After a successful bout at the General Hackler Championship, the NC State men’s golf team traveled to Statesboro, Georgia to compete in the Schenkel Invitational March 19-21 where the team continued its momentum from Wilmington.
The team finished in first for the second time this season, this time out of 13 teams. The Pack shot 25-under par, which is an improvement from its last outing of 12-under par, and graduate student Benjamin Shipp took first place in dominating fashion.
NC State played its best in the first round on Friday, steadily getting worse over the course of the next two, but still held on to handily take home first place by 27 strokes over second-place Georgia Southern.
Two Wolfpack golfers finished inside the top three and every starter finished in the top 20.
Shipp came first with a score of 16-under par, a major improvement from the last tournament where he placed tied for 25th and last on the Wolfpack’s lineup. Shipp was completely in control of this one, taking first place by 11 strokes with rounds of 66, 66 and 68. He was the only golfer in the field to shoot sub-70 in all three rounds.
Sophomore Max Steinlechner tied for second with a score of 5-under par. His best round came in the first when he had a score of 5-under par, but a 1-over 73 in the final round hindered what could’ve been a solo second-place finish.
Graduate student Christian Salzer finished tied for 13th with a score of 1-over par. He had his best round on Friday when he had a score of 2-under par, while shooting 1-over and 2-over par the next two days.
Sophomore Carter Graf tied for 15th with a score of 2-over par. Graf shot 3-under-par 69s in the first and second rounds, but took a huge step back with an 80 on Sunday behind six bogeys and a double bogey. Graf was tied for second after day two.
To finish out the Pack’s lineup, senior Easton Paxton tied for 18th with a score of 3-over par. Paxton’s best round was in the first where he shot even-par, but was pretty consistent all weekend following the up with a 74 and 73.
The Wolfpack will be back in play for three days starting on Sunday, March 28, for the Hootie at Bulls Bay tournament in Awendaw, South Carolina.
