UNC men's golf finishes second at Finley

Last weekend in Georgia, uncertainty plagued the North Carolina men’s golf team, as the Tar Heels stumbled to an 11th-place finish at the Carpet Capital Collegiate.

The absence of first-year head coach Andrew Sapp exacerbated the customary anxiety that accompanies the beginning of a season.

But with the return of Sapp and a return to Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels demonstrated that last weekend was an anomaly.

“Even with a home-course advantage, this golf would have been 10 times better at the Carpet Capital,” senior Patrick Barrett said. “It was a good improvement, and that’s a testament to how hard everyone worked this week.”

Serving as host to 13 teams at Finley Golf Course Saturday and Sunday, UNC finished second in the Tar Heel Intercollegiate with a team score of two-under par, six strokes behind champion and No. 21 Duke.

After senior Michael McGowan took the team’s lone top-10 finish in Georgia, the Tar Heels occupied several spots atop this weekend’s individual leaderboard.

Barrett, playing as an individual, captured second place, shooting a five-under-par, and McGowan finished third at four-under.

UNC claimed five spots in the top 20, a marked improvement from last weekend.

Despite his stellar play this weekend, in last week’s practices Barrett failed to qualify as one of UNC’s five team competitors, underscoring the depth of this year’s squad.

“The hard part is to figure out on a week-to-week basis which five are going to play the best,” Sapp said. “But it’s really great to see that there is — and there’s going to be — a lot of competition on this team for the starting five.”

McGowan was stalking N.C. State’s Albin Choi in the individual competition before a bogey on the par-three 12th hole and a disappointing par on the par-five 13th squandered his opportunity to close a three-shot deficit.

Choi would go on to claim the individual champion honors with an 11-under par 205.

“I think we got a couple things to build on,” McGowan said. “I know we’re going to work extra hard the next month — I will especially.”

And while the underwhelming finish last weekend could have compromised the Tar Heels’ focus, Sapp insists that his team has regained a clearer direction as the season gets underway.

“They understand and know that each week is an opportunity to improve,” Sapp said.
“It’s an opportunity to improve so we can continue to reach to that ultimate goal of playing in the NCAA championships.”

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.