NC State men’s golf opened the fall season and finished 7th at the Gopher Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota in Independence, Minnesota.

The Pack was led by senior Stephen Franken who tied for 11th with a one-over par for the tournament. Franken was the ACC Player of the Year for last season, making him the obvious leader for the team going into the year.

Behind Franken was sophomore Easton Paxton (+4), junior Benjamin Shipp (+5), senior Harrison Rhoades (+7) and junior Christian Salzer (+10).

NC State’s two best rounds came on Sunday with Franken and Paxton both shooting a 69 (-2). However, NC State was unable to climb up the leaderboard because of below average rounds from Shipp, Rhoades and Salzer who shot a 76, 78 and 78, respectively.

The Pack didn’t move at all after round three, with two players at even-par and three at one-over par for the day.

Oklahoma, who finished fifth in the NCAA Championships a season ago, won the overall invitational at five-under par, while NC State ended its weekend in 7th place at 13-over par.

The men’s golf team should find a lot of success in the 2018-19 season. Last season, it finished 24th at the NCAA Championship in Stillwater, Oklahoma. With all members of last year’s team returning, the Pack are set up to improve on that placement when that time comes in the spring.

The fall season consists of four total tournaments played through the end of October. NC State has the Maui Jim Intercollegiate, then the Wolfpack Intercollegiate hosted at Lonnie Poole Golf Course on Oct. 6-7 before ending in Dallas, Texas for the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate.

NC State continues the fall season on Sept. 21-23 at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate tournament at Mirabel Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.