While the ISU men’s golf team capped off their season in North Carolina, freshman golfer Nick Voke departed from his teammates to compete on a bigger stage.

Voke competed in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in Beijing, China on Oct. 24 through 27, where he placed 33rd out of 120 of the top amateurs from the Asia-Pacific region.

“It was an awesome experience,” Voke, a native of Auckland, New Zealand, said. “The country is completely different, but it was great. It’s like being in a different world.”

Voke qualified for the tournament by means of his top-six ranking in New Zealand in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

During his week in Beijing, Voke spent time with fellow New Zealand golfers and was able to enjoy a trip sponsored by The Masters Golf Association and the R&A, who paid for travel and lodging for all competitors.

Voke was unable to find much time to explore the country on his first trip to China, but he was grateful for the experience.

“A free trip to China, you can’t complain about that,” Voke said.

After the tournament’s first two rounds, Voke found himself in the thick of title-contention, sitting just five shots off of the lead after posting rounds of 75 and 72, good for a tie for 12th-place.

Scores of 74 and 79 during the weekend eliminated him from contention, though he refused to chalk his slip-up to pressure, jet lag or any possible excuse a young player in his circumstance could have made.

“I approached it the same as I would any other tournament,” Voke said. “Obviously, it was the biggest event I’ve played in, but I don’t think it got to me at all. On the first tee, I wasn’t nervous.”

Instead, he attributed his performance to a troublesome short-game. A rash of bad luck also hindered his chances, specifically on Sunday.

“For example, I’d thought I had hit a good shot and the wind would catch it,” Voke said. “On the 14th hole, I landed on the cart path. On another day, it could’ve just stayed in the rough, and I could have gotten up-and-down for birdie, but I walked away with a bogey. It was just one of those days where nothing goes your way, but that’s golf. You live and you learn.”

Though Voke insisted that this was his worst tournament of the year, ISU coach Andrew Tank was impressed with his player’s 33rd-place finish.

“It just shows he’s one of the best amateurs in the world,” Tank said. “He’s come over here and had success in the [United States] in college golf and then he was able to travel to China and, in a completely new environment, play well.”

While Voke failed to earn an invitation to The Masters with a win, he did gain some airtime.

“I was at the function before the tournament started and I met the manager of all the broadcasting [in New Zealand]. I must have said the right things because they showed quite a bit of me,” Voke said jokingly.

Voke also noted an interaction with Golf Channel analyst and fellow New Zealander Frank Nobilo during a practice round.

“He came up to us and told me he’d been watching from a distance and he was quite impressed about the quality of golf I’ve played over here,” Voke said. “So having those two individuals I got along with quite well maybe got me a little bit more TV exposure.”

Minimal coverage of the event was aired in the United States, but in New Zealand, much of the tournament was broadcasted, with Voke’s rounds comprising some of the coverage.

“In the first round there were cameras on me the whole back-nine. I was on TV for about an hour,” Voke said. “I haven’t seen it, but my parents said back at home they showed a lot of highlights of myself.”