The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1364233
42 ■ THE WOLFPACKER was accustomed to back home in Europe," head men's golf coach Press McPhaul said. "It took him a while to get comfortable. After that span of time continuing to grow, understanding who he is as a player and how he plays the game, those were the pre- cursors to building the confidence that he needed to start having the results that he's gotten this season." "He helped me a lot with my putting," Steinlechner said of his head coach. "I was never really an amazing putter, but I've definitely had some good rounds where I putted really well. It was never really con- sistent, so we worked on it." The hard work began to pay off in 2021. After five appearances during his fresh- man campaign with a season-best 10th- place showing at the Wolfpack Intercol- legiate, Steinlechner leads the Pack with five top-five finishes in seven appearances during his sophomore year. His five best performances have come in consecutive events to end the 2021 regular season. The No. 43 individual player at the Di- vision I level according to Golfweek as of April 16, he ranks second on the team with a scoring average of 70.81 strokes per round. "After his initial adjustment to the cul- ture and Bermuda greens, the big area of development for him has been 'playing intuitively' as he calls it," McPhaul said. "He's a very orderly, analytical and strate- gic thinker, and his confidence rises as he does analysis and considers all of the data. "It's a strength of his, but he did have to learn how to take in all of that data and have it tell him, 'Alright, this is the right shot to play.' Once he selected that shot, that putt or that line, he needed to turn on his artistic or athletic side. That is creativity and where the athlete is responding to the picture of what he wants to see." The self-reflective Steinlechner agreed with his head coach's perspective. "I tend to be a little too perfectionist with my technique," Steinlechner admitted. "I This season hasn't merely been a strong year for the Wolfpack, it's been among the best in the program's history. The Pack has claimed four tournament victories in the regular season, which ties for the most at the Division I level and also marks the program's most in a single season since 1995. NC State ended the regular season by shooting a program-record 51-under-par at MacGregor Downs in the Stitch Intercollegiate April 9-10, defeating the 12-team field by 12 strokes to claim its fourth straight tournament win in 2021. Head coach Press McPhaul credits the team success with rallying behind a simple, two-word mantra that exudes the culture the program wants to build, and he credits assistant Matt Moot with coining it: "Do us." "You don't have to play somebody else's game, you don't have to become a superhuman version of yourself," McPhaul said. "You have to do what you do well and know that NC State golf is good enough. You go out there and you 'do us' with a quiet, subtle confidence. "If there's a secret sauce, that's it." Graduate Benjamin Shipp, the No. 27 player in Division I according to Golfweek as of April 16, has led the team with two individual victories, but he hasn't carried the weight of the team's success on his own. Five Pack golfers averaged a per-round score of even-par or better throughout the regular season and combined for 14 top-10 individual finishes, including 12 in the top five. Here's a look at those five golfers' campaigns entering the postseason: Fifth-Year Senior Benjamin Shipp Scoring average per round: 70.43 Best individual finish in 2021: First place at the Schenkel Invitational and Hootie Intercollegiate Shipp is tied for third all time in program history with five individual career victo- ries. The only former Pack golfers with more are two-time All-American Albin Choi (nine) and 2009 NCAA champion Matt Hill (10), who is the lone national champion in program history. Shipp's five career wins are tied with former Wolfpacker Tim Clark, who went on to claim four international victories, two wins on the PGA Tour and appeared in three President's Cups. It's Shipp's putting that has made the difference, and his head coach was only able to compare his ability to one other college golfer he had a first-hand view of in his first head coaching gig at Vanderbilt: nine-time PGA Tour winner and 2012 FedEx Cup champion Brandt Snedeker. "He's one of the best putters I've ever seen," McPhaul said of Shipp. "He just has a superb ability to play the game, play it well, start making birdies and keep making birdies." Sophomore Maximilian Steinlechner Scoring average per round: 70.81 Best individual finish in 2021: Tied for second at the Schenkel Invitational and Wake Forest Invite Nearly one year after his freshman season was cut short due to the pandemic, Steinlechner has been playing the best golf of his career. Of his five top-five fin- ishes, he tied for second twice and tied for third once. His 70.81 strokes per round average and 13 rounds under-par are second best on the team. "Max's iron play is remarkable," McPhaul said. "It's pretty special." Senior Easton Paxton Scoring average per round: 71.48 Best individual finish in 2021: Second at the Sea Best Invitational Paxton has placed in the top five twice this season, including an outright runner- up finish in the Pack's season debut at TPC Sawgrass in the Sea Best Invitational Feb. 1-2. His 71.48 strokes per round average and 11 under-par rounds both rank third on the team. "If you just want a really well-rounded player who's solid in a lot of areas, that would be Easton Paxton," McPhaul said. "He drives it well; he's solid in iron play; he's a really, really good putter. He's one of the best bunker players I've ever seen. He's got a steadiness in his bag from top to bottom." Fifth-Year Senior Christian Salzer Scoring average per round: 71.86 Best individual finish in 2021: Second at the Stitch Intercollegiate One of four NC State players to appear in all seven tournaments in 2021, Salzer has earned two top-10 finishes, including a runner-up placement. He tied Shipp for the lowest single-round score of the season when he shot 7-under 65 at Mac- Gregor Downs in the first and third rounds of the Stitch Intercollegiate. "Christian Salzer is a really, really straight driver of the golf ball," McPhaul said. "He's one of the most consistent drivers I've ever coached." Sophomore Carter Graf Scoring average per round: 72.0 Best individual finish in 2021: Thirteenth at the Wake Forest Invite at No. 2 Graf rounds out the Pack's five players averaging par or better per round. He's also the fifth player on the team to produce double-digit rounds under par, notch- ing 10 during the regular season in his five tournament appearances. "Carter is the fiery, let's-get-after-it kind of fierce competitor," McPhaul said. — Justin H. Williams NC State's Four 2021 Tournament Wins Mark The Most In 26 Years