Rebuilt Wolfpack Off to Solid Spring Start
By STEVE WILLIAMS

With veteran teams Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Clemson holding the top three spots in the national rankings, the challenge for rebuilding teams like N.C. State to make any headway in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season is quite daunting.

The Wolfpack lost Chris Mundorf, David Sanchez and Mark Tullo from last year’s team that finished second in the Eastern Regional and earned a trip to the NCAA Championships.

But it appears N.C. State is reloading instead of rebuilding. A fifth-place finish in the 15-team Mercedes-Benz Collegiate at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra, Fla., in mid-February got the Wolfpack off to a strong start this spring.

Counting last fall’s strong showing, N.C. State has five straight top-10 finishes and is sure to move up from the 36^th-place listing in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index it held before the tournament. Six of the top 25 ranked teams in the nation were in the field and the Wolfpack finished ahead of sixth-ranked Texas, 18^th-ranked South Carolina and 24th-ranked Augusta State.

Fifth-ranked Florida, the defending NCAA champion, won the 54-hole tournament with 872, two shots better than seventh-ranked Tennessee.

Second-ranked Wake Forest was fourth, just three shots better than N.C. State.

Senior Garth Mulroy, one of just two returning Wolfpack starters, had his best-ever finish, shooting 71-71-70 to finish two shots behind Florida’s Camilo Villegas and in a tie for second for medalist honors.

N.C. State junior transfer Justin Walters finished in a tie for 18th after scoring rounds of 73-75-73. Walters won individual honors at The Nelson Invitational last fall.

Junior Jason Moon, the other returning starter, was third for the Wolfpack and tied for 39th overall, junior transfer Fernaldo Machareffe was 50th and freshman Rodney Thomas of Lexington finished in a tie for 72nd.

The Wolfpack was leading the tournament after a first-round 296 but fell back after a 306 in the second round. A 288 in round three produced the fifth-place finish.

Wake Forest shot 299-298-290 to take fourth. Brent Wanner was the top finisher for the Deacons as his 218 tied for 10th.

Bill Haas, who is ranked second nationally in the Golfweek/Sagarin listings, tied for 26th with teammate Chris Yoder while Chad Wilfong of Thomasville tied for 32nd and Jay Morgan, Wake’s only senior, tied for 39th.

North Carolina, led all fall by sophomore Dustin Bray of Asheboro, got another solid performance by its No. 1 player in the spring opener. He tied for 10th, rebounding from an opening round 79 to shoot 68-71.

The Tar Heels, who finished ninth in the tourney, have been looking for someone to provide some punch behind Bray and they got it from junior Ramon Bescansa, who shot 74-74-70 to share 10th place with Bray.

Jeremy Elliott (T48), Bob Cherry (T30) and Richard Treis (T64) also figured into the Carolina scoring.

Duke got a disappointing performance from Matt Krauss (T72) and settled for 10th place in the team standings. Leif Olson (73-76-71) led the Blue Devils with a tie for 15th. Brandon LaCroix (T32) and Mike Castlefort (T51) rounded out the Duke lineup.

N.C. State and Duke compared scores again Feb. 24-26 in a tournament in Puerto Rico. ACC heavyweights Georgia Tech and Clemson also were in the mix.

The Wolfpack will see Georgia Tech and Clemson again at the Las Vegas Invite March 8-10.

North Carolina returns to action March 11-12 at the Seminole Classic with Duke also in the fight.

Wake Forest is off until March 16-17 at the Birkdale Collegiate Classic at Huntersville. North Carolina is also in that field.

Division III

When Methodist graduated all five starters from last year’s team that finished third in the NCAA Division III championships, it appeared — finally — to be the opening the rest of the competition was waiting for.

After all, the Monarchs had finished in the nation's top five for 15 consecutive years. They were national champs nine of those years.

But when the Precept/Golf Coaches Association of America’s preseason poll was announced in mid-February, Methodist was ranked No. 1.

The Monarchs have reloaded around freshman Mike Townsend of Garner, sophomore James Stewart of Advance and senior Greg Hanna of Augusta, Maine.

Two other teams from North Carolina are ranked in the top five: Greensboro College at No. 2 and Guilford at No. 4. Averett College of Danville, Va., checks in at No. 11.

“We’re in the hunt,” says Greensboro coach Robert Linville. “We didn’t play that well in the fall but I think we’ll get it turned around this spring.”

Seniors Kevin Angle, Kevin O’Connell and Adam Holowczak give the Pride a strong nucleus.

Guilford, which missed the NCAA title last spring by one shot, has four standouts to lead the way — seniors Andrew Biggadike, Andrew Eversole and Savio Nazareth and sophomore Brandon White. Eversole, of Greensboro, missed the fall campaign while studying in China.

Averett returns every starter, led by standouts Janne Mommo and Toni Karjalainen.

Methodist, Greensboro, Guilford and Averett are destined for another showdown at the nationals. Before that, all four will match scorecards at the Camp Lejeune Invitational April 5-7.

Women

The NCAA title eluded Duke a year ago but the Blue Devils are back at it and figure to be in contention again.

In the Feb. 17 Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, Duke was listed third in the nation behind Auburn and Tulsa.

Georgia, the team that rallied for a three-shot victory over Duke in last spring’s NCAA finals, is ranked seventh.

The Blue Devils feature a bevy of All-Americans, led by 2001 national champ Candy Hannemann. Duke’s only senior returns to the lineup after missing the fall schedule with an ankle injury.

The team’s depth had a chance to show in her absence. Returnees Maria Garcia-Estrada (junior), Kristina Engstrom (junior), Leigh Anne Hardin (sophomore) and Virada Nirapathpongporn (sophomore) were joined by promising freshman Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh.

Wake Forest, ranked 15th, has already gotten its season under way and it wasn’t quite the showing the Deacons had hoped for. They finished ninth in the 18-team TRW Regional Challenge at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in California, an event that ended Feb. 13.

Junior Nuria Clau compiled her third top-five mark for the 2001-02 season, but the rest of the team lagged far behind. Clau’s two-over-par 215 (72-71-72) was nine shots off the pace of Arizona’s Lorena Ochoa.

Tulsa took the team title, rolling to a 23-shot margin over Texas.

Wake’s second best mark was turned in by senior Katie Brenny, who tied for 38th. Freshman Ashley Hoagland was 49th and junior Caroline Stetler and sophomore Deb Means finished in a tie for 72nd.

Wake Forest wasn’t the only top-15 team to struggle. No. 6 Ohio State finished 16th and Georgia came in 12th.

Wake's next tournament is March 15-17 at the Lady Gamecock Classic in Columbia, S.C.

Duke and Wake are among eight state teams ranked in Golfweek’s top 100. The others are North Carolina (25), UNC-Wilmington (59), N.C. State (66), UNC-Greensboro (70), East Carolina (72) and Elon (99).

North Carolina’s Shelly McKevitt and Beth Lever (Nos. 97 and 98) are the only players not from Duke or Wake in the top-100 individual rankings.

North Carolina was set to open in the Lady Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., Feb. 22-24; Duke was to play Feb. 25-26 in the Arizona Invitational in Tucson; and N.C. State debuted in the Lady Moc Invitational March 1 in Lakeland, Fla.

Wake, Duke, State and Carolina will get a good look at each other April 5-7 in the Bryan National Collegiate at Bryan Park in Browns Summit.

They will be close to home again April 19-21 as the ACC Championships are set for Salem Glen in Clemmons. Florida State and Maryland will join the competition there, but ACC members Virginia, Georgia Tech and Clemson do not field teams in women’s golf.