In its first tournament of the spring season, the NC State men’s golf team finished sixth out of 14 teams, with a score of 11-over par at the Sea Best Invitational at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. 

The Wolfpack was led by senior Benjamin Shipp, who finished tied for eighth at 2-under par, his third consecutive top-10 finish. Shipp was locked in all weekend with a first round of 70, followed up by consecutive rounds of 69.

Junior Easton Paxton was the next best finisher for NC State, finishing a joint season-high 22nd place with a score of 2-over par. After an opening round of 72, Paxton improved with back-to-back rounds of 70, and ended the tournament with a birdie on 18 to move up the leaderboard.

At a tie for 32nd place was senior Christian Salzer with a score of 4-over par. The veteran golfer for NC State was cruising through two rounds with a score of 1-under par, but a final round of 75 haunted him, his first round over par in his last 12 rounds. With the 75, he moved down the leaderboard 22 spots in one day.

Freshman Max Steinlechner finished tied for 52nd with a score of 9-over par. Despite starting the tournament with a 77 and 73, the Austrian was able to put together a score of 69 to end the tournament with a nice finish.

Rounding out the NC State lineup was sophomore Thomas Deal at tie for 68th place with a score of 18-over par. Deal put together a weekend-best round of 73 in the last round.

Competing as an individual for NC State was graduate Brett McLamb, who finished at 10-over par, good enough for a tie for 55th place. His best round was his last one, where he shot 70.

Texas A&M took home first place with a team score of 13-under par, while Ricky Castillo from Florida won the individual honors with a score of 8-under par.  

NC State will be back in action Feb. 14-16 when it travels to Rio Mar, Puerto Rico, for the Puerto Rico Classic hosted at Rio Mar Golf Club.