Stephen Lewton’s chances of winning his first collegiate tournament were getting dimmer, as he found himself behind five strokes heading into the back nine at the Seminole Intercollegiate in Tallahassee, Fla.
One day earlier, the senior had completed his best round ever as a golfer at N.C. State when he shot a six-under second round — only two strokes off the school record.
But Lewton caught fire, and with four birdies in the next eight holes — and then an eagle on the 18th, Lewton had tied for the lead and forced a playoff with Dustin Johnson of Coastal Carolina.
“I thought I’d be really nervous because I knew I had to make the shot,” Lewton said of his successful eagle attempt. “I actually wasn’t that nervous; I was more focused on just trying to make it rather than thinking about the outcome.”
After two playoff holes, Lewton would claim victory, shooting 13-under for the tournament and becoming the first golfer at State to win a tournament since 2003. His tournament total of 203 ranks as the second lowest in school history.
“I’ve played in quite a few playoffs, especially back home in England, so it wasn’t anything new to me. I was quite relaxed and just took one shot as it came,” Lewton said.
“My mental game has gotten a little better; I just think more positively of my own game.”
The senior from Milton Keynes, England has balanced his positive attitude by keeping his scores in the negatives, shooting under par for the year with a blistering 71.5 stroke average per 18 holes.
“That speaks for itself,” coach Richard Sykes said. “He’s been a good player ever since he’s been here, but there’s been a maturing process. I think he understands his game now, and he allows the game to come to him rather than trying to force it. He’s been really good for our team and been a good leader.”
Lewton is having an All-American-caliber season with three top-10 and five top-20 finishes. The upcoming Hootie at Bulls Bay tournament in Awandaw, S.C. March 26-28 may add to those figures. Last year, Lewton finished tied for sixth and said the golf course reminds him of similar courses in his native country.
“I grew up on a course similar to a lot of American courses … but I’ve also been used to playing links golf courses, which are totally different — by the seaside, really high running shots,” Lewton said. “The golf course is almost kind of link style — really open, not a lot of trees, wide fairways — when you have that, it’s going to be really windy.”
Last year at Bulls Bay, teammate and now fellow senior Taylor Crosby notched a top-20 finish as well, shooting seven over. Jerry Richardson, from Burlington, N.C., recalled the troublesome South Carolina course as one full of the elements.
“It was really wide open, you can kind of hit it all over the place — it was really windy, like 40 miles per hour. It was like a hurricane coming through,” Richardson said. “It’s not too tough a course if the wind doesn’t blow, but the wind usually does blow because there’s not that many trees.”
Lewton said the play of Richardson, Crosby and others has helped him relax on the golf course.
“The team has been improving, which has taken some of the pressure off me,” Lewton said.
Although State has been within reach of placing in the top-5 of a tournament, it has only done so once — in the Seminole Invitational. In the Pack’s most recent tournament, the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational, the team tied for sixth, despite Lewton posting a five under and tying for third.
“This past week again we were in position to have a good top-5 finish, but we kind of screwed it up,” Sykes, now in his 35th year, said. “We’re a good team. I don’t know how good we can be, but if we ever decide to finish a tournament on a positive note rather than a negative — well I guess we’d like to finish on a minus note rather than a plus note.”
For Lewton, he’d rather end his career on the same note. With three tournaments between now and his last ACC Championship — his success this year couldn’t come at a more valuable time.
“It’s fantastic really. I couldn’t have wished for it to come at a better time. I just want to get N.C. State as high as possible,” Lewton said. “I wanted to make All-American, and as long as I can keep playing well, I can obtain my goal. I obtained my goal of winning a college tournament, so I’ve obtained quite a few goals so far — just got a couple more to get.”