North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Golf Opens Season At Kiawah Island, South Carolina
9/8/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Sept. 8, 2002
Coach Richard Sykes enters his 32nd season as head coach of one of the most successful golf programs in the country. NC State will kickoff its fall golf schedule with a trip south to the Turtle Point Golf Club at Kiawah Island, S.C. for the Cleveland Golf - Kiawahs Island Intercollegiate. The Wolfpack will spend Monday and Tuesday, September 9th and 10th, on the course looking for its 43rd team tournament title. Fresh off of a sixth place NCAA finish and a second place showing at the ACC Championships in 2002, Sykes' Wolfpack squad is set to make a run at an ACC and national title.
"We lost only one starter last season in Garth Mulroy," Sykes said. "He was a talented golfer now playing professionally and we must find someone to fill his shoes. We return four talented golfers and we expect good things from this season."
Leading the way for the core of returning players are seniors Justin Walters and Jason Moon. Walters won two titles in 2002 and will look to duplicate his All-ACC and All-American performance from a year ago. Walters already has one national title in his trophy case, the 2001 NAIA National Championship before he transferred to NC State. Walters drove his way up and down the golf courses last season firing a stroke average of 71.9, the third best single season stroke average ever at NC State.
Moon is one of the most experienced and talented golfers for the Wolfpack. He has competed in at six tournaments in each of his three years at NC State and is the only Wolfpack player to have played in two NCAA Regionals and two NCAA Championships. He notched a stroke average of 72.65 on the season, the tenth best season mark in school history.
Joining the senior leaders are two returning players who saw action all season for the Wolfpack as the number four and five golfers. Junior Fernando Mechereffe played in all 40 rounds and maintained a steady stroke average of 73.8. Rodney Thomas played in 34 tournaments as a true freshman and will look to build upon his sixth place finish at the ACC Championship.
Talented freshamn Andrew Lewis will challenge sophomores Sutton Barbery and Banks Wood for the fifth starting slot for the Wolfpack.
