Four members of the NC State men’s golf team competed in the Heel/Pack Invitational this past weekend, with all four finishing in the top-11 of the 34-man field.
The tournament was co-hosted by UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State, with the first round being played at UNC Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill on Saturday, and the second round being played at Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh on Sunday. The Pack was led by freshmen Dwight Cauthen and Christian Salzer, who tied each other for sixth place with scores of 148 (+4). Duke’s Steven DiLisio won the tournament with a 143 (-1).
Senior Chad Cox was the next best performer for the Pack, shooting a 149 (+5) to tie for ninth place. Sophomore Nolan Mills Jr. rounded out the strong showing for the Pack, shooting a 150 (+6) and tying for 11th.
The tournament was solely an individual tournament, with no official team score being kept. However, the Pack would have won the event had it been a team competition, finishing with a cumulative score of 595 (+19). Limestone College had the second-best team score with a +24, although this was with only three golfers competing instead of four.
Salzer jumped out to the hottest start for State during the first round, finishing day one in second place with a score of 70 (-2). Mills finished the opening round with an even-par 72, putting him in fourth place. Cox had the eighth best score in the first round, shooting a 76 (+2), while Cauthen finished tied for 16th with a 76 (+4).
Cauthen took full advantage of being back at his home course for the second round of the tournament, improving on his first-round score by four strokes with a 72 (E) to jump from 16th to sixth.
Every other member of the Pack regressed on the second day of play. Cox fell back just one stroke in the second round, shooting a 75 (+3) to drop from eighth to ninth place in the tournament. Mills was six strokes worse on the second day with a 78 (+6) as he fell all the way from fourth to 11th place.
Salzer had the biggest stroke difference from the first round to the second, shooting eight shots worse in the final round with a score of 78 (+6). However, Salzer was able to stay in the top five because of his strong opening round.
The Pack will be back in action from March 11-12, as it will travel to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to participate in the General Hackler Championship hosted by Coastal Carolina University.
