NC State men’s golf starts season with uninspiring performance at Maui Jim Intercollegiate

Connor Peoples, Correspondent • September 11, 2022

Sophomore Ethan Choi tees off during the Wolfpack Intercollegiate on Oct. 16, 2021 at Lonnie Poole Golf Course. Choi tied for 13th overall with a score of two-under. The NC State men’s golf team won the tournament with a combined score of 17-under par.

The NC State men’s golf team started its season at the Mirabel Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate.

The Pack finished dead last out of 18 schools at 15-over par, 60 strokes behind first-place Auburn.

Five members of the Wolfpack made the trip, but the best performances came from freshman Michael La Sasso and senior Brandon Einstein, who finished the weekend three strokes over par and tied for 65th place.

NC State’s next two finished tied for 75th at 5-over par, namely junior Ethan Choi and senior Maximilian Steinlechner. Both had their strongest performance on the second day of tournament play. Choi and Steinlechner had something to build on as they consistently made pars, but neither made quite enough birdies to vault the Pack into a higher finish. Steinlechner finished the tournament tied for second in pars, making 40, while Choi made 34.

Story continues below advertisement

Junior Spencer Oxendine had the worst finish out of State’s five this weekend, finishing in 85th at 9-over par. Oxendine’s biggest problem this weekend was his performance on par 4s, finishing 8-over par and averaging 4.22 strokes per hole.

The Wolfpack struggled as a team mightily on Sunday, shooting 15-over par to fall seven strokes behind 17th-place UCLA. The team struggled on par 3s and 4s, finishing a combined 36 strokes over par. The Pack found success on par 5s, shooting 11-under par, but that didn’t separate it from any other team this weekend as NC State possessed the fifth-worst score on par 5s among the 18 competitors.

Even though the Wolfpack didn’t get the result it wanted, there are definitely some positives it can take out of its play. The Pack finished ninth as a team in pars by making 165. Unfortunately, the Pack just didn’t make enough birdies, finishing second to last with only 47.

The high number of pars and low number of birdies resulted from State’s inability to make putts. If the Pack can start to turn some of those two-putt pars into one-putt birdies, it will find success this season. There is still much golf to be played this season, and the Pack showed potential to perform.

The Wolfpack can look to bounce back at the Folds of Honor Collegiate from Sept. 26-28 in Grand Haven, Michigan.