When sophomore Pearce Lewin transferred to NC State, nobody knew he’d show up in the program’s recordbooks so quickly.
After hitting 15-under-par through three rounds, Lewin now possesses the second-lowest score by par in Wolfpack history. He ended NC State’s last tournament with his highest placement of the season (sixth) and crushed that on Tuesday with a 7-under-par round to finish in third. His strong play put NC State men’s golf in fifth place out of 15 and right around some highly-ranked teams.
Lewin is on fire, but he isn’t the only NC State transfer playing well in the spring. Redshirt sophomore Rylan Shim, who transferred from Florida in the fall, hit 8-under-par to back up Lewin in the top-20 and finish in 17th-place. It’s Shim’s worst finish with the Wolfpack, but with three top-20 finishes in three tournaments, his consistency is not in doubt.
Senior Joey Lenane was two shots back, as his 6-under-par good for 27th-place. The veteran had been trending in the wrong direction after following up seventh, 10th and 11th-place finishes in the fall with 30th-place at the Loyola Intercollegiate in February, but he stabilised on Tuesday with a 4-under-par score in round three.
Sophomore Xander Goboy tumbled from a third-place finish in his last tournament to a 52nd-place hole at the end of day two in this one. On day three, he focused up and hit 3-under-par to rise 11 spots and end The Johnnie-O in 41st-place at 3-under-par.
Redshirt senior Markus Varjun rounded out NC State’s efforts with a tie for 45th-place. Despite opening the tournament with a 4-under Round 1, Varjun slipped as holes were played and couldn’t improve upon his last few showings with the Pack (14th, 37th and 44th-place finishes).
Georgia Southern and Florida Gulf Coast tied for first place, five strokes ahead of the Pack.
Next up for NC State is a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for the second annual Michael A. Marino tournament March 15-17. Golf will be played at Dunes Golf and Beach Club, where the tournament’s late namesake, Mike Marino, played for decades.
