The NC State men’s golf team competed in a pair of competitions in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Collegiate Challenge Cup last weekend at Nashville’s Golf Club of Tennessee.
In the stroke play portion of the tournament, the Wolfpack finished in ninth place out of 11 schools that participated with a combined score of 882 (+30). In the ACC/SEC Challenge portion of Sunday, the Pack played a pivotal role in helping topple the SEC by dominating No. 8 Texas A&M in match play with a score of 4-1.
Junior Carter Page led the Pack, shooting a 221 (+8), and placing 29th in the tournament. Page shot a 76 (+5) on Friday and Saturday and rallied in his final round when shooting a 69 (-2).
Page played a stellar front nine in his third round, where the Waynesville native accrued two birdies, his first being on the second hole, and his second on the sixth hole, both of which were scored on par-4 holes. After bogeying on the par-3 eighth hole, Page survived by hitting nine straight pars, then birdied the par-4 on the 18th hole.
Junior David Cooke played amazingly as well, shooting a 222 (+9), just one shot behind his teammate. Cooke placed 33rd and carded a 69 (-2) on Friday, then 74 (+3) and 79 (+8) in his final two rounds. In his first and best round, Cooke shot an eagle, four birdies and four bogeys.
The Bolingbrook, Illinois, native got his eagle on the par-5 seventh hole, but faced an unlucky string of bogeys in holes nine through 11. After getting his fourth bogey on the 15th, Cooke bounced back and sunk three birdies in a row on the final three holes. Cooke’s birdies brought him back under par to achieve his score of 69.
Sophomore Jacob McBride finished in 39th place with a score of 224 (+11). The Hartville, Ohio, native shot a consistent 74, 75 and 75 in his three rounds. Redshirt sophomore Stanhope Johnson shot a 227 (+14) on his weekend, where he placed 46th and shot a 73, 82 and 72. Redshirt senior James Chapman finished 51st on the field and fifth for the pack, shooting a 228 (+15), which included his scores of 79, 77 and 72.
Georgia junior Lee McCoy finished the tournament in first place with a score of 205. The Clarkesville, Georgia, native torched the course after carding a 67 (-4) on Friday and two 69s in his final rounds.
McCoy’s first place finish was followed by South Carolina junior Will Starke (69-68-69—206) and Georgia Tech senior Ollie Schniederjans (74-67-67—208).
No. 3 Georgia Tech won the tournament with an overall score of 848. NC State finished in front of Texas A&M, Duke and Missouri.
“I’m real proud of our team and the way we played on the last day,” Page said. “After we struggled the first day, we were able to come out and redeem ourselves and move up a couple spots. We came out today as well and we kind of put a whooping on Texas A&M.”
On Sunday afternoon, four of five Wolfpack golfers defeated the Texas A&M Aggies. State’s one-sided victory helped the ACC overcome the SEC by a narrow margin of 16.5-13.5.
Page won 2&1 against junior Ben Crancer, Johnson defeated junior Adria Arnaus one up, Chapman won one up to freshman Andrew Paysse, Cooke won 3&1 over junior Andrew Lister, and McBride lost 2&1 to freshman Connor Black.
NC State will take the course again when hosting the Wolfpack Intercollegiate at Lonnie Poole Golf Course on Oct. 6–7.
“We’ve been working a lot harder,” Page said. “Last year, we didn’t have as good of a year as we would have liked to, so we’re motivated to get that back and do well.”
