The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1364233
MAY/JUNE 2021 ■ 43 figured out that it's fine at the beginning of my preparation before a tournament, but once I get closer to the first day of the tour- nament I try to move towards executing the shots and getting away from all the tech- nique-based things because those actually inhibit me from executing the shots I want. "I try not to base everything on feel- ings. Feelings are subjective, and subjective things can often be wrong. I always look at my stats as well, what are the objective facts of what was good, what was bad." Steinlechner's emergence as one of the ACC's top young golfers has been a wel- comed contribution to the Wolfpack, which enters the 2021 postseason as one of the hottest teams in college golf. NC State won four straight tournaments to end the regular season, tying No. 1 Okla- homa for the most event victories among Division I programs. After the late-season push, the Wolfpack catapulted to No. 8 in the Division I rankings according to Golf- stat.com as of April 13. Prior to the hot streak at the end of the season, the Pack spent most of the year out- side of the national top 25. In GolfChannel. com's 2021 preseason rankings, NC State was left out of the national top 30 and was pegged No. 9 in the ACC power rankings. Despite tremendously exceeding expec- tations, the team had confidence that it could compete and win an ACC title even before it started seeing the success on the course. "I don't think there's any secret sauce," McPhaul said. "These are good players who have a very good mindset. A good mindset in golf looks like controlling the things that you can control, not wasting time and energy on things that you can't control and moving to the next shot, the next opportu- nity. Our guys have bought into that as a mantra." "Confidence should always be a part of your game, regardless of the results," Stein- lechner added. "You want to be confident based on the actions you do daily, not just the results you get from those actions. "Once you start playing bad, then all of a sudden your confidence is gone, and you don't want that to happen. You want to be confident all the time, regardless of if you make birdie or par. "You want to disconnect your confidence from your results. You can use those re- sults as a little boost of confidence, but you never should depend your confidence solely on results." ■ Steinlechner and the Wolfpack won four straight tournaments to end the regular season, tying No. 1 Oklahoma for the most event victories among Division I programs. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS " 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 precursors to building the confidence that he needed to start having the results that he's gotten this season. " Men's golf coach Press McPhaul on Steinlechner