The NC State men’s golf team hosted the annual Fall Wolfpack Intercollegiate golf tournament at Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh on Monday and Tuesday.
The Wolfpack (849, -3) finished in third place out of the 17-team field. The Pack was led by senior Jacob McBride (208, -5) and freshman Benjamin Shipp (211, -2). McBride finished tied for second place in the individual tournament, seven strokes behind the individual winner Timothy Conover (201, -12) of East Carolina. Shipp finished tied for fifth. East Carolina (837, -15) won a tightly contested battle with Kennesaw State (840, -12) to take home the tournament title.
“The guys are starting to play a little better,” head coach Richard Sykes said. “I’ll have to give it to East Carolina, they played outstanding. Them and Kennesaw State both. Those are real good scores.”
After the first day of play, the Wolfpack found itself in fourth place with a score of 566 (-2). This put State 16 strokes behind the leader East Carolina at 550 (-18) with one round left to play on Tuesday. McBride led the Pack on day one, finishing the first two rounds tied for the individual lead at 134 (-8). Shipp also finished the first day of play under par for the Wolfpack with a score of 140 (-2).
McBride’s strong start was highlighted by his consistency throughout the first day of the tournament. In the two rounds on Monday, McBride only bogeyed one hole, while putting nine birdies on the scorecard.
“I just played solid,” McBride said. “They were all good shots to the fat part of the green and I never really gave myself any chances to make bogeys.”
The first two rounds saw East Carolina and Kennesaw State (555, -13) run away from the rest of the 17-team field. With a 12-stroke lead over third place Augusta (563, -5) heading into the third round, the battle to win the tournament seemed to be down to two teams.
On Tuesday the Pack started strong, finishing the front nine holes at four under par. This strong front nine was led by sophomore Davis Richards, who shot an impressive 30 (-5) on the first half. McBride started off slowly on day two, bogeying three of his first four holes, but was able to pull back a few strokes before eventually finishing the round with a 74 (+3).
The back nine was less kind to the Wolfpack. State finished up the tournament with a three over par for the final nine holes. However, the Pack was the only team to finish the third round under par. The third round for the Pack was highlighted by the play of Richards, who finished the day with a 66 (-5) to bring his score for the tournament to 215 (+2).
“I knew I was playing well,” Richards said. “Even though my scores didn’t reflect it yesterday. My game was in a good spot. I just got off to a good start and kept it going throughout the day.”
Along with Richard, McBride and Shipp, the Pack received scores of 216 (+3) from sophomore Stephen Franken and 239 (+26) from senior Chad Cox.
The next event for the Wolfpack men is the Alister Mackenzie Invitational in Fairfax, California Monday through Tuesday. The tournament will be hosted by the University of California.
