Led by a nearly flawless final round, the NC State men’s golf team finished tied for third out of 15 teams at the Schenkel Invitational hosted by Georgia Southern at Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, Georgia.
This was the Wolfpack’s third tournament in three weeks, and the team was coming off of a couple of solid performances over spring break, finishing sixth in the Palmetto Invitational and fifth in the General Hackler Championship.
Of the 15 teams participating in this year’s Schenkel Invitational, three are nationally ranked in the top 25. No. 15 Vanderbilt and No. 10 Wake Forest led the way with first and second place finishes, and No. 4 Auburn finished in fourth place behind NC State, who finished even with Kentucky for a joint third place finish.
The team now holds an impressive fall and spring record of 94-31-3, which was boosted because of a very successful fall season. The Pack only finished below 10 teams in five tournaments and posted four top three team finishes.
The spring had not seen the same level of performance from the Wolfpack until this weekend. Before the Schenkel Invitational, the team’s best finish was fifth at the General Hackler Championship. The finish in Statesboro was huge for the team, and will no doubt give the golfers confidence as they head into the final stretch of the season.
The first round was similar to the performances put together so far this spring, and although the team finished with a first round score of 283 [-5], it was only enough to put them in a three way tie for ninth along with No. 4 Auburn and UAB.
Senior David Cooke and junior Stanhope Johnson led the way with a pair of 68’s [-4], and finished the day tied for eighth out of a field of 82 golfers.
NC State dropped one stroke to shoot a 284 [-4] in the second round, and remained at ninth in the standings after two days of golf.
Junior Jacob McBride and senior Carter Page led all NC State golfers with a pair of 70’s [-2], both improving drastically from their round one performances. McBride improved by four strokes and Page improved by six.
Johnson put together his second straight result below par with a 71 [-1], and leads all NC State golfers in the standings at 14th place.
The Wolfpack recorded two solid rounds, but was led by a different pair of golfers each day. This changed dramatically in the third and final round of the tournament, and the team came ready to play.
All five golfers on the roster for this tournament shot under par, and all five finished the tournament under par as well. The team score of 272 [-16] was the Wolfpack’s second best round of the year, and it skyrocketed them from ninth place to third, placing them above No. 4 Auburn and No. 19 North Carolina.
Freshman Stephen Franken shot a 66 [-6], his best of the tournament and also of his collegiate career. Cooke finished the day with a 67 [-5], just one stroke back from his career best. Page shot a 69 [-3], McBride shot a 70 [-2] and Johnson shot a 71 [-1] in an unbelievable third round effort from the Wolfpack.
The third round of the Schenkel Invitational is a perfect example of what could happen if NC State is at it’s best. The team posted the second best score in the tournament, behind only No. 10 Wake Forest’s first round score of 270 [-18]. If the players can just find the consistency they demonstrated in that round, this team could be a major force throughout the remainder of the season.
Next up for the Wolfpack is the Hootie at Bulls Bay in Mount Pleasant, S.C., which will take place from April 3-5.
