NC State golfer sets record at Lonnie Poole

In the course of the Wolfpack Spring Intercollegiate this past weekend at Lonnie Poole Golf Course, N.C. State senior David Cooke was able to:

▪ Shoot a 9-under-par 62 that was both a course record and a Wolfpack program record.

▪ Sink a hole-in-one, acing the sixth hole in the second round.

▪ Claim medalist honors with a 15-under 198 total, a tournament record.

▪ Help propel the Pack to an eight-shot victory over South Florida.

Did he miss anything?

“I think he ought to buy a lottery ticket,” N.C. State coach Richard Sykes joked Sunday.

The Pack, playing their last tournament before the ACC Championship this week, gave Cooke plenty of support. Freshman Stephen Franken of Raleigh, perhaps N.C. State’s best player this spring, had a final-round 69 to take third at 8-under 205 and junior Jacob McBride tied for 11th at 1-under 212.

No one was better, however, than Cooke. His 62 in the opening round – a career best – came despite a double bogey at the par-4 12th, but he rebounded with a birdie at the 14th hole, eagle at the 15th and birdie at 17th to notch the course record on a layout that plays long and hard.

“I know it really well and I’m comfortable with it,” Cooke said. “I know what to expect on every hole. I know the greens really well and I always putt well when I play here.”

Those who follow Wolfpack golf know of the adversity Cooke has faced. His younger brother, Chad, collapsed and died in a pickup basketball game during the Christmas holidays in 2014. David, who also was playing in the game in the Chicago suburbs, considered not returning to N.C. State last spring as he tried to cope with the tragedy.

Cooke came back to win the Wolfpack Spring Intercollegiate at Lonnie Poole, dedicating the victory to his brother. During the summer he also won the Illinois Open and qualified for the U.S. Amateur.

Last weekend was the third time Cooke had won or shared medalist honors at Lonnie Poole. He tied Adrian Meronk of East Tennessee State for first in the 2014 Wolfpack Fall Intercollegiate, won the Pack’s spring tournament last year, then held off Meronk on Sunday to win by two shots.

In the opening round, Cooke had a 5-under 30 on the front nine, then birdied the 10th and 11 holes. He was 7-under through 11 holes.

Anything seemed possible – the course record, perhaps breaking 60. A bad drive and unplayable lie in the trees at the 12th led to the double, but the late birdies allowed him to set a new course standard and beat Kelly Mitchum’s Wolfpack competitive scoring record of 64 set in the 1992 PING-American event.

Determined to follow up the career round with another solid one Saturday, Cooke aced the 150-yard sixth with a pitching wedge on his way to a 67. It was his second hole-in-one and first in competition.

“Little downwind,” he said. “I hit it and it was going right at it, landed on the green and disappeared. It was a day to remember.”

Cooke was in for another first – sleeping on a lead. He was six shots ahead of Meronk and the Pack had a nine-shot cushion on South Florida, which was ranked 16th.

Cooke eagled the first hole Sunday, only to double bogey the third, where he said he “made a mess.” But he birdied the fifth and sixth holes, then steadied to a 69 on a sunny but windy day as the Pack finished at 21-under 831.

Cooke, 23, has been in and out of the Pack lineup this year, Sykes said, because of illness. The pain from his brother’s death, as Sykes put it, “will always be there” but Sykes said Cooke draws inspiration from the message and encouragement he once received from his late brother.

“His brother wanted him to be a good player and wanted him to stick with it,” Sykes said. “He made that decision to stick with it and he will move on to professional golf when he finishes school.”

For Cooke, that means after the ACC tournament, an expected NCAA regional appearance. The Pack just missed qualifying for the NCAA Championship last year and hopes to advance to the nationals this spring.

“This was a confidence booster, for all of us,” Cooke said Sunday.

This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 4:21 PM with the headline "NC State golfer sets record at Lonnie Poole."