North Carolina State University Athletics
Justin Walters Dominates Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational
3/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
March 24, 2002
Statesboro, Ga- Justin Walters continues to prove he belongs at the major college level. After transferring to NC State from Huntingdon (Ala.) College on the NAIA level, Walters has picked his game up right where it left off with All-American caliber play. While NC State struggled to ninth in round one and slipped to tenth after round two, Walters shined throughout and lead the Wolfpack to a third place finish overall. As a team the Wolfpack shot even-par for the final round and finished seven-over-par for the tournament, six strokes behind team champion Augusta State. Four top five nationally ranked schools competed in the Schenkel Invitational and the Wolfpack finished higher than three of the four as Wake Forest (3rd nationally) finished second, four strokes ahead of NC State. Florida (4th nationally) finished fourth at +8, Clemson (2nd nationally) finished 6th at +12, and Tennessee (5th nationally) placed ninth with a final tally of +16. NC State is ranked 28th nationally in the latest Golfweek rankings.
Walters sizzled with five birdies and no bogeys to card a five-under-par 67 in the final round for a five stroke victory to capture his second individual title of the year for the Wolfpack. He finished with 14 birdies for the tournament to only five bogeys. He fired a 68 in the first round to place first and a 72 in the second round to hold steady in second place before the final round on Sunday. He defeated four of the top five golfers in the nation according to the Golfweek which included two of the top golfers in the ACC in D.J. Trahan (Clemson) and Bill Haas (Wake Forest).
Senior Garth Mulroy finished in a tie for 39th after a seven-over-par 223 (78-71-74) for the tournament. Mulroy, the 44th ranked player in the country by Golfweek had four birdies for the tournament.
Freshman Rodney Thomas was the third highest golfer for the Wolfpack and fired consecutive rounds of 76-73-76 (225) to finish +9 for the three day event in a tie for 48th.
Fernando Mechereffe carded his third round under par for the season with a 71 in the final round. He finished in a tie for 53rd at +10.
Senior Jason Moon fell out of 25th place after the second round with a +10 (82) in the third round. He finished tied for 62nd, his lowest finish of the year.
Walters joined elite company in Wolfpack Men's Golf history with his second title of the year. He became only the fifth Wolfpack golfer to notch at least two individual titles during one season. Wolfpack All-American's Todd Smith, Nolan Mills, Kelly Mitchum, and Tim Clark each accomplished the feat in their stellar careers. Clark won two titles in two different seasons (1995-96, 1996-97). Kelly Mitchum and Nolan Mills are the only golfers to win three titles in one season with Mitchum doing so in 1990-91 while Mills won three titles in two different seasons (1981-82, 1982-83).
The Wolfpack Men's Golf team tees up next on April 6th and 7th at the Cleveland Golf/ASU Invitational in Augusta, Ga.
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Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational Forest Heights Country Club March 24th, 2002, Final Results |
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TEAM SCORES
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