Collegiate golf doesn’t get nearly as much attention as the PGA Tour, or even the Korn Ferry Tour for that matter, so it would be easy to miss the success the NC State men’s golf team has had this season.

But 2021 hasn’t merely been a strong year for the Wolfpack, it’s been among the best in the program’s 88-year history.

The Pack has claimed four tournament victories in the regular season, which ties for the most at the Division I level along with No. 1 Oklahoma and also marks the program’s most in a single season since 1995.

All four of the Wolfpack’s tournament trophies arrived in consecutive outings at the end of the regular season, which has not only catapulted NC State into the national top 10 (No. 8 according to Golfstat.com), it’s also made it one of the hottest teams in the country entering the postseason.

“I don't think there's any secret sauce,” Pack head coach Press McPhaul told The Wolfpacker. “They 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 opportunity. The next shot, the next hole, the next round, the next tournament, just moving forward to that.

“Our guys have bought into that as a mantra, and they're really good players.”

When McPhaul mentions a mantra, he means it quite literally. The program has rallied behind a simple, two-word phrase the head coach credits assistant Matt Moot with coining: “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.”

NC State most recently shot a program record 51-under par at MacGregor Downs in the Stitch Intercollegiate on April 9-10, defeating the 12-team field by 12 strokes to claim its fourth-straight tournament win in 2021.

NC State hasn't just found success in team competition. One of its “COVID seniors,” graduate Benjamin Shipp, is having one of the best individual seasons in men’s college golf.

Shipp has claimed two individual titles, the first at the Schenkel Invitational at Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, Ga., and the second nine days later at the Hootie Intercollegiate at Bulls Bay Golf Club in Awendaw, S.C.

The fifth-year Wolfpack golfer defeated a field of 80 players by 11 strokes at the Schenkel, turning in a card of 66-66-68 for a 54-hole score of 16-under, marking the lowest 54-hole score in relation to par in program history. He was named the Golfweek-USA Today men’s college golf Player of the Week for the dominant performance.

“At the Schenkel Invitational it was Benjamin Shipp’s world and the rest of the field was living in it,” Adam Woodward of Golfweek said.

The native of Duluth, Ga. carried over his success to the Hootie Intercollegiate, where his final-day score of 5-under 67 tied for the round-low and put him at 11-under for the tournament, which defeated the more-competitive field of 96 players by one stroke and gave Shipp back-to-back individual event wins.

“He's really great in his ability to be patient and wait for something good to happen,” McPhaul said. “That was a big key in his development, and that's also a big key in his leadership. His growth in those areas has made a huge difference for us and will make a huge difference for us in developing the team culture that we want, which values response to adversity and values toughness and stability.”

Shipp’s 70.43 strokes per round average leads the team, and he’s also earned four individual top fives and five top tens in seven appearances this season. He is currently ranked No. 27 nationally among Division I players according to Golfweek, which is the highest placement on the team and eighth-highest among players from the ACC.

He now ties for third all-time in program history with five individual career victories. The only former Pack golfers with more are two-time All-American Albin Choi (9) and 2009 NCAA champion Matt Hill (10), who is the lone national champion in program history.

His five career wins also ties 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. “He just has a superb ability to play the game, play it well, start making birdies and keep making birdies.”

“Ben is a short game wizard,” sophomore Max Steinlechner said of his teammate. “I've never seen a guy make up and down from pretty much everywhere. Before coming here, I felt like my short game was pretty good, but then I saw Ben's and got a new perspective on my game.”

Steinlechner may be jealous of Shipp’s skill around the green, but the elder Wolfpack golfer may return the feeling about Steinlechner’s iron play.

“Max's iron play is remarkable,” McPhaul said. “It’s pretty special.”

Shipp has claimed the Pack’s only two individual titles this season, but Steinlechner’s late-season form has awarded him a team-high five top-five finishes, all of which have come in NC State’s most-recent tournament appearances.

When Steinlechner signed with the Wolfpack in the fall of 2018, he was one of the most decorated amateur players to do so in the program's history.

A native of Austria, Steinlechner ranked as high as No. 17 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and was the No. 1 ranked Austrian amateur prior to his arrival at NC State.

Adjusting to a new culture and the Bermuda greens in the United States that differed tremendously from those he was familiar with in Europe, he self-admittedly struggled for his standards during his freshman season that ultimately ended prematurely due to COVID-19, placing in the top ten once in five tournament appearances.

Nearly one year after his freshman season was cut short due to the pandemic, Steinlechner has been playing the best college golf of his career. Of his five consecutive top-five finishes, 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.

Senior Easton Paxton and graduate Christian Salzer round out the four players that have appeared in all seven of the Pack’s regular-season tournaments in 2021.

Paxton has placed in the top five twice while Salzer has earned two top 10 finishes, including one top-five.

“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.”

“And if you just want a really well-rounded player who's solid in a lot of areas, that would be Easton Paxton. 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.”

Both have notched 11 rounds under par, and Salzer tied for the lowest single-round score of the season when he shot 7-under 65 at MacGregor Downs in the first round of the Stitch Intercollegiate.

Sophomore Carter 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, notching 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.

NC State will travel down to Atlanta Wednesday and partake in a practice round Thursday before it competes in the 2021 ACC Men’s Golf Championship at Capital City Club in Milton, Ga., which begins with three rounds of stroke play on April 23-24 followed by two days of match play to determine a champion on April 25-26.

The Wolfpack has never won an outright ACC Championship but was named co-champions with Clemson in 1990.

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