Burnett Eagles 18 To Shoot 63, Lead Regional After First Round

Monday, May 15

Salem, S.C. (The Cliffs at Keowee Falls)

All Day

North Carolina

NCAA Salem Regional Day One

Wilmington, NC – Oct 21: NCAA Men's Golf - The Williams Cup Presented by STITCH Golf Day 1 at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, NC on October 21, 2022. (Credit: Andy Mead/YCJ)

Photo by: Andy Mead/YCJ

Burnett Eagles 18 To Shoot 63, Lead Regional After First Round

May 15, 2023 | Men's Golf

Salem_Regional_Rd_1.pdf

By: Steve Kirschner

Ryan Burnett tied his career-low round and equaled the best round in an NCAA regional by a Tar Heel, a standard he previously shared, with a 9-under-par 63 on Monday to lead the University of North Carolina on day one of the 2023 NCAA Salem Regional at The Cliffs at Keowee Falls.

Burnett is the first Tar Heel ever to shoot 9 under par in a round in an NCAA regional. He shot a 63 as a freshman in 2019 in the final round of the Stanford Regional and Austin Greaser also hot a 63 in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Yale Regional (both Burnett's round at Stanford and Greaser's round were on par 71 courses).

Carolina opened the 2023 regional with a 15-under 273, seven strokes behind Arkansas and one behind New Mexico. North Illinois is fourth at 13 under, Georgia Tech is fifth at -10 and Georgia Southern is sixth at 9 under. The top five teams after Wednesday's third round advance to the NCAA Championship in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Burnett, a fifth-year senior from Lafayette, Calif., has the individual lead by one shot over Longwood's Scott Jordan. Burnett made eight birdies in the first 13 holes, made his only bogey of the day on the 15^th hole and eagled the par-5 18^th hole to shoot 63.

Greaser is tied for eighth after shooting a 5-under 67 today. Dylan Menante opened with a 2-under 70, Peter Fountain shot 73 and David Ford began with a 75.

Carolina's 273 total equaled its second-lowest round in an NCAA regional. The Tar Heels shot 267-273 in their first two rounds in New Haven, Conn., last year.