NC State men’s golf participated in its second event of the spring season, traveling just down the road to Pinehurst, North Carolina, to compete in the Wake Forest Invitational. The team recorded a total score of 867 – 27 over par – over the course of 54 holes, finishing tied for seventh in a field of 12 teams.
Wake Forest hosted the event at the historic Pinehurst No. 2 course, which played 7,146 yards with a par of 70.
Graduate student Spencer Oxendine finished in a tie for fourth place on the individual leaderboard with a three-day score of 212. The Fayetteville, North Carolina native started his first round with 18 straight pars, shooting an even par. He followed it up with two rounds of one-over-par 71 to finish the tournament. Oxendine’s performance gave him his first top-five finish of the season and his second top-10 finish.
Not far behind Oxendine were redshirt junior Nick Mathews and graduate student Carter Graf, who finished tied for 22nd place with a total score of 217. Matthews and Graf both started the tournament with poor opening rounds of 76 and 75, but thanks to improved second rounds and superb third rounds where they both shot one under par (69), they were able to climb back up the leaderboard.
Senior Ethan Choi and junior Michael Vick competed in the tournament as individuals, both finishing tied for 38th place with a total score of 221.
Junior Cade McLaughlin was the final member of the Pack and finished near the bottom of the leaderboard, tied for 59th place with a total score of 229. McLaughlin didn’t have a single birdie in the 54-hole stretch, leading to rounds of 77, 76, and 76.
Auburn won the event with a total score of 852, beating East Tennessee St. by one stroke. The Tigers had stellar performances from their top three golfers, all finishing in the top six of the tournament.
NC State led the tournament in pars with a total of 178 but ranked third to last with just 22 birdies. The Pack will need to continue making pars but could use an extra birdie or two to climb up the leaderboard. If the team wants to find itself in contention on the final day of the tournament, players will need to find consistency like Oxendine did and have more players in the top 15.
NC State will head to Statesboro, Georgia on Friday, March 15, to play in the Schenkel Invitational.
