RALEIGH – On Monday, October 2 nd the NC State Golf team hosted a golf tournament at Lonnie Poole consisting of fourteen different teams. Each golf payer played a total of thirty-six holes today, tallying for two full golf rounds.
I arrived late in the second round and followed Nolan Smith who plays on the golf team. As the day went on the weather grew more and more challenging as the win picked up making the golf course much more challenging to play.
Nolan struggled to get it going at first hitting a couple bad shots but with good wedge shots he was able to get up and down and make some steady pars. Nolan played along side Austin Hitt who plays for the University of Chapel Hill and Bennett Butch who plays for the University of Maryland.
Butch shot a 77 and 82 and Hitt shot a 72 and 67 and Nolan shot 71 and 71. Overall it was a very long day for the golfers who had to play two rounds of golf on long hot day.
After the long day of golf NC State and UNC are tied for the lead with a total of 16 under par. The individual leader for the day is Steven frankin, an NC State golfer as well who shot an incredible 13 under par with a 66 and 65.
After the two long rounds of golf, I got the chance to catch up with Nolan and get a chance to hear what he thought about his playing throughout the day, “Played solid the whole day. Wasn’t hitting it great in the morning so just tried to make sure I got my pars until I warmed up and not throw shots away early. Made back-to-back bogeys on 11 and 12 but finished strong after that to shoot -1. The second round I was feeling pretty good. Started out with a birdie and got another one on 8. Made a bad mistake on 10 and made bogey and then three putted from 12 feet on 14. Lipped out for birdie on 15. Hit it to an inch on 17 and gave myself a good look for birdie on 18. I threw a few shots away in my second round but played solid. Finished at -2 for the day and put myself in a good position to play well tomorrow.”
After the day, it was a fun day to watch golf and was cool to see all the different teams and players. It was a great golf day and I hope to see NC State hold the lead and take home the overall win tomorrow along with the individual win. I hope to see all the NC State golfers have a great day tomorrow.