In its final event of the regular season, NC State men’s golf placed third at the Stitch Intercollegiate with a total score of 6-over par, five strokes behind the winner, Lipscomb.

Senior Michael Vick earned his second win of the season, and the Pack placed three players in the top three as redshirt senior Nick Mathews and sophomore Adam Pederson placed in a tie for third place. Playing at Lonnie Poole Golf Course — its home course — against a field where it was the only Power Four school, the Stitch Intercollegiate was there for the taking with three top-3 finishers.

Pederson, playing as an individual, did not contribute to the team score, and would’ve put the Pack in the top spot if he was one of the starters. He had a tournament-high three eagles, including a hole out on the par-4 fourth hole in the final round. This was by far Pederson’s best finish this year, with his next highest being a T-51 at The Williams Cup in Wilmington, NC.

Vick finished the tournament at 5-under par, just outpacing Lipscomb’s Alejandro Rodriguez, who had three birdies in his final four holes and tied Vick but had a bogey on his last hole of the tournament to put Vick on top.

Mathews, the winner of last year’s Stitch Intercollegiate, also finished at 1-under par to tie for third. With four top-15 finishes in his last five events, the veteran is hitting his stride as the regular season is coming to a close.

Pederson was not the only NC State individual to beat out a starter as senior Jake Wiktor finished T-26, his best placement of the season. With two individuals outplaying the remaining three starters, a switch could be coming in the lineup with the ACC Championship in a few weeks.

The third-best starter was freshman Hunter Stetson, who finished T-38 with a final score of 8-over par. Stetson tied for the sixth most birdies in the field, but 11 bogeys, two doubles and a triple pushed him down the leaderboard. Senior Cade McLaughlin also finished T-38 at 8-over par, his first placement outside of the top 30 this season.

Junior Joey Lenane had one of his worst tournaments of the year, finishing T-53 at 11-over par. Lenane had not finished outside of the top 40 in the first six tournaments but has placed in the bottom half of the field in his last two stroke-play events.

Playing as an individual, freshman Xander Goboy also finished T-53, and having played in six events this season, marked his third-highest placement.

The Pack has won two of its nine stroke-play events this season, and with a good opportunity to pick up its third win at its home course, the Pack fell short. But with newer faces making big contributions, it’s in a good spot to be competitive in the postseason.

Next up, the Pack heads to Bowling Green, Kentucky for the ACC Championships Apr. 24-28. The tournament will feature three rounds of stroke play, and the top four teams will advance to a match-play event to decide the ultimate winner.