Tar Heels Tee off in Hawai'i on Thursday

The University of North Carolina men's golf team competes for the second time in the spring semester when it tees off Thursday-Saturday at the 44^th John Burns Intercollegiate at the Wailua Golf Course in Lihue, Kaua'i, Hawai'i.

The University of Hawai'i hosts the 54-hole tournament, which features 21 teams, one of the largest fields in collegiate golf all season.

"This is certainly a trip and tournament we look forward to each year," says Tar Heel head coach Andrew DiBitetto. "It's a remarkable location and our guys love the experience and opportunity of being here. Wailua is a good course that has played host to several USGA events. So much of the scoring at Wailua is based on hole locations and the wind. The wind has blown hard here the last two days and we expect that to continue, which means controlling trajectory and being creative in our shot-making will be important."

Carolina is coming off a fourth-place finish at the Sea Best Invitational at TPC Sawgrass earlier this month. It was the Tar Heels' fourth top-four finish in six starts this season.

The Tar Heel lineup includes sophomore Ryan Burnett, junior Ryan Gerard, freshman Austin Greaser, senior Austin Hitt and sophomore Dougie Ergood. Sophomore Luis Catsro will play as an individual entry.

Burnett and Gerard rank one-two in UNC career scoring average at 71.46 and 71.93 strokes per round, respectively. They also are one-two this season in stroke average for the Tar Heels. Burnett, a Haskins Award candidate, is averaging 69.83, while Gerard is averaging 71.39.

Carolina is paired with New Mexico, Virginia and Washington State in Thursday's opening round. The field also includes Arizona, BYU, California, Grand Canyon, Hawai'i, Illinois, Long Beach, Northern Colorado, Saint Mary's, Santa Clara, Texas A&M, UC Irvine, UNCW, UNLV and UTEP.

The Tar Heels finished fourth in this event a year ago as Burnett shot 7-under-209 to tie for fourth and Gerard shot 4-under-212 to tie for 16^th. Gerard (third round 68), Burnett (third round 69) and Hitt (second round 69) each shot one round in the 60s. The Tar Heels shot 11-under-277 in the final round and finished 54 holes in 18-under-846.

Arizona State is the defending champion (24-under-840); BYU's Peter Kuest won the individual title a year ago (10-under-206).

Players Mentioned

Ryan Burnett

Dougie Ergood

Ryan Gerard

Austin Greaser

Austin Hitt

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