North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Golf at Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate this weekend
10/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Oct. 13, 2011
Live Scoring
After a one-year hiatus competing at the NCAA Men's Golf Championship, long-time NC State head coach Richard Sykes guided his club to last spring's 2011 golf finals in Stillwater, Okla.
It was the programs 31st appearance in the championship dating back to 1965 when Bobby Pipkin competed as an individual at Holston Hills in Knoxville, Tenn.
Fast-forward to the fall of 2011 and Sykes is directing the program in his 41st season, the longest current tenure in collegiate golf.
This weekend the team plays its third tournament of the season at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate in Jonesborough, Tenn. The 54-hole event takes place Friday-Sunday.
Sykes is looking forward to seeing how this season unfolds with a lineup mixed with seasoned veterans and talented newcomers.
“All the guys are working hard and we are doing a lot of practicing,” said Sykes. “They have used thier off time very wisely. I know they are trying to get better and it looks like its working.”

The roster is comprised of 11 golfers, eight from North Carolina, and three from the Canadian Province of Ontario - Graham Baillargeon, Albin Choi and Mitchell Sutton.
This squad has a lot of experience to fall back on after losing only Brandon Detweiler, who is now competing in the pro golf ranks, from last year’s club, 

The three Canadians and Raleigh native Chad Day, all of which competed in the NCAA run in 2011, are back for another run to the NCAAs.

"Eleven deep is pretty good,” added Sykes. “The key is how fast people step up to shoot the kind of scores we need to be competitive.”


Choi and Sutton finished 1-2 for the Pack in eight out of 13 tournaments last season on their way to earning All-American honors.
Sutton, however, is out the remainder of the fall season with a wrist injury that forced him to miss last week's Wolfpack Intercollegiate as well.
The duo racked up numerous accolades in 2010-11, including All-ACC honors, while Choi was unanimously selected freshman of the year by the league’s head coaches. 

Both won two tournaments last year, with Sutton earning co-medalist honors at the NCAA Florida Regional. He joined PGA Tour veteran Tim Clark (he won twice) and fellow countryman and former collegiate player of the year Matt Hill as the only three men to win a regional for the Wolfpack.


Add Mark McMillen to the mix with the other two seniors previously mentioned in the likes of Baillargeon and Day and you’ve got five players on the squad that have played in NCAA competition.
“The seniors are being pushed really hard by (James) Chapman, (Christian) Hawley, (Hunter) Howell and the three kid that came in this year, (William) Herring, (Andrew) Decker and Wilson (Day).


“If the three seniors are not able to carry the load the young guys are going to take their spots,” Sykes said.
The depth of the roster, which Sykes said could be overrated because if you've got five really good players you don't need any depth, was on display in the opening tournament last month.
“In the first event, two of the freshmen, Chapman who was injured last year, and Herring who came in this year, got two spots. I think the guys (seniors) have accepted the fact that they need to get busy,” said Sykes.
Chapman finished second in the clubs qualifier leading up to the season-opening event at Air Force. He carried over his fine play by firing a 5-under 67 in the final round to tie for 15th, the best finish of the five in competition.


Sykes believes competition is going to breed success for this team.
“The key is to accept the fact that they may not play every time,” Sykes explained. “But if they are not playing, if they choose to go ahead and play hard enough to make someone really beat them then were going to be better.”
Coach also thinks playing a couple new venues this season will help as well. Learning to play golf on all different types of grass, terrain and weather can only help in the end.

The event out in Colorado Springs was a prime example.
“It was a chance to show the guys they didn't know all they thought they did,” said Sykes. “Playing with altitude and playing in the mountains, and the ball breaking different directions and going 10-20 percent further, you find out real fast there’s a lot about this game you don't know.
“We accomplished a lot there and really played well the last round (8-under 280) that gave us a good top-four finish in a competitive field.”


One event that isn’t on the “regular-season” schedule, but will still have a strong NC State representation, is the Western Refining Sun Bowl All-America Golf Classic in El Paso, Texas.
The Thanksgiving tournament is made up of 34 individuals that have earned All-America status at the collegiate level. Two on the who’s who list is State’s very own duo of Choi and Sutton, who will likely not be able to competete due to injury.
They are the eighth and ninth players selected from the program to compete in this tournament that started back in 1974.
“This is an all-star event,” explained Sykes. “If they take it seriously it can be a nice time for them. It’s a time to see how you stack up around Thanksgiving with what is supposed to be the best players in college golf.


“I think it will keep them focused when our season ends in the fall in early November. All that will do is help us in the spring time.”

And once the spring season is upon us, it will be time to go head-to-head with the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference, a league that is always considered one of the nation’s strongest tests in golf.
In fact seven golfers from the ACC will compete in the aforementioned All-American classic. That number ties with other traditional powers, the Pac-12 and the Big 12, for the most golfers entered per conference.
Sykes expects this year will be similar to what the last 40 have been like when its time to stack up against the ACC.


“It's probably tougher this year than it was last year, but that's what you expect. Everybody has good players and it just depends how they are playing on that particular day.
“Just the other day one of our former players, Bowen Sargent's team at Virginia won a tournament and broke both the school record and the tournament record. That’s what you expect from this league and what we expect from NC State.”


The Wolfpack finishes up its fall campaign at the Bridgestone Golf Collegiate in Greensboro, N.C., later this month.
By Mark Kimmel
