N.C. State makes its move with eight-shot victory in V1 Sports General Hackler at The Dunes

    Considering the Atlantic Coast Conference teams were unable to compete in the fall portion of the wraparound 2020-2021 season, they have been making up for lost time as winter gives way to the Spring Sprint to Grayhawk Golf Club and the NCAA Championship.

   North Carolina State began play in this week’s V1 Sports General Hackler Championship at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C. ranked 32^nd by Golfstat, but after claiming an eight-shot victory over North Florida Tuesday, the Wolfpack had elbowed their way into the Golfstat Top 25 at No. 21.

   N.C. State opened with a 9-under-par 279 over a 7,233-yard, par-72 Dunes layout that seems to have been at its most vulnerable for Sunday’s first round. The Wolfpack did that one better with a 10-under 278 in Monday’s second round that gave them a 10-shot lead over North Florida heading into Tuesday’s final round.

   The weather took a turn for the worse for the final round with chillier temperatures accompanied by rain and wind. North Carolina State, however, hung tough, posting a 7-over 295 to finish with a 12-under 852 total. North Florida, behind individual champion Nick Gabrelcik, a freshman from Trinity, Fla., remained No. 26 in the Golfstat rankings as the Osprey closed with a 5-over 293 to finish eight shots behind N.C. State at 4-under 860.

   North Florida had opened with a 4-under 284 and added a 5-under 283 in Monday’s second round.

   Another ACC entry, Louisville, made a big jump in the rankings as the Cardinals went from No. 47 to No. 33 after finishing three shots behind North Florida in third place at 1-under 863. Nobody got off to a better start than Louisville did as the Cardinals fired a sizzling 13-under 275 in Sunday’s opening round. They cooled off with a 10-over 298 in the second round before closing with a 2-over 290 that matched the low team round of the day.

   A strong start to the back end of the 2020-’21 season had vaulted N.C. State’s ACC and Tobacco Road rival North Carolina to No. 8 in the Golfstat rankings and the Tar Heels got off to a great start at The Dunes with an 11-under 277 that left them two shots behind Louisville. North Carolina cooled off with a 5-over 293 in Monday’s second round that left it 13 shots behind N.C. State heading into the final round. The Tar Heels closed with a 10-over 298 that left them five shots behind Louisville in fourth place with a 4-over 868 total, a finish that dropped them to No. 16 in the Golfstat rankings.

   It was a pretty strong showing by Sun Belt Conference power and General Hackler host Coastal Carolina, which finished in fifth place, just three shots behind North Carolina at 7-over 871. The Chanticleers, however, did not budge from their No. 80 Golfstat ranking. Coastal Carolina opened with a 4-under 284 and added a 4-over 292 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 7-over 295 in Tuesday’s tough conditions.

   Kent State, which remained No. 64 in the Golfstat rankings, was three shots behind Coastal Carolina in sixth place with a 10-over 874 total. The Golden Flashes enjoyed a fast start in the opening round with a 10-under 278, but couldn’t maintain their momentum, posting an 8-over 296 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 12-over 300.

   Penn State returned to the course for the first time in a month and the rust showed as the Nittany Lions, out of the Big Ten, finished in 14^th place in the 15-team field with a 41-over 905 total. Penn State opened with a 10-over 298 and added a 301 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 306 in Tuesday’s wind and rain.

   North Carolina State was led by Max Steinlechner, a sophomore from Austria who carried the individual lead into Tuesday’s final round after firing a pair of 5-under 67s in the first two rounds. Steinlechner struggled in Tuesday’s challenging conditions, finishing up with a 76 that left him alone in fourth place with a 6-under 210.

   Steinlechner led a balanced effort as the starting five for the Wolfpack all finished among the top 25 in the individual standings.

   Backing up Steinlechner was Christian Salzer, a graduate student from Sumter, S.C. whose final round of 2-under 70 was the best of the day for N.C. State and left him alone in seventh place with a 2-under 214 total. Salzer had matched par with a pair of 72s in the first two rounds.

   Easton Paxton, a senior from Riverton, Wyo., matched Steinlechner’s 5-under 67 in the second round when the Wolfpack took control of the team race with their 10-under 278. Paxton had opened with a 1-under 71. He struggled to a throwout 78 in Tuesday’s final round, but still finished among the group tied for 11^th place at even-par 216.

   Carter Graf, a sophomore from Canada, was steady throughout. His opening-round 74 was a throwout, but he matched par in the final two rounds with a pair of 72s – the even-par effort in Tuesday’s final round played a huge role in N.C. State being able to hold off North Florida – and finished in a tie for 17^th place at 2-over 218.

   Rounding out the N.C. State lineup was veteran graduate student Benjamin Shipp of Duluth, Ga. and No. 48 in the World Amarteur Golf Ranking (WAGR), who was the runnerup in the individual standings in the General Hackler a year ago. Shipp opened with a 3-under 69 and added a throwout 74 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 77 that left him in the group tied for 25^th place at 4-over 220.

   Salzer and Shipp took up the NCAA on its offer of an extra year of eligibility to make up for the spring of their senior seasons stolen by the pandemic. Many programs are going to benefit from having seasoned guys like Salzer and Shipp in their lineups this spring.

   At No. 16, North Carolina is the fourth-highest ranked ACC team in the Golfstat rankings behind No. 1 Florida State, No. 3 Wake Forest and No. 11 Clemson. N.C. State is the fifth conference team in the top 25 and Louisville is just outside the top 25 with its big move up to No. 33 after its third-place finish in the General Hackler.

   Nobody in the ACC is sleeping on No. 42 Georgia Tech, No. 46 Duke or No. 51 Virginia either. Georgia Tech and Virginia finished 2-3, respectively, behind Charlotte in the Linger Longer Invitational, which wrapped up Sunday at the Reynolds Plantation at Lake Oconee’s Great Waters Course in Eatonton, Ga.

   Duke went split squad this week as the Blue Devils finished 10^th in the Valspar Collegiate – Florida State and Wake Forest went 1-2, respectively – which wrapped up Tuesday at the Floridian Golf Club in Palm City, Fla., while also sending three players to compete as individuals at the Seahawk Intercollegiate, which wrapped up Tuesday at River Landing Golf Club in Wallace, N.C. All three entries at River Landing finished among the top 18 in the individual standings. Still hoping to wrap up the Valspar at some point this week.

   North Florida’s Gabrelcik opened with a 2-under 70 and the ripped off a 6-under 66 in Monday’s second round that left him two shots behind the pace-setting Steinlechner heading into the final round. Gabrelcik’s 3-under 69 in Tuesday’s final round matched the low score of the day and gave him the individual title, his second of the season, with an 11-under 205 total.

   Louisville’s John Murphy, a redshirt senior from Ireland, was the only other player to break 70 in Tuesday’s final round as he matched Ggabrelcik’s 3-under 69 to earn runnerup honors with a 9-under 207 total. Murphy had matched the low round of the day in Sunday’s opening round with a sparkling 6-under 66 and matched par with a 72 in Monday’s second round.

   Coastal Carolina’s Zack Taylor, a fifth-year player who was a two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Baldwin, finished a shot behind Murphy in third place at 8-under 208. After opening with a 71, Taylor fired a 5-under 67 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 2-under 70.

   Gabrelcik’s North Florida teammate, Nick Infanti, a graduate student from Clarksburg, Md., finished in a tie for fifth place with North Carolina’s Austin Greaser, a sophomore from Vandalia, Ohio, at 3-under 213, three shots behind N.C. State’s Steinlechner.

   Infanti fueled North Florida’s fast start with a 6-under 66 in the opening round before cooling off with a 74 in Monday’s second round and closing with a 73. Greaser helped the Tar Heels start strong as he carded a sparkling 5-under 67 in the opening round. He matched par in the second round with a 72 before finishing up with a 74.

   Three players rounded out the top 10 as they finished in a tie for eighth place, a shot behind N.C. State’s Salzer at 1-under 215, including Indiana’s Clay Merchent, a freshman from Noblesville, Ind., Louisville’s Jiri Zuska, a junior from the Czech Republic and Mississippi’s Jackson Suber, a junior from Tampa, Fla. and No. 49 in the WAGR.

   Merchent closed with a 2-under 70 to get it to 1-under. Zuska got off to a good start with a 4-under 68, struggled to a 77 in Monday’s second round and also finished up with a 70 in Tuesday’s wind and rain. Suber opened strong with a 4-under 68 and matched par in Monday’s second round with a 72 before falling back to 1-under with a 3-over 75 in the final round.

   Also contributing for North Carolina was junior Dougie Ergood, a Lenape High product who finished in the group tied for 39^th place at 7-over 223. Ergood got off to a good start with a 1-under 71, added a 75 in Monday’s second round and finished up with a 77.

   Penn State was led by one of its two returning fifth-year graduate students, Ryan Davis of Berkeley Heights, N.J., who struggled in the final round with a 77 to finish among the group tied for 25^th place at 4-over 220. Davis was solid in the first two rounds, matching par with a 72 in Sunday’s first round and signing for a 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round.

   Senior Lou Olsakovsky, an Upper St. Clair product, was the medalist for the Nittany Lions in Tuesday’s final round with a 1-over 73 that left him in the group tied for 39^th place at 223. Olsakovsky opened with a 74 and added a 76 in Monday’s second round. Penn State’s other returning fifth-year graduate student, Alec Bard of New Hartford, N.Y., got off to a good start with a 1-under 71 in Sunday’s opening round before falling back with a 75 in Monday’s second round and a closing 78 that left him in the group tied for 44^th place at 224.

   Nice to see sophomore Patrick Sheehan, the 2018 District One Class AAA champion as a senior at Central Bucks East, get a shot in the first five, although a long winter in State College might not be the best preparation for a pretty competitive college event in Myrtle Beach. Still, Sheehan got a little better with each round, adding a 79 to his opening-round 81 before closing with a 78 that left him alone in 86^th place at 238.

   Sheehan had just broken into the starting lineup last spring when the coronavirus shut down college golf. Whether as a starter or not, Sheehan should be in the field when the Nittany Lions play host to the Rutherford Intercollegiate in their next start a month from now at Penn State’s Blue Course.

   Senior Lukas Clark, another Bucks County guy who played his high school golf at Council Rock South, rounded out the Penn State lineup. Clark never could solve The Dunes layout as he opened with an 83, added an 81 in Monday’s second round and closed with an 82 in Tuesday’s final round.