NCAA Championship
Round Four
Monday, May 27, 2024
Carlsbad, Calif. – Dylan Menante began the final round with a birdie, then nearly holed out from the fairway and made eagle on the second hole to jumpstart the North Carolina Tar Heels as they equaled the low round of day and qualified for match play for the fourth season in a row at the 2024 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship Monday at the North Course at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.
Carolina becomes the third team in the match play era to advance from four days of stroke play to match play. Illinois accomplished the feat five times in a row from 2013-17 and Oklahoma made it four straight seasons from 2016-19.
The Tar Heels shot under 284 today and climbed five spots in the standings to a tie for third with Virginia at 11-over 1164. UNC shot 291-296-292-284 in the four rounds. Monday’s 284 tied Illinois for the round of the day and was the second-best round of the entire tournament.
In the last four NCAA Championships the Tar Heels have finished eighth, tied for first, first and tied for third in the stroke play portion.
The Tar Heels are the No. 4 seed in the quarterfinals and will play No. 5 Florida State. The quarterfinal match begins at 9:50 a.m. Eastern Time.
Menante led Carolina with a 3-under 69, the best round of the tournament by a Tar Heel. Peter Fountain shot 1-over 73 and had Carolina’s low finish for the 72 holes at 2-over 290.
Austin Greaser, who joins Fountain and Menante advancing to match play for the fourth year in a row, shot 1-under 71 today, his best result of the championship.
Maxwell Ford made birdies on the first three holes to help Carolina get off to a fast start. He also shot 1-under 71 on Monday.
David Ford was one of three players who made a tournament-high 16 birdies over the four rounds. He tied for 27th at 5-over 293.
Menante tied for 31st at 6-over 294, Maxwell Ford tied for 35th at 7-over 295 and Greaser tied for 46th at 9-over 297.
“Maybe for the first couple of days they were just trying to stress out their coach and give me some more gray hairs, then the boys did what they always do and showed up in a big-time moment and were clutch today,” says UNC head coach Andrew DiBitetto. “You saw it literally right from the opening hole. A couple guys came out and made birdies and Dylan (Menante) made eagle to get off to a really fast start, which was very important on a day like today.
“I got a text from Ryan Smith (one of UNC’s players) that Dylan nearly made two on the second hole on the par five and tapped in for eagle, so the guys I saw on the first hole I did let them know we had some positive momentum coming out of the gates. I go back to yesterday but the up-and-down by Peter Fountain on eight and nine (his last two holes) and the birdie-birdie-birdie finish by David were huge last night going into today.”
“(Four straight years of match play) is a credit to the guys. It’s amazing. Obviously, they’re incredible players, but they’re way better people. We’re just fortunate we get a chance to hang out with them every single day. They do all the little things required to be successful. They work hard, they’re dedicated, they make the proper sacrifices, so I’m excited for them and excited to go into match play.”
Round Four
Monday, May 27, 2024
Carlsbad, Calif. – Dylan Menante began the final round with a birdie, then nearly holed out from the fairway and made eagle on the second hole to jumpstart the North Carolina Tar Heels as they equaled the low round of day and qualified for match play for the fourth season in a row at the 2024 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship Monday at the North Course at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.
Carolina becomes the third team in the match play era to advance from four days of stroke play to match play. Illinois accomplished the feat five times in a row from 2013-17 and Oklahoma made it four straight seasons from 2016-19.
The Tar Heels shot under 284 today and climbed five spots in the standings to a tie for third with Virginia at 11-over 1164. UNC shot 291-296-292-284 in the four rounds. Monday’s 284 tied Illinois for the round of the day and was the second-best round of the entire tournament.
In the last four NCAA Championships the Tar Heels have finished eighth, tied for first, first and tied for third in the stroke play portion.
The Tar Heels are the No. 4 seed in the quarterfinals and will play No. 5 Florida State. The quarterfinal match begins at 9:50 a.m. Eastern Time.
Menante led Carolina with a 3-under 69, the best round of the tournament by a Tar Heel. Peter Fountain shot 1-over 73 and had Carolina’s low finish for the 72 holes at 2-over 290.
Austin Greaser, who joins Fountain and Menante advancing to match play for the fourth year in a row, shot 1-under 71 today, his best result of the championship.
Maxwell Ford made birdies on the first three holes to help Carolina get off to a fast start. He also shot 1-under 71 on Monday.
David Ford was one of three players who made a tournament-high 16 birdies over the four rounds. He tied for 27th at 5-over 293.
Menante tied for 31st at 6-over 294, Maxwell Ford tied for 35th at 7-over 295 and Greaser tied for 46th at 9-over 297.
“Maybe for the first couple of days they were just trying to stress out their coach and give me some more gray hairs, then the boys did what they always do and showed up in a big-time moment and were clutch today,” says UNC head coach Andrew DiBitetto. “You saw it literally right from the opening hole. A couple guys came out and made birdies and Dylan (Menante) made eagle to get off to a really fast start, which was very important on a day like today.
“I got a text from Ryan Smith (one of UNC’s players) that Dylan nearly made two on the second hole on the par five and tapped in for eagle, so the guys I saw on the first hole I did let them know we had some positive momentum coming out of the gates. I go back to yesterday but the up-and-down by Peter Fountain on eight and nine (his last two holes) and the birdie-birdie-birdie finish by David were huge last night going into today.”
“(Four straight years of match play) is a credit to the guys. It’s amazing. Obviously, they’re incredible players, but they’re way better people. We’re just fortunate we get a chance to hang out with them every single day. They do all the little things required to be successful. They work hard, they’re dedicated, they make the proper sacrifices, so I’m excited for them and excited to go into match play.”