Griffin Cunningham
An NC State Wolfpack Golf banner hangs in the distance during the Wolfpack Match Play at Lonnie Poole Golf Course on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. The Wolfpack finished sixth overall in its final regular season stitch.
A new era has begun for NC State men’s golf as Bo Andrews made his Wolfpack head coaching debut this weekend against his former team.
In a loaded field, the Pack finished 15th of 16 teams at the Visit Knoxville Collegiate at 44-over, with its top performer finishing T-40.
There’s been a lot of change for the Pack coming into the season, but none bigger than the man in charge.
Near the end of last season, former head coach Press McPhaul announced his retirement after eight years at the helm. In his tenure, the Pack won 16 tournament titles with 15 golfers winning individual titles, and led the Pack to six NCAA regional appearances with two national championship berths. McPhaul led an era of consistent year-to-year success.
Replacing him, Raleigh native Bo Andrews has big shoes to fill. Andrews spent his last seven years assistant coaching for Tennessee after finishing his college golf career at Georgia Tech. Growing up in Raleigh, Andrews led Ravenscroft High School to four state championships. After 16 years, Bo has come home.
McPhauls are not the only big shoes to fill. With Nick Mathews graduating, the Pack is down its top dog from last year, who led the team with five top-10s and held a scoring average of 71.60.
At the Visit Knoxville Collegiate, those shoes went unfilled. In a large 16-team field — featuring Power-4 competitors including Tennessee, Ole Miss, LSU, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Kentucky, as well as a few mid-major schools including Charlotte, College of Charleston, Chattanooga, East Tennessee State — the Pack only bested the University of North Florida.
The top finisher for the Pack, sophomore Pearce Lewin, came over from Tennessee with Andrews. He found moderate success in the opening event, placing T-40 at 6-over-par, with a final-round 75 plaguing his tournament. Last year, the Visit Knoxville Collegiate was his breakout event, where he placed T-25 at 1-over-par.
Senior Tennessee transfer Evan Woosley-Reed, redshirt senior Middle Tennessee transfer Markus Varjun and freshman Michael Snyder all placed in the 70s, lining up with scores of 13-over, 14-over and 15-over, respectively.
The lone returning Wolfpack player in the field, sophomore Hunter Stetson, came up the rear, finishing at 23-over for T-87 out of 90 players.
The other two players on the roster, both returning after a decent 2024-2025 season, did not make an appearance. Senior Joey Lenane and sophomore Xander Goboy both had two top-10 finishes last season, with scoring averages of 72.40 and 74.97, respectively. It is to be seen when they play their first hole of the 2025-2026 season.
The Pack looks to kick it into gear for its next match on Sept. 29-30, as it competes in the Bryan Bros Collegiate hosted by South Carolina at Solina Golf Club.