Beginning today, the men’s golf team will chase after its first ACC Championship since 1990. The championship is being held at the Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point in New London, N.C. The par 72 course rounds out at 7,100 yards and has become the annual site for the tournament.
In Friday’s opening round, State is grouped with Boston College and Virginia Tech. New groupings will be formed for Saturday and Sunday and play begins at 8:30 a.m. on each day. Five student-athletes are representing the Pack – the same group that has been sent to the previous four tournaments. The weekend team includes seniors Adam Hogue and Brad Revell, junior Matt Hill, sophomore Mark McMillen and freshman Mitchell Sutton.
Following the ACC Championship, the team has one final weekend of official competition prior to NCAA regionals. A strong showing this weekend is important, and they have one goal in mind: winning.
“Anytime we go to a tournament, we want to win,” McMillen said. “We have to play solid.”
Last year, the Wolfpack finished tied for fourth with Wake Forest and Hill brought home honors after tying for the individual title, finishing at ten under par.
Hill, who is making plans to enter professional competition and forgo his senior year, has high expectations placed upon him by his teammates.
“If Matt can play like he did last year, and we all put up a good performance, we have a good chance,” McMillen said. “I watched him last year when I didn’t play and got some good vibes about the course.”
As a team, the Pack has performed consistently in the championship over the years. In four of the last six years, the group has ended the weekend finishing fourth or better.
However, the spring season has featured varying results, ranging from second place finishes to finishing second to last in tournament fields. But the pinnacle of conference play offers a clean slate to the Pack.
“We’ve had an up and down season,” McMillen said. “I feel like if we play like we can and are supposed to, then we have a really good chance to compete for the championship this weekend.”
While several individuals on the team have performed well, team members are striving to overcome a hurdle that has plagued the Pack.
“The coaches have been talking about finishing,” McMillen said. “We haven’t put three rounds together as a team.”
Three solid rounds is exactly what it will take to bring home new hardware on Sunday. Four ACC teams are currently ranked on the Golf World/Nike Division I Coaches Poll: Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia and Clemson are all within the Top 20. In the face of tough competition, team members expect quality play from themselves and as a group.
“Hopefully I can play a bit better than I have been throughout this season,” Sutton said. “We all need to put it together over three days for the win.”
As one of the team’s newcomers, Sutton has never played the Old North State course. He will look to the veteran members for pointers while scoping the course out during his practice round.
“The leadership from the older guys has been great; they’ve given me a lot of help telling me where I’m at,” Sutton said. “I’ll have to keep an eye on what they do in the practice round.”
The teams have already locked up a regional bid. During regional competition, there are eighteen teams at each of four sites. The top five teams from each site advance to national competition. Additionally, the top two players from teams not advancing to the NCAA finals from regionals qualify. Hill won the 2009 NCAA National Championship as an individual competitor last spring.
