NC State men’s golf placed 10th at the Hootie Intercollegiate at Bulls Bay in Awendaw, South Carolina, with both redshirt senior Nick Mathews and senior Cade McLaughlin placing 13th.
No.18 South Carolina and No. 39 Purdue tied for the victory with a tournament score of 30-under par, and NC State finished 21 strokes behind at 9-under par. The Hootie Intercollegiate showcased a competitive cast in a field featuring South Carolina, Purdue, No. 48 New Mexico and No. 16-ranked individual Kieron Van Wyk.
Mathews and McLaughlin finished with a score of 7-under par — seven strokes back from the leader, Van Wyk. In just his third tournament of the season, McLaughlin earned a season-best tie for 13th place. His first round score of 5-under par put him in third place heading into the final two rounds, but a second round of 1-over took him out of contention. He finished strong with a final round of 3-under to secure a top 15 spot.
Mathews returned to form with a 7-under par performance after a 63rd place finish last tournament at the General James Hackler Championship. The redshirt senior has had an up-and-down season, which began with a 14-under par victory at the Rod Meyers Invitational. Along with his win, he boasts two sixth-place finishes on the season, but also three finishes outside of the top 40. The lefty got better each round of the Hootie Invitational, shooting even par in round one, 2-under par in round two and 5-under par in round three.
Next up on the leaderboard was senior Michael Vick, who placed 42nd with a score of 1-under par. Vick secured his first career victory at the Battle at Briars Creek a month ago, but has not finished in the top 25 in the three events following. At the Hootie Invitational, Vick shot even par in the first two rounds and finished strong with a 1-under par effort.
NC State’s other two competitors fell toward the bottom of the leaderboard. After leading NC State with an 18th-place finish last tournament, junior Joey Lenane finished 71st with a score of 6-over par. His tournament was doomed by a final round 79, pushing him down 43 spots on the final day of the tournament. This finish is certainly underwhelming, coming from the No. 135-ranked golfer in the NCAA.
Joining Lenane in the 70s was freshman Xander Goboy, who placed tied for 79th with a score of 10-over par. Goboy was competing in his sixth tournament this season. His best placement so far is 10th, occurring at both the Battle at Briars Creek and the Rod Myers Invitational.
Next, the Pack hosts the Bush Cup at Old Chatham Golf Club in Durham on April 8, and soon thereafter will host the Stitch Intercollegiate at Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh, April 11-12.
