The NC State men’s golf team had its best result of the spring with a third-place finish in the Hootie at Bulls Bay competition in Awendaw, South Carolina. The Wolfpack finished with a team score of 20-under, tying for first with Missouri, East Tennessee State University and South Carolina.
After the four-way tie, the teams went to a sudden-death playoff, a match play format to determine the champion. After the first hole, Missouri was eliminated with the other three teams advancing to hole two. NC State fell short after the second hole with ETSU and South Carolina advancing to hole three.
Four of NC State’s five starters finished in the top-25 as the Wolfpack attempted to defend its Hooties at Bulls Bay title from 2021.
Leading the way for the Wolfpack was junior Spencer Oxendine with a score of 6-under par and a tie for 7th on the individual leaderboard. His best round of the week was round two where he made seven birdies leading to a 67 on the scorecard.
Right behind Oxendine, was junior Max Steinlechner shooting 5-under par and finishing tied for 11th. He was consistent all tournament posting two rounds of 70 and a final round of 71.
Junior Carter Graf finished tied for 18th with a score of 3-under par. His opening round of 70 was his best score of the tournament.
Graduate student Easton Paxton placed tied for 21st with a score of 2-under par. He had the best round of any Wolfpack player in round two with a 66, but followed that up with a disappointing 78 in the final round.
Rounding out the Wolfpack starting lineup was sophomore Ethan Choi finishing tied for 59th while shooting 4-over par. He shot back-to-back 73’s in the first two rounds before shooting 74 in the final round.
Competing as an individual for NC State was junior Brandon Einstein. He shot 1-over par which was good enough for a tie for 48th place on the leaderboard.
Archie Davies of East Tennessee State won the individual title with a score of 12-under par which included a final round of 65.
NC State will be back in action Friday, April 8 through Saturday, April 9 for the Stitch Intercollegiate that it will host at Lonnie Poole Golf Course on Centennial Campus.
