• Carolina tied for third in the 2023 NCAA Championship, the Tar Heels’ highest finish since placing third in 1993.
• This was the third straight top-five finish for the Tar Heels (tied for fifth in 2021 and 2022). UNC did not have consecutive top-five finishes prior to 2022.
• Carolina, Arizona State, Oklahoma, Texas and Vanderbilt are the only teams to advance out of regionals to the NCAA Championship in each of the last six NCAA Tournaments (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023).
• Carolina, Arizona State and Pepperdine are the only teams to advance to match play and finish in the top five in each of the last three NCAA Championships.
• Carolina is the first ACC team to finish in the top five in three straight NCAA Championships since Clemson in 2001-03.
• Carolina finished first in stroke play at the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. UNC won stroke play outright in 2023 by four strokes over Illinois and Florida. In 2022, the Tar Heels tied Oklahoma and Vanderbilt for first place after four rounds and 72 holes of stroke play.
• Carolina is the first team to finish first in stroke play in consecutive NCAA Championships since Viktor Hovland’s and Matthew Wolff’s Oklahoma State teams in 2018 and 2019.
• Four Tar Heels earned All-America honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America – David Ford (first team), Ryan Burnett (third team), Austin Greaser (third team) and Dylan Menante (third team). It is the third time in ACC history and the first time since 1975-76 an ACC team had four All-Americas on the first, second and third teams.
• Dylan Menante tied for fourth in stroke play at the NCAA Championships with a 5-under-par 275 (68-70-67-70). It was the second consecutive year a Tar Heel placed in the top five in the NCAA Championship.
• Menante and David Ford both went 2-0 in match play in the NCAA quarterfinals and semifinals. Menante won 14 of his 28 holes (lost just three holes); Ford came from 2 down to win both matches, including the Arizona State match when he won the 15th, 16th and 17th holes to win 1 up. Menante won six holes in a row against Georgia Tech’s first-team All-America Christo Lamprecht, winning 6&5.
• Menante was 4-0 in match play this season. He helped Carolina beat Florida State, 3-2, in the championship match in the Stephens Cup at Seminole Golf Club.
• Menante’s teams have finished in the top three in each of the last three NCAA Championships. He played for Pepperdine when the Waves won the 2021 NCAA title and advanced to the semifinals, tying for third in 2022. He transferred to UNC and finished third with the Tar Heels this season. He led UNC with a seventh-place finish in the ACC Championship, tied for sixth in the NCAA Regional and led UNC with a tie for fourth in Scottsdale.
• Menante is the first Tar Heel ever to finish in the top 10 in both an NCAA regional (T6) and the NCAA Championship (T4) in the same season since regionals began in 1989. He is also the first Tar Heel to finish in the top 10 in the ACC Championship (T7), NCAA regional and NCAA Championship in the same season.
• Carolina won in match play in the NCAA Championship for the first time. The Tar Heels, the No. 1 seed in match play, defeated No. 8 Arizona State, 3-1, and lost to No. 5 Georgia Tech, 3-2.
• Carolina was No. 2 in Golfstat, No. 2 by the Golf Coaches Association and No. 3 in Golfweek/Sagarin in the final national rankings.
• The Tar Heels won five team titles, tied for the third most in school history and the most since winning six in 1985-86. Carolina’s wins included:
– Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational, Colonial CC, Fort Worth, Texas
– Jackson T. Stephens Cup, Seminole GC, Juno Beach, Fla.
– Williams Cup, Eagle Point GC, Wilmington, N.C.
– Valspar Collegiate Invitational, Floridian National GC, Palm City, Fla.
– The Calusa Cup, Calusa Pines GC, Naples, Fla.
• Golfweek/Sagarin ranked three of Carolina’s wins and the NCAA Championship when UNC finished first in stroke play among the five strongest fields in tournament golf this season. The Hogan Collegiate Invitational was ranked No. 2, the Stephens Cup was third, the NCAA Championship was fourth and The Calusa Cup was fifth.
• Carolina has won 15 team titles in the last six seasons under the direction of head coach Andrew DiBitetto and associate head coach Matt Clark. In addition to the 15 team titles, Carolina finished first in stroke play in the 2021 and 2022 ACC Championships and the 2022 (tied) and 2023 NCAA Championships.
• Two Tar Heels won a total of three tournaments this season:
– David Ford won the Stephens Cup (16-under 200)
– Ryan Burnett won the Calusa Cup (5-under 211)
– Burnett won the NCAA Salem Regional (17-under 199)
• Burnett became the first Tar Heel to win three collegiate titles since Ben Griffin.
• Burnett was the second Tar Heel to win an NCAA regional in as many seasons. Austin Greaser was the first Tar Heel ever to win a regional when he won the NCAA Yale Regional in 2022.
• Carolina set school records for stroke average per round (280.08) and score to par per round (-4.46). The previous bests were set a year ago (281.35 and -3.84).
• This was the fourth consecutive season the Tar Heels set school records for scoring average and score to par per round.
• Sophomore David Ford became the first Tar Heel to win ACC Player-of-the-Year honors (award began in 1992).
• Ford was the first sophomore to win ACC Player of the Year since 2010 when Florida State’s Brooks Koepka and Virginia’s Ben Kohles, both sophomores, were co-winners. Ford was the first to win ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Player of the Year in consecutive seasons since Koepka in 2010 and 2011.
• Ford was named first-team All-America by the Golf Coaches Association of America. He is the second Tar Heel to earn first-team All-America honors under sixth-year head coach Andrew DiBitetto (with Peter Fountain in 2020-21).
• Ford is UNC’s eighth first-team All-America, joining Bill Thornton in 1958, Pete Green in 1961, John Inman in 1984, Davis Love III in 1985, Greg Parker in 1987, Dustin Bray in 2003 and Fountain.
• Four Tar Heels earned PING/East Region and All-ACC honors, the first time UNC ever had four players on the All-ACC team. Ford, Ryan Burnett, Austin Greaser and Dylan Menante earned all-region and all-conference honors.
• This was the first time four Tar Heels earned All-ACC honors in the same season. It is one of 11 instances in ACC history a team had four players on the All-ACC team.
• This is the third consecutive season at least three Tar Heels made the All-ACC team.
• Head coach Andrew DiBitetto was named ACC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year. He joins former Georgia Tech coach Puggy Blackmon, current Yellow Jacket head coach Bruce Heppler and former Clemson head coach Larry Penley as the only individuals to win ACC Coach-of-the-Year honors in consecutive seasons.
• Greaser became the first Tar Heel to earn at least three All-ACC awards since Dustin Bray was a four-time honoree from 2001-04.
• Greaser is the ninth Tar Heel to make the All-ACC team at least three times, joining Bray, John McGough, Frank Fuhrer, John Inman, Davis Love III, Tee Burton, Pat Moore and Max Harris.
• Menante earned his third all-conference award. He played at Pep¬perdine from 2019-22 and was the West Coast Conference Player of the Year in 2021 and 2022.
• Carolina scored a perfect 1000 in the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rates (APR) for the seventh consecutive year, the longest active streak among UNC’s men’s programs.
• Ford was one of 10 finalists for the Fred Haskins Award. Ford and Greaser were among the final 10 for the Ben Hogan Award.
• Ford led UNC in scoring average at 69.89 per round, the second-lowest in UNC single-season history. Ford set a single-season UNC record shooting 46 under par. He averaged 1.24 strokes below par per round, second best in school history.
• Ford also became Carolina’s career leader in stroke average (70.22), strokes under par (-74) and strokes below par per round (-1.00).
• Ford made eight consecutive birdies and shot a season-low 10-under-par 62 in the second round en route to medalist honors at the Stephens Cup at Seminole Golf Club.
• Carolina’s four All-Americas posted four of the eight-best stroke averages in UNC single-season history. Ford’s 69.89 is second, Burnett’s 70.62 is sixth, Menante’s 70.65 is seventh and Greaser’s 70.85 tied his average from a season ago for eighth. (Peter Fountain set the record at 69.68 in 2021).
• Burnett became the first Tar Heel ever to shoot under 200 in two tournaments. He shot 18-under 198 in winning the Turning Stone Invitational in September 2019.
