational is Burnett (1), Greaser (2), Gerard (3), Hitt (4) and Ergood (5). Sophomore Luis Castro and freshman George McNeely will compete as individual entries.

The entire fields includes UNC, Duke, Charlotte, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Liberty, Louisville, Nebraska, UNCG, Penn State, Princeton, Toledo and Wake Forest.

The third and final round is Sunday.

Players Mentioned

Ryan Burnett

Luis Castro

Dougie Ergood

Ryan Gerard

Austin Greaser

Austin Hitt

George McNeely

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