Burnett, Tar Heels Win Calusa Cup Titles

Tuesday, April 4

Naples, Fla. (Calusa Pines G.C.)

All Day

North Carolina

The Calusa Cup Day Three

April 4, 2023 | Men's Golf

Calusa_Cup_final_rd.pdf

Men's Golf's Fifth Team Title This Season

By: Steve Kirschner

Ryan Burnett won his second collegiate title and the University of North Carolina men's golf team won for the second straight week and fifth time this season as the Tar Heels won the Calusa Cup at the Calusa Pines Golf Club in Naples, Fla.

Burnett won the event wire-to-wire, leading by a stroke after 18 holes, by four after two rounds and he won the individual title by two shots after an even-par 72 today. The fifth-year senior from Lafayette, Calif., shot 68-71-72 to finish 5-under 211. Wake Forest's Michael Brennan and Vanderbilt's William Moll tied for second at 3-under 213.

Moll made five birdies on the front side today to take a one-stroke lead. Burnett birdied the 13^th hole to regain the lead and made pars over the final five holes for his first win since September 2019 when he shot 18-under 198 to win the Turning Stone Invitational in Verona, N.Y.

Burnett is the first Tar Heel to win medalist honors three seasons apart since current PGA Tour member Ben Griffin won twice as a freshman in 2014-15 and once as a senior in 2017-18.

Burnett led the field at Calusa in par-4 scoring for the three rounds at 4 under, tied for fourth in par-5 scoring at 4 under and was one of three players, along with world No. 2 amateur Ludvig Aberg of Texas Tech, to make 13 birdies.

Carolina won for the fifth time this season and 15^th time under head coach Andrew DiBitetto and associate head coach Matt Clark. This season, the Tar Heels previously won the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas; the Jackson T. Stephens Cup in Juno Beach, Fla., the Williams Cup in Eagle Point, N.C.; and the Valspar Collegiate Invitational in Palm City, Fla.

It is the first time UNC has won five team titles in a season since winning six tournaments in 1984-85. It is the fourth time UNC has won five or more titles in one season – winning seven in 1982-83, six in 1984-85, five in 1978-79 and five thus far in 2022-23.

Carolina shot 284-292-284 for a 4-under-par 860. The third-ranked Tar Heels won by 10 over Wake Forest (6-over 870). Fifth-ranked Arizona State was third (+7), No. 1 Vanderbilt was fourth (+17), No. 2 Texas Tech and Georgia tied for fifth (+21), Ohio State was seventh (+24), Purdue was eighth (+37) and host Iowa was ninth (+50).

While Burnett shot even-par today to win the individual title, sophomore David Ford and senior Austin Greaser led Carolina in the final round with 2-under-par 70s.

Ford (69-77-70) tied for seventh at even-par 216, his sixth consecutive top-seven finish. Ford, who was playing in his 20^th collegiate tournament, also moved into the No. 1 spot in career stroke average by a Tar Heel at 70.13, just ahead of his teammates Greaser, Peter Fountain and Burnett.

Dylan Menante (73-74-72) and Fountain (74-71-74) tied for ninth place at 3-over 219 and Greaser (75-76-70) was 16^th at 5-over 221.

Ford and Fountain were among three players who led the field in par-5 scoring for the tournament at 5 under. Ford was second in scoring on the par 3s at even par.

The Tar Heels return to competition April 14-15 at the ASU Thunderbird Collegiate in Phoenix.