North Carolina's change in plans results in title at General Hackler Championship; Coastal Carolina's Taylor the individual champion

   The original plan was for North Carolina to be teeing it up this week in the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic.

   But the legitimate concerns the coronavirus outbreak has presented had the Tar Heels looking for a Plan B. They found it when the folks at the General Hackler Championship made room for one more and rather than a cross-country flight, North Carolina took a short trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C.

   And wouldn’t you know it, the late addition to the field, North Carolina, No. 26 in the latest Golfstat rankings, came away with an impressive victory by 13 shots over a pretty strong field at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club.

   With four players bettering par in Tuesday’s final round, North Carolina carded the best team round of the tournament, a 9-under 279 over the 7,233-yard, par-72 layout at The Dunes & Beach Club, to finish with a 21-under 843 total.

   The Tar Heels led from start to finish, opening with an 8-under 280 in the first round of Monday’s double-round and adding a 4-under 284 in the afternoon. That enabled North Carolina to take a five-shot lead over Atlantic Coast Conference rival Wake Forest, ranked seventh, into Tuesday’s final round.

   No. 35 Liberty, like North Carolina and Wake Forest, an NCAA Championship qualifier a year ago, closed with a 3-under 285 to sneak past Wake Forest and earn a runnerup finish with an 8-under 856 total. The Flames were solid in Monday’s double-round, matching par in the opening round with a 288 and adding a 5-under 283 in the afternoon.

   Wake Forest, which reached match play in last spring’s NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark., matched par in the final round with a 288 and ended up a shot behind Liberty in third place at 7-under 857. The Demon Deacons were playing not far from the TPC Myrtle Beach layout where they advanced as the top seed in the Myrtle Beach Regional to The Blessings last spring.

   The Demon Deacons trailed their Tobacco Road rival North Carolina by a shot after opening with a 7-under 281 before adding an even-par 288 in Monday afternoon’s second round.

   No. 25 East Tennessee State carded its second straight 4-under 284 to finish two shots behind Wake Forest in fourth place at 5-under 859. The Bucs had opened with a 3-over 291.

   Another ACC entry, Louisville, ranked 14^th, and North Florida, perennially underrated at No. 46, accounted for the next two spots in the team standings.

   The Cardinals matched par in the final round with a 288 and finished in fifth place at 2-over 866, seven shots behind East Tennessee State. The Ospreys were another shot behind Louisville in sixth place at 3-over 867 after closing with a 2-over 290.

   The host Cardinals and North Florida both advanced out of the Louisville Regional to the NCAA Championship at The Blessings last spring.

   No. 62 Penn State, out of the Big Ten, never quite got it going in Myrtle Beach, the Nittany Lions finishing in 10^th place in the 15-team field with an 18-over 882 total. Penn State opened with a 5-over 293 and added a 10-over 298 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with their best round of the tournament, a 3-over 291, Tuesday.

   North Carolina was led by Ryan Burnett, a sophomore from Lafayette, Calif. who finished among a group of four players tied for second place at 6-under 210, two shots behind the individual champion, host Coastal Carolina senior Zack Taylor, who finished in a tie for fourth in the 2014 PIAA Class AAA Championship as a senior at Baldwin.

   Burnett sandwiched an even-par 72 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 3-under 69s.

Backing up Burnett was Ryan Gerard, a junior from Raleigh, N.C. who finished alone in seventh place at 4-under 212. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Gerard added a pair of 2-under 70s.

   Austin Hitt, a senior from Longwood, Fla., matched par in both of his Monday rounds with a pair of 72s and closed with a 1-under 71 to finish among the group tied for 14^th place at 1-under 215.

   Austin Greaser, a freshman from Vandalia, Ohio, matched Burnett’s final round of 3-under 69 and landed in the group tied for 18^th place at even-par 216. Greaser sparked North Carolina’s fast start with the best round by a Tar Heel in the tournament, a sparkling 5-under 67. Greaser struggled to an 80 in Monday afternoon’s second round, but quickly put it behind him and turned in a strong final round.

   Rounding out the North Carolina lineup was sophomore Dougie Ergood, who was a Golf Association of Philadelphia junior standout out of Tavistock Country Club. Ergood, a Lenape High product from Mount Laurel, N.J., opened with a 75, but his 2-under 70 in Monday afternoon’s second round was a key counter for the Tar Heels.

   Ergood closed with a 2-over 74 to finish in the group tied for 31^st place at 3-over 219.

Taylor became just the second Chanticleer in the 19-year history of the General Hackler to capture the individual title. He opened up a four-shot lead on the field with the best round of the tournament, a sizzling 6-under 66, in Monday morning’s opening round, followed by a 4-under 68 in the afternoon.

   Taylor cooled off with a final round of 2-over 74, but his 8-under 208 total was two shots clear of the field.

   Joining North Carolina’s Burnett in the foursome tied for second place at 6-under 210 were East Tennessee State’s Trevor Hulbert, a redshirt senior from Orlando, Fla., Wake Forest’s Eric Bae, a senior from Pinehurst, N.C. and No. 47 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and North Carolina State’s Benjamin Shipp, a senior from Duluth, Ga.

   Hulbert closed strongly with a sparkling 5-under 67 to move up the leaderboard into the tie for second place. Bae, a veteran of Wake Forest’s run to match play last spring at The Blessings, fired a 5-under 67 of his own in Monday afternoon’s second round to surge into contention before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Shipp got it to 6-under in Monday’s double-round, adding a 4-under 68 to his opening-round 70 before matching par in Tuesday’s final round with a 72.

   East Tennessee State’s Samuel Espinosa, a freshman from Spain, and North Florida’s Cody Carroll, a sophomore form Middleburg, Fla., shared eighth place, a shot behind North Carolina’s Gerard at 3-under 213.

   Espinosa was steady, following up an opening-round 73 with a pair of 2-under 70s. Carroll added a 3-under 69 to his opening-round 73 before closing with a 1-under 71 Tuesday.

   A pair of Liberty players, Kieran Vincent, a redshirt junior from Zimbabwe, and Alexandre Fuchs, a junior from France, headed a group of four players who finished in a tie for 10^th place at 2-under 214.

   Vincent keyed the Flames’ surge into second place in the team standings with his final round of 4-under 68. Fuchs fired a pair of 1-under 71s in Monday’s double-round before matching par with a 72 in Tuesday’s final round.

   Rounding out the foursome at 214 were Coastal Carolina’s Brady Hinkle, a sophomore from Lancaster, S.C. who was competing as an individual, and North Florida’s Michael Mattiace, a senior from Jacksonville, Fla.

   Hinkle added a pair of even-par 72s to his opening-round 70 and probably earned himself some consideration for a promotion to the first five for the Chanticleers. Mattiace was 4-under by the end of Monday’s double round as he added a 71 to his opening round of 3-under 69 before cooling off with a 74 in Tuesday’s final round.

   Also part of Liberty’s runnerup effort was junior Zach Barbin of the golfing Barbins of Elkton, Md. Barbin contributed a 2-under 70 to the Flames’ solid second-round showing Monday afternoon before closing with a 75 that left him among the group tied for 31^st place at 3-over 219.

   Penn State was led by its senior stalwarts, Ryan Davis, the 2018 winner of the prestigious Met Amateur out of Berkeley Heights, N.J., and Alec Bard of New Hartford, N.Y.

   Davis was a particular bright spot as he closed with a 4-under 68 that enabled him to finish in the group tied for 21^st place at 1-over 217. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Davis struggled to a 77 in Monday afternoon’s second round. Bard struggled to a 77 in the opening round, but bounced back with a 1-under 71 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 1-over 73 that left him among the group tied for 36^th place at 5-over 221.

   Junior Lukas Clark, who starred scholastically at Council Rock South, was solid in Monday’s double-round, adding a 73 to his opening round of 1-under 71 before struggling in Tuesday’s final round with a 78 that left him among the group tied for 44^th place at 6-over 222.

   Junior Lou Olsakovsky, an Upper St. Clair product, sandwiched an 80 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of 2-over 74s to end up in a tie for 67^th place at 228.

   Freshman Patrick Sheehan, who capped his scholastic career at Central Bucks East by capturing the 2018 District One Class AAA crown, had played an event as an individual in the fall, but pretty sure the General Hackler marked his debut in the starting lineup for the Nittany Lions.

   Sheehan opened and closed with rounds of 4-over 76 around a 77 in Monday afternoon’s second round as he finished among the group tied for 69^th place at 229. His second-round 77 and final-round 76 were both counters.

   Sheehan is part of head coach Greg Nye’s talented freshman class at Penn State. Sheehan, who fell to Zach Barbin’s younger brother Austin Barbin in the final of GAP’s Junior Boys’ Championship last summer, and his fellow freshmen will certainly be heard from in the next few years.