Men's Golf Looks to Repeat at the General Hackler

North Carolina, ranked No. 8 in the country by Golfstat, returns to Myrtle Beach, S.C., March 14-16 when the Tar Heels work to defend their team title at the 20th annual General Hackler Championship.

The three-day, 54-hole tournament will again be contested at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club and hosted by Coastal Carolina University.

Last March, the Tar Heels shot 280-284-279 for a three-day total of 21-under 843, 13 shots clear of the field. Carolina was 9 under over the final 18 holes, the low round of the tournament and one of three UNC rounds that were among the five best in the event.

Carolina was offered a late entry into the tournament after withdrawing from the Lamkin Grips Classic in San Diego due to early travel concerns surrounding the coronavirus. The Hackler proved to be the final tournament of the 2019-20 collegiate golf season.

This season, the Tar Heels, who are also ranked No. 10 by Golfweek and the Bushnell Coaches polls, have finished tied for first at The Prestige at PGA West, second at the Wake Forest invitational at Pinehurst No. 2 and fifth at the Camp Creek Seminole Invitational.

Carolina's lineup for the General Hackler includes freshman Peter Fountain, sophomore Austin Greaser, junior Dougie Ergood, senior Ryan Gerard and fifth-year senior Austin Hitt. Junior Ryan Burnett will compete as an individual entry. Other than Fountain, the other five Tar Heels playing all competed in the General Hackler in 2020.

Burnett tied for second place shooting 69-72-69 for a 6-under 210. Gerard shot back-to-back 70s to finish seventh at 4-under 212. Hitt closed with a 71 to tie for 14th, Greaser bracketed an opening-round 67 and final-round 69 to tie for 18th and Ergood tied for 31st.

This year's field includes UNC, Coastal Carolina, UCF, ECU, ETSU, Indiana, Kent State, Liberty, Louisville, Miami (Ohio), Ole Miss, UNCG, NC State, Penn State, North Florida and Virginia Tech.

Fountain has finished second at Camp Creek and tied for second at Pinehurst, shot four rounds in the 60s and leads UNC in stroke average at 70.00. Golfweek ranks him 13^th in the country.

Burnett and Hitt tied for fourth on the Greg Norman Course at The Prestige. Burnett and Gerard continue to rank one-two all-time at Carolina in stroke average at 71.49 and 71.83, respectively.

Greaser, who tied for eighth at Pinehurst, one spot behind Gerard, is second on the team in stroke average this season after three events at 71.89.

"We're excited to be back at the Hackler and be here as defending champions," says UNC head coach Andrew DiBitetto. "There have been many times to reflect over the past year, and certainly being back at this tournament is another one of those moments. About a year ago, we were supposed to playing in San Diego. That's when we first learned of a few Covid cases on the west coast. There was institutional concern about flying to San Diego and we had to withdraw from that event. Jim Garren, the head coach at Coastal Carolina, was extremely kind to let us into their event at The Dunes Club at the very last minute.

"Playing and winning the General Hackler Championship was also special because the Hackler family are Tar Heels. We won the tournament and within days the rest of our season was canceled. We've said this numerous times, but we all have a lot to be thankful for and we're grateful for every opportunity we have to compete and play our sport as a team."

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Ryan Burnett

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