2023-24 Men's Golf Roster
Kenan Poole
- Height:
- 6-1
- Weight:
- null
- Class:
- Graduate Student
- Hometown:
- Raleigh, N.C.
- High School:
- Ravenscroft
through 2023-24
Career– 73.10 in 67 rounds
Low UNC Round: 67, seven times
Low Overall Round: 64, 2021 North Carolina Match Play
Low 54 Holes (strokes): 208, 2022 Elon Phoenix Invitational, Burlington, N.C.
Low 54 Holes (to par): -6, 2022 Ross Collegiate Classic, Southern Pines, N.C.
Best Finish: T1st, 2022 Ross Collegiate Classic, Southern Pines, N.C.
Career: Earned his undergraduate degree in 2023 • Won the 2022 North Carolina Amateur following his junior season at UNC with a birdie on the first playoff hole • Played in 25 college tournaments • Co-medalist at the Ross Collegiate in Southern Pines, N.C., in March 2022 • Played in starting lineup nine times, including five tournaments as a grad student in 2023-24 • Career-best 67 seven times, including the final round of the 2023 Ben Hogan Collegiate and the second round at the Jubilee Course at St Andrews.
2023-24: In the starting lineup in five fall tournaments, three of which UNC won (Olympia Fields, Williams Cup and East Lake Cup) • Injury limited him to just one individual event in the spring semester • Shot 67 in the final round of the Ben Hogan Collegiate and the second round of stroke play in the St Andrews Links Collegiate at the Jubilee Course • Shot 69-67 to tie for fourth place in stroke play at 4-under 136 at St Andrews • Took Georgia Tech's Christo Lamprecht, the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world, to 21 holes in the semifinals at the East Lake Cup.
2022-23: Averaged 73.29 strokes in 17 rounds • Season-best 67 in back-to-back rounds to begin the Elon Phoenix Invitational, where he tied for ninth at 4 under par • Shot 69 in the second round at Notre Dame • Beat Matthew Comegys of Texas Tech 1 up in match play in Waimea, Hawai’i • Tied for fourth at even-par 144 in the Wolfpack Individual.
2021-22: Averaged 72.45 strokes in 22 rounds • Shot under par in two tournaments and even par in two others • Co-medalist at the Ross Collegiate in Southern Pines, shooting 72-71-67 for a 6-under 210 • Earned a spot in the starting lineup at the Valspar Invitational and shot 71 in the final round • Tied for 27th at the Elon Phoenix Invitational (71-70-72) and a career-best T11 at the Williams Cup at Eagle Point • Shot 71-67 over the final 36 holes at Eagle Point • Career-best 5-under 67 in the final round, which was also the lowest round of the day by any player in the field (made six birdies and only one bogey).
2020-21: Averaged 74.17 strokes in six rounds • Shot a season-best 69 in the second round of The Prestige Individual event, where he tied for 27th place at 2-over 218 • Shot a pair of 73s at the Tar Heel Intercollegiate.
2019-20: Played in three tournaments, including a start at Olympia Fields, where the Tar Heels finished fourth • Shot a season-low round of 71 at Turning Stone where he placed 14th • Member of the ACC Honor Roll.
Prep/Amateur: Shot 10 under, including second-round 64, to win medalist honors in the 2021 North Carolina Match Play Amateur • Played for coaches Jimmy Cox and Phil Shelton at the Ravenscroft School in Raleigh (teammate of former Tar Heel Ryan Gerard) • Won the 2018 and 2019 Dogwood State Boys Junior Championship, winning by six shots each time • Best competitive round was a bogey-free, 7-under-65 at the 2015 Mercedes-Benz of Greensboro Junior Amateur • Carolinas Golf Association first-team All-State as a senior • Earned North Carolina Independent Schools All-State honors in 2017 and 2019 and Tar Heel Youth Golf Association All-State honors in 2018 • Two-time captain and lettered from seventh to 12th grades • Earned all-conference honors in each of his six seasons on the golf team • News and Observer All-Metro team three times • Led the Ravens to five conference titles and a state title in 2017 when Ravenscroft broke the state championship record by finishing 7 under • Member of the winning team in the 2018 Carolinas vs. Virginia matches • Won the 2018 Jimmy Anderson Boys Invitational, a 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier, the 2017 TGF UNC Tar Heel State Junior Championship, the 2015 Mercedes-Benz of Greensboro Junior Amateur and a pair of Winternational series in 2016.
Personal: Born William Kenan Poole II in Raleigh • Son of Kenan and Stephanie Poole • His sister, CC, and younger brother, Harrison, also attended UNC • MVP of the soccer team as a sophomore at Ravenscroft • Member of the National Honor Society, Head of School Honor Roll and the 2018 AJGA TransAmerica Scholastic Honor Roll • Hobbies include riding motorcycles, watching movies and playing ping pong • Has made five aces – two in a span of six days and three within a month • Favorite course is Baltusrol in Springfield, N.J. • Favorite golfer is Justin Thomas • Go-to club under pressure is his stinger 3 wood • Best shot was drawing a 6 iron in high winds from 205 yards for an ace at Card Sound Golf Club in the Florida Keys.
