CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In 2018, back when he was a mere freshman golfer at UNC, Ryan Gerard and five of his Tar Heel teammates were plopped on the 18th tee of Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte and asked to do something immensely difficult.

Something pros still struggle to do — as many did Thursday.

Get a par.

“We came out here as preparation for the NCAA nationals, and our coach made all six of us go on 18, and everyone had to play the 18th hole until all six made a par at the same time, as part of the same group,” Gerard said after his round Thursday.

“We were out there for quite a while,” the Raleigh native continued, tongue-in-cheek. “I learned a lot about the 18th hole on that day, and I hope that carries me forward into this week.”

What exactly does “quite a while” mean, you ask? Gerard said it took “four or five times,” and that toward the later tries “you just didn’t want to be that one guy that had the 10-footer for par that missed” and caused everyone to go back.

“It probably took an hour or so, but it was fun, and we did make it happen eventually,” he added. “We weren’t going to leave unless we made that happen.”

Gerard shared this story Thursday, fresh off the round of his life, a minus-5 after the first round of the PGA Championships in Charlotte. But there was an irony to the story’s conclusion:

The way he played Thursday, seven years after that long college freshman exercise, Gerard doesn’t look to be leaving anytime soon.

Gerard finished his round Thursday leading all players. The Ravenscroft High School alum did so with a Tar Heel blue shirt on, a yardage book that read “Go Heels!” sticking out of his back pocket and a bunch of Carolina fans cheering him on in his home state.

As for the golf: Gerard made his impact on a remarkable stretch through the back nine. He birdied holes 10, 11, 12 and 13 — and he eagled 15, which marked one of three eagles on the day across all competitors by the conclusion of Gerard’s round. That eagle was vital, too. It was a chip off the fringe that screamed into the cup after knocking into the pin; if it was off by a few inches, the ball might’ve rolled off the green.

He bogeyed the 17th and 18th holes on the course — the toughest legs of The Green Mile, the toughest trio of holes on the course (he’ll have a chance to redeem his UNC freshman self Friday) — but even then he saved himself, muscling his way out of a fairway bunker on 18 and following it up with an approach shot to attempt a par putt that just rolled left of the pin.

In short, Gerard was balling.

And the third-year pro wasn’t afraid to credit his North Carolina roots for part of the success — from everything from knocking the ball through pine trees, to playing on Tahoma grass.

“It’s very comfortable for me, kind of in this environment,” Gerard said. “I mean, I grew up playing golf through pine trees and overseed is a newer thing but we play a lot of overseed in professional golf. So everything is very comfortable this week.”

Gerard isn’t the only North Carolina star shining

Quail Hollow has weathered a lot of noise this week. Former and current players on the tour, as well as fans, have taken several potshots at Charlotte’s prized golf course — stating that it is gratuitously long and lacking in opportunity for golfer decision making and creativity, among other complaints.

Everyone’s heard the critiques. Even Quail Hollow club president Johnny Harris heard them and responded to those critiques to The Charlotte Observer.

But ask several players with deep ties to North Carolina, and they’ll tell you:

It doesn’t bother them one bit.

At least they’re playing like it.

Along with Gerard near the top after Round 1 is Alex Smalley, a Wake Forest High School and Duke grad who grew up playing with Gerard. Smalley finished his round with a 67 — tied for second at the conclusion of his day — and Gerard has immense pride in Smalley’s station.

“Unfortunately he went to Duke,” Gerard said of Smalley. “So you know, I can’t be too nice to him. But we grew up playing a lot of junior golf events, kind of in the triangle, Triad area of North Carolina. He’s about an hour away from me. We would always play in the same groups or similar. He was always a little bit older. They grouped us by age group. I was up there in age, and he was younger in the next age group.”

Smalley agreed, and his ascension on Thursday was even more of a surprise: He was the field’s latest addition — after Sahith Theegala withdrew hours before the PGA Championship because of injury.

“I live about an hour and a half from here in Greensboro. I grew up just north of Raleigh,” Smalley told reporters. “To have a major championship in your home state is awesome. To be able to get in last minute is great. Obviously I feel for Sahith. I know he pulled out last week as well. … But it was nice to get an opportunity to play.”

Other NC guys showing out

Gerard and Smalley aren’t the only two who had nice days.

J.T. Poston of Hickory finished minus-3 on the day with a 68. That meant that the three top-finishing Americans were from North Carolina. Akshay Bhatia, who grew up in Wake Forest, finished minus-1, as did Chapel Hill’s Ben Griffin, who was Gerard’s teammate at UNC.

Ask any of them and they’ll tell you there’s something about this first round of Quail Hollow and its North Carolina participants. It’s a dream, in many ways.

“When you’re kind of young and getting into it, and you’re like, ‘One day I want to play in major championships, and I want to play at the highest level,’ it’s kind of a dream,” Gerard said.

“But to make that become a reality and see it be a reality for other guys that were alongside of you and working hard kind of next to you, and you could kind of see all that pay off, it is a little bit extra special.”

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