The N.C. State golf team finished second overall at the GolfWeek Conference Challenge as it finished with a total score of 848, 16-under-par for the tournament. The tournament took place from Sept. 19 to 21 at Spirit Hollow Golf Course in Burlington, Iowa. The home team won and Iowa walked away with the trophy.
State shot five under on day one, placing them in second place overall, but finished 15-shots back from Iowa. But even though the team did not win, it seemed pleased with its finish.
“It was hard to catch Iowa, but we were really happy with the way we finished,” sophomore Mitchell Sutton said.
Senior Brandon Detweiler led the team with a 3-under-par 69 on day one. His four birdies helped him earn a share of fifth place individually, five strokes behind first. Freshman Albino Choi was tied for ninth with a 2-under score of 70 at the end of day one and Sutton finished tied for 13th, 1-under-par.
The team remained in second place after the second round on Monday, shooting 4-under-par in an overall tie with Campbell University at 19-under through the first two days of the tournament. Detweiler continued to lead State, shooting 1-under and finishing tied for second place after round two.
Coming into the last day tied at second place and with two teams only one stroke behind, Tuesday promised to be very competitive. The team shot 12-under, its lowest score of the tournament and bested only by Liberty University’s 17 under performance. The round on Tuesday was four strokes better than tournament leader Iowa.
“It was a fight for second and we blew everyone out,” assistant coach Chip Watson said. “We did great, and we are happy with the finish.”
Detweiler shot a 5-under 67 in the final round, a score only bested only three times throughout all of the rounds in the entire tournament that had 75 competitors. Detweiler came down to the very last hole of the tournament from being in a three way tie for first place overall, but he would finish in sole possession of third place, one stroke behind the leaders.
“I struck the ball well, pretty consistent golf,” Detweiler said.
Sutton and Choi each also shot their best round on Tuesday. Sutton’s 68 finished him tied for sixth place overall at 5-under-par and Choi shot a 69, making it three State golfers finishing in the top-10 overall, finishing in ninth place at 4-under-par.
“We had five guys here that we are never surprised if they have a low score,” Watson said.
The team did not know what to expect from the tournament when driving through Iowa’s vast flatlands and cornfields but were pleasantly surprised by the course.
“The land was very flat and at first I was worried, but it had been raining a lot before and the damp ground and hills made it a harder course to play,” Detweiler said.
Watson echoed Detweiler’s comments, as he and the team seemed to enjoy the course.
“We didn’t know what to expect but the course was really really nice,” Watson said.
The next event for the team will be the Wolfpack Intercollegiate on Oct. 4-5 at N.C. State’s Lonnie Poole Golf Course.
