North Carolina State University Athletics
Walters Leads the Wolfpack After Two Rounds
4/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 13, 2002
Chapel Hill, NC- The last three tournaments for the Wolfpack have been team efforts with multiple NC State golfers firing rounds under-par or at even-par. But junior Justin Walters has stood tall and has kept NC State in the hunt for a team title in all three with his blistering scoring average. After the first two rounds of tournament play at the Intercollegiate at the Finley Golf Course, it appears like Walters and State will keep on rolling. Walters fired an opening round 65 to grab a share of the lead after the first round and currently stands tied for fourth after a second round 73. The one-over-par 73 broke a string of eight straight rounds of par or better golf for Walters. He has fired an amazing string of rounds (70-68-72-67-71-67-71-65, 25-under-par) dating back to the third round of the Las Vegas Intercollegiate on March 10th. The Wolfpack carded a team score of 561 and trails tournament co-host North Carolina (588) by three strokes for the individual lead. Wake Forest is second after a 559 and the University of Minnesota is third at 560.
Walters fired six birdies and two eagles in the two rounds. He was five-under-par on the back nine of his first round with a 31 and finished the round with birdies on the 16th and 18th holes and an eagle on the 17th. Walters has won two tournaments this year and heads into the third round only four strokes out of first place.
Sophomore Fernando Mechereffe tied his season low round of 67 in the second round and stands in 11th after two rounds with a 140 (73-67). Mechereffe is four-under-par, his best 36 hole start of the season. Mechereffe was one-under-par after 36 holes at the Cleveland Golf/ASU Invitational last weekend.
Junior Jason Moon played both of his opening rounds under-par for the first time this season and for the second time in his career. Moon carded a 71-70 start at the NCAA East Regional last year before a final round 71 to finish tied for 27th. His 141 (70-71) at the Intercollegiate is his best second round score in three career trips to the tournament. Moon fired a 75-74-73=222 (T-24th) in 2000 and a 70-75-75=220 (T-28th) last year. Moon currently stands tied for 16th.
Senior Garth Mulroy makes his second trip to Finley Golf Course and fired a 73-69 (142) to capture 21st heading into Sunday's final round. Mulroy finished tied for fourth at the Intercollegiate last spring after a 68-71-73 (212).
Freshman Rodney Thomas recorded rounds of 76 and 79 to land in a tie for 65th.
Junior walk-on Wesley Horne competed as an individual and stands in a tie for 47th after an opening round 70. He fired a 78 in the second round for a two round total of 148.
The Intercollegiate concludes tomorrow with the final round. Coach Richard Sykes and the Wolfpack look to capture their first tournament title and extend their top-five finish streak to four straight tournaments.
Intercollegiate at UNC Finley Finley Golf Course Chapel Hill, NC Par: 72 Yds: 7057T-4 Justin Walters 65 73 138 -6 T-11 Fernando Mechereffe 73 67 140 -4 T-16 Jason Moon 70 71 141 -3 21 Garth Mulroy 73 69 142 -2 T-65 Rodney Thomas 76 79 155 +11 *T-47 Wesley Horne 70 78 148 + *(Competing as an individual, score does not count in team scoring)
Fin. School Scores 1 North Carolina, U of 285 273 558 -18 2 Wake Forest Univ. 274 285 559 -17 3 Minnesota, Univ. of 276 284 560 -16 4 North Carolina St. 281 280 561 -15 5 Vanderbilt Univ. 288 280 568 -8 6 Kansas, U. of 290 279 569 -7 7 Georgia Southern U. 289 281 570 -6 8 Duke University 290 281 571 -5 9 North Florida, U. of 287 285 572 -4 10 Southern Methodist 289 287 576 E 11 Tulsa, U. of 294 286 580 +4 12 East Tennessee St. 290 291 581 +5
