Carson Bertagnole gave North Carolina exactly the kind of start it wanted to open the 2026-27 men’s golf season: steady, sharp and right in the hunt.
Bertagnole opened with rounds of 66 and 69 on Monday at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate at Fox Den Country Club in Farragut, Tenn., leaving him one shot off the lead after the first day. His play helped push the Tar Heels to a 3-under-par team total across the opening 36 holes, with Carolina posting 2-under 278 in the morning and 1-under 279 in the afternoon.
UNC sits five strokes behind Chattanooga and Memphis, which are tied atop the leaderboard at 8 under par. Georgia is third at 7 under, Vanderbilt follows at 4 under, and the Tar Heels are in sixth at 3 under.
Bertagnole is tied for third at 5 under, just one stroke back of Chattanooga’s Evan Rogers and Yixiang Wang of Memphis.
There was more solid work from the Carolina lineup beyond Bertagnole. Grant Roscich followed a 70 with a 69 and is tied for 24th at 1-under 139.
Misha Golod sits tied for 33rd at even par after rounds of 69 and 71. Freshman Asher Vargas is tied for 50th at 3 over after shooting 73 and 70, while Ethan Paschal is tied for 63rd at 5 over with rounds of 73 and 72.
UNC’s Sihan Sandhu, competing as an individual, turned in a second-round 66 and is tied for 18th at 4 under par.
In Other News...
UNC Already Faces Early Pressure In A Major 5-Star Recruitment
The early buzz around Demarcus Henrys recruitment is already starting to take shape, and North Carolina is right in the thick of it. The 5-star small forward in the 2027 class is one of the marquee names on the board, and his first official visit is set for Louisville, the opening stop in what is expected to become a busy stretch of trips as his process develops.
For UNC, the challenge is simple enough to see and difficult enough to solve: Henry has a long list of heavy hitters around him, including Ohio State, Kentucky, BYU, UConn, Arkansas and Kansas. Louisville coach Pat Kelsey is also said to be making a major push in the recruitment, which adds another layer to a race that is only just beginning to heat up for the Tar Heels. [Read more 🡒]
UNC Found A Defensive Lineman Fans Never Saw Coming
Xavier Lewis was never the obvious name to watch when North Carolina started sorting through its defensive line options, but he has become one of the more intriguing success stories on the roster. A sophomore who was lightly recruited out of high school, Lewis had just one Power 4 offer from UNC and otherwise heard from smaller programs before initially signing with Austin Peay. He later took a preferred walk-on spot in Chapel Hill after Bill Belichick arrived as head coach, and the move has already started to pay off.
Lewis has since turned that opportunity into a scholarship and real defensive production, the kind of rise that speaks to both persistence and fit. His strong showing against TCU stood out as another reminder that UNC may have found a player who was easy to overlook at first but is becoming harder to ignore now. [Read more 🡒]
Former UNC Fan Favorite Just Gave Tar Heels Fans Another NFL Reason To Watch
Willie Lampkin keeps finding a way to stick, and Tar Heels fans now have another NFL player worth tracking when the season opens. The former North Carolina interior lineman earned a spot on the Philadelphia Eagles 53-man roster for the 2026 season after turning in a strong training camp and preseason, a notable step for a player who went undrafted and had to work his way through the next stop after starting with the Los Angeles Rams.
Lampkins path has already shown plenty about the traits that helped make him a fan favorite in Chapel Hill. He is known for his balance, strength and versatility at center and guard, and even though he is shorter than the typical NFL offensive lineman, he has continued to give teams reasons to trust him. For UNC fans, his latest roster move adds one more familiar name to follow on Sundays. [Read more 🡒]