The NC State men’s golf team finished tied for sixth at the General Hackler Championship in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina March 13-14. 

The Wolfpack took a while to get its bearings at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club, but eventually surged forward to a strong finish once it got the lay of the land.

Sophomore Ethan Choi in particular took this trend and ran with it, reversing a 4-over par showing in the first round to put up a 5-under par score in the third, going par for the course in between to improve in each round.

Choi’s outing started to turn around once he figured out the back nine. The first round saw Choi 2-over par on both halves of the course and another 2-over showing halfway through the second round threatened to put him out of reach of a decent finish. However, Choi rattled off three birdies on the back half of the second round, only faltering with a bogey on the final hole.

From there, Choi never shot above par for the rest of the event to finish at 1-under par across the three rounds. Graduate student Easton Paxton and junior Carter Graf also put up their best scores in the third round.

Paxton’s consistency earned him the distinction of the Wolfpack’s top golfer, finishing 3-under par. The first round turned out to be his worst at 1-over par, but Paxton evened this out with a 1-under par score for the second round before finishing strong with a 3-under par showing to round out the event.

On the other hand, consistency didn’t produce quite the same results for Graf. Even though he improved by one stroke each round, a score of 3-over par to start the event had Graf playing catch-up all the way to his final score of 6-over par for the event.

Junior Max Steinlechner didn’t fit the overall trend of the team but still produced quality results. After starting hot with a 3-under par for the first round, Steinlechner cooled off with a 1-over par finish in the second round before going even in the final round. Despite his up and down weekend, Steinlechner still showed consistency by birdieing hole 15 in all three rounds.

Juniors Spencer Oxendine and Brandon Einstein also competed for the Pack, scoring 7-over and 6-over par, respectively. No. 19 Auburn finished atop the standings for the event.

The Pack will be back in South Carolina for its next competition when it travels to the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate at Bulls Bay Golf Club in Awendaw, South Carolina March 27-29.