North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Puerto Rico Golf Classic
Justin Walters Co-Champion At 2003 Puerto Rico Classic
2/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Feb. 25, 2003
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Senior All-American Justin Walters played another strong tournament for NC State, winning his third career tournament at NC State. The native of South Africa finished five-under-par by carding a 70-70-71=211, his fifth lowest tournament total of his career. NC State finished with a three-day 288-286-301=875 to finish sixth after leading the 2003 Puerto Rico Classic after each of the first two rounds.
Walters won his third career tournament after winning the Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational and the Nelson Inviational in his first season at NC State in 2001-02. Walters leads NC State with a 71.5 stroke average on the season through six tournaments. Currently, Walters career stroke average stands at 71.81, three-hundreths of a stroke ahead of Tim Clark for NC State's school record.
Junior Fernando Mechereffe led after each of the first two rounds with a pair of 69s, but a final round 76 dropped him into a tie for third, his highest career finish. His tournament total of 214 is also his second lowest showing in his career, matching the 214 he put up at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate on February 17-18 this spring. Mechereffe has been impressive throughout the spring, with a stroke average of 71.3 after six rounds of golf.
Stephen Lewton finished in his first top-20 after only two career tournaments with a 13th place showing. The freshman from England fired a 70-71-77=218, and lowered his stroke average to 73.3.
Sophomore Sutton Barbrey finished in 61st with a 79-76-77=232, and Rodney Thomas finished 81st in his first tournament since breaking his elbow with a 79-79-85=243.
The tournament featured nine of the top-20 team nationally, and five of the top-10 individuals.
The men's golf team will travel to the Las Vegas Intercollegiate March 7-9.
Place Individual 1st 2nd 3rd Total t-1 Justin Walters 70 70 71 211 -5 t-3 F. Mechereffe 69 69 76 214 -2 t-13 Stephen Lewton 70 71 77 218 +2 t-61 Sutton Barbrey 79 76 77 232 +16 t-81 Rodney Thomas 79 79 85 243 +27Pl. Team 1st 2nd 3rd Total 1 Oklahoma State 291 289 282 862 -2 2 Clemson 293 293 295 872 +8 Minnesota 291 286 286 872 +8 Texas 296 291 285 872 +8 5 Florida 300 291 283 874 +10 6 N.C. State 288 286 301 875 +11 7 Georgia Tech 301 289 292 882 +18 8 Oklahoma 316 288 291 895 +31 9 E. Tennessee St. 300 301 295 896 +32 Northwestern 300 297 299 896 +32 11 Georgia 305 293 299 897 +33 12 Duke 304 301 299 904 +40 13 Colorado 310 297 300 907 +43 14 Kent State 311 303 295 909 +45 15 Purdue 316 299 299 914 +50 16 Illinois 316 306 306 928 +64 17 Virginia 325 313 311 949 +85 18 Michigan 328 319 313 960 +96
