The NC State men’s golf team completed the regular season in style by dominating the competition in the Wolfpack Spring Intercollegiate at Lonnie Poole Golf Course, winning by eight strokes and setting a course-record in the process.
Seniors David Cooke, Carter Page, William Herring and Wilson Day participated in the final home tournament of their collegiate careers.
Cooke went out with a bang by setting program, course and personal records with his first-round score of 62 [-9], beating his previous record by a whopping three strokes. His cumulative three-round score of 198 [-15] is the best ever on Lonnie Poole Golf Course and helped narrowly beat the No. 22 player in the nation, Adrian Meronk of East Tennessee State, by two strokes.
If these accomplishments weren’t impressive enough, the senior also sunk a hole in one on the sixth hole during the second round, the first ace of the year for the Wolfpack. It was a great performance and great way to say farewell to Lonnie Poole.
The Wolfpack’s commanding victory was against a field that featured No. 16 South Florida and ACC-rival No. 21 Virginia. This was a good test for NC State with the ACC Tournament up next.
Although it was Cooke’s heroics that helped lead the Pack to its first tournament win of the year, freshman Stephen Franken contributed a noteworthy performance as well. His scores of 67 [-4], 69 [-2] and 69 [-2] added up to a total score of 205 [-8]. It was the best of his collegiate career, and he finished third in the individual standings.
Senior Carter Page finished his final home tournament with some consistent golf by shooting a three-round score of 221 [+8]. His scores were all within three strokes of each other, and in his last tournament at Lonnie Poole, he finished tied for 27th among a field of 93 golfers.
Junior Jacob McBride also played some outstanding golf and shot a 66 [-5] in his first round, the second-best score among Wolfpack players in the Intercollegiate. His score of 70 [-1] in the second round was enough to place him third in the standings with one round to go, but finished 11th in the standings after shooting a 76 [+5] on the final day. Despite the difficult finish, his total score of 212 [-1] was just one stroke short of tying his top tournament score.
Freshman Davis Richards shot a first-round score of 71 [E] and finished with a cumulative score of 225 [+12]. This was his first competitive action since early March, and the experience will be beneficial as the ACC Tournament looms large.
The ACC Tournament will take place from April 22–24 in New London, North Carolina, and the Pack could not have asked for a better way to end the 2015–16 season with a remarkable round leading into post-season play.
