Natalie Folsom
Freshman Joey Lenane tees off during the Wolfpack Intercollegiate tournament on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022. Lenane had a score of 6-over. NC State tied for second place.
NC State men’s golf took the road to Wilmington to face stiff competition in the Williams Cup, where seven of 15 teams in the field were ranked in the top 25.
Coming off its best performance of the season — third place at the Cullen Brown Collegiate — the Wolfpack was hungry for another strong placement. After two rounds, the Pack sat in fourth place, poised for just that, but the team fell to sixth after a tough third round.
Senior Joey Lenane shot 1-under-par to earn a tie for seventh place, his best finish of the season. Lenane’s consistency has been a bright spot for the team this year. He added this performance to a tie for 10th in the team’s last contest and a tie for 11th in the one before that.
The rest of the Wolfpack trailed far behind its leader. Sophomores Xander Goboy and Pearce Lewin took the next-highest placements, finishing in ties for 27th and 32nd, respectively. Although 27th and 32nd aren’t winning numbers, both players improved upon their most recent placements and helped the Pack finish in the middle of the field.
Middle Tennessee transfer Markus Varjun, playing in his last year of eligibility, started the competition by shooting par through the first round, but fell to 37th place by the end of the tournament.
Evan Woosley-Reed, who led the team after tying for fourth place at the Cullen Brown Collegiate, couldn’t find that magic again and finished in a tie for 43rd place. The team needs consistency from the former All-American transfer from Tennessee if it’s going to take first in a competition with as many strong opponents as the Williams Cup offered.
The Williams Cup is an annual tournament played at Eagle Point Golf Club, which was designed by renowned course architect Tom Fazio in 2000. Last year, NC State placed fifth.
Florida won this year’s tournament with a monstrous 15-under-par, while Nate Stevens of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish led all individuals with an 8-under-par score.
This event wraps up the fall portion of the season, and the team will pick up action again in February at the Loyola Intercollegiate in Arizona on Feb. 15-17.