Men's Golf Picked No. 1 In Preseason

The University of North Carolina men's golf team is ranked No. 1 in the nation in both the Bushnell/Golfweek Golf Coaches Association and Golf Channel pre-season polls.

The Tar Heels open the 2023-24 season September 15-17 at Olympia Fields Country Club's North Course, which was the site of the PGA Tour's second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoff in August.

The Golf Coaches picked UNC No. 1 followed by Arizona State, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Auburn, Stanford, Florida, Illinois and Oklahoma.

NBC/Golf Channel's top 10 includes North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Arizona State, Florida State, Auburn, Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia Tech and Tennessee.

Carolina returns four players who have previously earned collegiate All-America honors, including junior David Ford, who Golfweek has named a preseason first-team All-America. Golfweek also tabbed graduate student Austin Greaser and fifth-year senior Dylan Menante as second-team All-Americas.

David Ford was the ACC Player of the Year and a first-team All-America last season; Greaser was a third-team All-America last year and is a three-time All-ACC honoree; Menante was a third-team pick in 2021 and 2023 and has earned all-conference honors three times; and senior Peter Fountain was a first-team All-America in 2021.

The Tar Heels lost one starter off the 2022-23 squad that won five tournaments and finished third in the NCAA Championship. Ryan Burnett finished his five-year career No. 3 in UNC scoring average and was a two-time medalist last year, including a victory in the NCAA Salem (S.C.) Regional.

Junior Maxwell Ford transferred to UNC after finishing 18^th in the NCAA Championship last spring while playing for Georgia.

Fifth-year senior Kenan Poole, red-shirt junior Ryan Smith, red-shirt sophomore Nanu Mohan and freshman Hampton Roberts round out the squad, whose depth will be needed this fall as some starters will miss certain tournaments due to international competitions.

Players Mentioned

Ryan Burnett

David Ford

Maxwell Ford

Peter Fountain

Austin Greaser

Dylan Menante

Nanu Mohan

Kenan Poole

Hampton Roberts

Ryan Smith

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