Men's Golf | 4/8/2026 7:25:00 PM

GREENSBORO — Sophomore North Carolina A&T men's golfer Ignacio Zapata delivered a career performance on Tuesday, climbing an impressive nine positions to collect his first collegiate tournament title. It also marked the program's sixth individual win in its nine-year history.

On Wednesday, the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) awarded him the Aggies' third weekly honor of the 2025-26 season. He was named CAA Men's Co-Golfer of the Week after winning Appalachian State's Irish Creek Intercollegiate tournament. The event took place at the par-71 7,005-yard The Club At Irish Creek. The tournament featured six golfers ranked among the Clipp'd Top 150. There were also two top-50 Division II golfers from the team champions, Catawba, whom Zapata edged by two strokes or less.

"Ignacio—better known as Nacho—finally cashed in at Irish Creek, and turns out the secret wasn't a new swing, a new putter, or a lucky ball… it was commitment," said head coach Mesha Levister. "For a while, he was flirting with the process—texting it late at night, keeping things casual—but this week, he decided to settle down and get serious. And wouldn't you know it, the game started loving him back. Huge thanks to John Michael Cole and Appalachian State for hosting a great event—Irish Creek was the perfect stage for Nacho to stop dating discipline and start marrying it. Proud of the way he's learning to really play the game, one committed step at a time."

After opening with 70-71—141 on Monday, he capped the tournament with a 4-under 67 Tuesday for a 5-under 208 total. Zapata started out hot in the final round. He made a par on the par-4 322-yard fifth, then followed with three birdies and two pars before picking up a bogey on the par-4 11th. His birdies came on the par-5, 535-yard sixth, the par-4, 412-yard seventh, and the par-4, 435-yard ninth.

After the bogey, he rebalanced quickly with three more pars. He saved a shot on 15 by carding a two on the par-3, 203-yard hole. He took one extra stroke on the par-4 473-yard 16th. It would be his last extra stroke of the round. He finished with a clean card, highlighted by birdies on the par-4, 400-yard first and the par-4, 378-yard fourth.

Zapata and the Aggies are now preparing for the 2026 CAA Men's Golf Championship Tournament, April 26-28, in St. Helena Island, SC, at Dataw Island.