The NC State men’s golf team is set to begin its fall season Sept. 11-12 at the Rod Myers Invitational at Duke Golf Course in Durham. The Wolfpack will look to build off the momentum of this past spring, where it won four tournaments.
The opening tournament will be one of five tournaments the Wolfpack competes in during the fall season. This is the first time since 2019 that NC State will compete in fall tournaments due to COVID-19 scheduling changes.
The Wolfpack will have four straight weeks of golf starting Oct. 4-5 at the Mountaineer Invitational at the Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, West Virginia, hosted by West Virginia University. Then, the following week, Oct. 10-12, NC State will travel to the Blackthorn Club at the Ridges in Jonesborough, Tennessee to compete in the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate, hosted by East Tennessee State.
NC State will end its fall season with two local tournaments, starting with it hosting the Wolfpack Intercollegiate Oct. 16-17 at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course on Centennial campus. The second of the two tournaments will take place from Oct. 25-26 as NC State travels to Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, North Carolina to compete in the Williams Cup presented by Stitch Golf, hosted by UNC-Chapel Hill.
NC State will be without 2021 Ping third-team All-American Benjamin Shipp, as he has now graduated and is pursuing his professional golf career. Shipp won two tournaments and posted six top-10 finishes a year ago. Shipp’s consistent play is a big shoe the team will need to fill this season.
Junior Max Steinlechner is destined to be the leader on the team this year. He finished top-10 six times a year ago and finished second on the team with a 70.87 stroke average. The Austria native who was the team’s top performer in three tournaments last year will be an exciting player to watch this fall.
Junior Carter Graf is another player who brings back lots of collegiate experience to the team. He played 11 of his 24 competitive rounds a year ago at even or below par. Graf, alongside graduate Easton Paxton, will look to be the veteran leaders for this group. Graf played in all 10 tournaments in the spring and compiled a 71.80 stroke average.
To fill out the roster for the fall season, NC State head coach Press McPhaul went to the transfer portal and recruited two local kids in graduate Tim Bunten and junior Brandon Einstein. Bunten comes from East Carolina while Einstein transferred in from High Point.
Bunten was a Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-American at ECU and appeared in six events for the Pirates last spring. On the other hand, Einstein won three tournaments in the spring, which tied him for most in one season in program history. Expect both of these transfers, especially Einstein, to play major roles this fall for the Wolfpack.
After a historic season in the spring, NC State has new lofty expectations for its program. It will be up to the players to achieve them, and it all starts Sept. 11 in Durham.
