All season long, NC State men’s golf has competed against top teams, but the ACC Championship offered an even greater challenge.
Five teams in the top 25 and 12 in the top 50 joined NC State at Shark’s Tooth Golf Club in Panama City Beach, Florida. The Wolfpack played above its ranking, finishing ahead of two of those teams, but still ended stroke play outside of the match-play cutoff in 11th place.
NC State started strong, in sixth place at one-over-par at the end of the first round, but slowly tumbled down the rankings as more holes were played. Senior Evan Woosley-Reed was the only Pack golfer who brought his A-game to the third round.
Woosley-Reed thrived on the final 18, shooting four-under-par to climb into a tie for 22nd place at two strokes over par. Also in 22nd place was redshirt-senior Markus Varjun, who shot an eagle on hole 13 in the first round. From there it was less spectacular, but still sound. The transfer from Estonia has found his groove after struggling in his fall outings for the Pack.
While Woosley-Reed and Varjun were solid, sophomore Xander Goboy left his best stuff at home.
Goboy, who has shown flashes of excellence in the spring, flipped the script for the worse with a 62nd-place finish. Round one was smooth sailing — a two-under-par effort with six birdies — while round two was something to forget, and round three sank his card from 10th place to his worst finish by placement since October.
Spring transfer Rylan Shim fared better, but not by much. The redshirt sophomore shot five bogeys and one double bogey on round three, leaving him in 41st place at six-over-par.
Two strokes ahead of Shim, sophomore Tennessee transfer Pearce Lewin escaped the final 18 in one-over-par for a 33rd-place result. Lewin left a consistent national power to play for NC State, but this year, his previous school also missed the match-play cut in its conference championship.
With conference championships out of the way, the regional fields for the 2026 NCAA Championship will be revealed live during the NCAA Selection Show on Wednesday, May 6. Tune in at 2 p.m. on the Golf Channel to find out where the Pack will play.
