Pack in Action at General Hackler Championship This Weekend

March 9, 2018

Live Scoring

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men's golf team returns to action this weekend when it plays in the 17^th annual General Hackler Championship held at the Dunes Beach and Golf Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Fourteen of the 15 teams scheduled to participate in the General Hackler are ranked among the nation's top-100 teams, including two top-10 teams in Texas A&M and Georgia Tech.

General Hackler Championship Participants (Golfstat Rankings)
Texas A&M (2)
Georgia Tech (8)
LSU (12)
North Florida (23)
South Carolina (26)
NC State (31)
Kent State (32)
Kentucky (38)
Virginia (54)
Liberty (55)
East Carolina (78)
ETSU (81)
Coastal Carolina (89)
Virginia Tech (95)
Princeton

Last Time Out
The Pack opened the Spring portion of its schedule two weeks ago when it participated in the Puerto Rico Classic hosted by Purdue in Rio Mar, Puerto Rico from Feb. 18-20. Playing against a loaded field, the Pack was in a tie for second after one round and ultimately finished in seventh place in the 15-team field. Stephen Franken paced the Pack with a third-place finish out of the 75 competitors. Franken set two tournament records in the first round, total score (62) and score related to par (-9).

Fall Season Recap
The Pack participated in four events in the fall, winning two. NC State won the Golfweek Conference Challenge in September in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and captured the Wolfpack Intercollegiate held at Lonnie Poole Golf Club in early October. The two tournament victories in the fall marks the first time since the 2014-15 season the Pack has won multiple tournaments in a season. The last time NCState won three or more tournaments in a season was the 1995-96 season.

NC State Line-Up
1. Stephen Franken – The junior leads the Pack with a 70.53 scoring average as he has recorded four top-five finishes in five tournaments played. Franken collected the first individual title of his career, winning the Wolfpack Intercollegiate, with a three-day score of 15-under-par. Franken's score of 15-under-par tied an NC State program record for score in relation to par. The Raleigh native played nine of his 15 rounds in the fall at par or lower.

2. Benjamin Shipp – The junior ranks second on the team with a scoring average of 72.50. The junior won the Golfweek Conference Challenge besting the 75-player field with a three-day scorecard of (68-69-69—206). He closed the fall season, finishing in a tie for seventh-place out of 76 competitors at the UNCG/Grandover Collegiate.

3. Easton Paxton – The lone freshman on the Pack's roster this season, Paxton has competed in four of five events and finished with a scoring average of 73.5 8. The Riverton, Wyo., native made his collegiate debut at the Golfweek Conference Challenge and helped push the Pack to the tournament title, finishing the three-round event with a score of even-par to place in a tie for 19^th out of 75 competitors.

4. Christian Salzer – The sophomore has a 76.33 scoring average. Salzer closed the fall season with a 28^th place finish out of 76 players at the UNCG/Grandover Collegiate. He shot his low round of the season, a 71, in the opening round of the Puerto Rico Classic two weeks ago.

5. Nolan Mills Jr. - The junior joins Franken as the only players to compete in all five tournaments this season. He has a scoring average of 74.40. The Charlotte native finished in a tie for 13^th place out of 81 competitors at the Wolfpack Intercollegiate with a three-round score of one-under-par.

Pack in Action at General Hackler Championship This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Stephen Franken

Nolan Mills Jr.

Easton Paxton

Christian Salzer

Benjamin Shipp