The North Carolina Tar Heels’ women’s golf team finished tied for No. 11(+36) out of 14 teams this past weekend in the Battle at the Beach in San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico in their last tournament before the spring season kicks off in February.
The eleventh place finish matches the worst outing of the fall season for the Tar Heels. However, some individuals did stand out.
Senior Bryana Nguyen, who was UNC’s highest finisher at +5 for the tournament, had an incredible start to the weekend shooting a career-low 68 (-3) which included three birdies on the front nine en route to posting a 33 (-2). She then finished the weekend with a pair of 75’s earning a T-26 finish among individual play.
Junior Kelly Whaley posted an impressive showing finishing T-33 (+6). Her weekend was highlighted by her 70 (-1) Sunday morning which included three birdies, two bogeys and 13 pars.
There is plenty of room for improvement for Whaley as she let the tournament get away from her in a few spots with three double bogeys and one stretch of three straight bogeys. If she can avoid letting any poor swings compound into poor stretches, she should be able to see the top 10 in the spring.
First-year Ava Bergner, who finished T-55 at 14 over-par, got off to a rough start on Day 1 with a 39 on the front nine. But she ended the day strong with two birdies on the back to finish with a 75 (+4). During the weekend, birdies did not come easily for Bergner. She only saw three drop, but kept her head and did not surrender any double bogeys on the weekend in what was a solid showing to conclude her first fall season as a Tar Heel.
Rounding out the rest of the squad were sophomores Mariano Ocano, who showed a good resolve to put up a 74 (+3) after two 78’s to start the tournament, and Brynn Walker who tallied nine birdies but had six double bogeys or worse in an inconsistent T-52 finish at 13 over-par.
North Carolina’s fall season has now wrapped up and they will look to have a productive offseason to build upon their fourth-place ACC finish last spring.
