Men's Golf Prepares for ACC Championships
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 16, 1998
Deacon Details
Current Mastercard Ranking: 32nd (April 8, 1998)
1997 ACC Championships Finish: 3rd
1997 NCAA Championships Finish: 2nd
Head Coach: Jerry Haas (Wake Forest '85), first season
Sports Information Contact: Jen Hoover, Assistant SID
Phone: 336-758-5640; Fax: 336-758-5140; E-mail: hooverjj@wfu.edu
Website: www.wakeforestsports.com
The 1998 ACC Championships
Wake Forest looks to earn its 19th ACC title as the Demon Deacons compete in the 44th Annual Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Golf Championships, held April 17-19 at the Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point in New London, NC. Nine conference teams will vie for the ACC title, including six teams currently ranked in the Mastercard Top 20. No. 2 ranked Clemson is the ACC defending team champion, while the Tigers' Charles Warren will defend his individual conference title.
Last Time Out
A furious Wake Forest rally fell short as the Deacons finished second at the BELLSOUTH Yellow Pages Intercollegiate in Cary, NC, last weekend. Wake stood sixth after shooting a 296 the first round, but the Deacs rallied to post their lowest team scores of the year with a 2-under 286 and a 1-under 287 in the final two rounds. Top-ranked UNLV barely withstood Wake's late surge to earn the team title by one stroke. The Runnin' Rebels' Jeremy Anderson took individual medalist honors, finishing with a 54-hole total of 6-under 210. Wake senior Todd Lynch recorded three straight subpar rounds to finish second at 4-under par, firing 71-70-71. Also placing in the top 10 was senior Ryan Gioffre, who shared the individual lead after shooting a 69 in the second round and finished fourth at 1-under for the tournament. Junior Michael Capone finished just one stroke out of the top 20, carding a 71 in the final round to finish tied for 21st at 6-over. Junior Juan Vizcaya tied his career-low round with a 69 on the final day to finish tied for 38th at 11-over, while senior Thomas Parker tied for 44th at 14-over par.
A Look at the Deacon Lineup
Ryan Gioffre (Sr, Greensboro, NC/Greensboro Day)
Career SA: 74.8. The Deacs' most consistent golfer this spring...has played in every spring event, recording a team-low 72.9 average...earned his first top 10 finish of the year last week at the BellSouth Intercollegiate, finishing fourth (70-69-76=215)...was the BellSouth's co-leader after two rounds...team's top finisher in three of five spring events (placing second in the other two)...has three other top 20's this year...posted a 75.3 fall average in three events...had a 74.2 average last year...finished 18th at the '97 ACC's and 30th at the '97 NCAA's.
Michael Capone (Jr, Cranston, RI/Bishop Hendricken)
Career SA: 74.0. Holds a 75.0 average through three spring events...top spring finish was a tie for 21st at the BellSouth last week, shooting 78-73-71=222...played in all six fall tourneys and was WFU's top finisher three times...led Wake with a 73.5 fall average and two top 20's, placing 16th at both the Topy Cup and the Taylor Made Red River Classic....posted a 73.8 average last year...came on strong late in the '97 season to earn his first two career top 10's...placed sixth at the '97 NCAA's and earned honorable mention All-America honors...eighth at the '97 ACC's.
Todd Lynch (Sr, Winston-Salem, NC/North Forsyth)
Career SA: 74.1. Earned his best finish of the year last week at the BellSouth, shooting three subpar rounds (71-70-71=212) to finish second...has a 74.0 spring average through four events...leads team in rounds counted with a perfect 100% (27/27)...posted a 73.7 fall average through five events....top fall finish was a tie for 10th at the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate...an All-ACC and third-team All-America pick last year...led '96-97 team with eight top 10's and a 72.7 average...finished tied for fifth at the '97 ACC's and 63rd at the '97 NCAA's...a four-year starter.
Ray Floyd, Jr. (Sr, Miami Beach, FL/Miami Country Day)
Career SA: 75.5. Holds a 74.1 spring average through three events...top finish was a tie for 15th at the Puerto Rico Classic (71-72-77=220)...competed in two fall events, recording a 75.7 average...finished 1996-97 ranked No. 34 in the Rolex individual rankings...posted a 74.7 stroke average last year in four events...has two career top 10's, including second place at the '96 Taylor Made Red River Classic...has won three straight Office Depot Father-Son Challenges with his father, PGA legend Ray Floyd, Sr.
Juan Vizcaya (Jr, Madrid, Spain/Retamar)
Career SA: 75.7. Competing in just his second event of the spring...played in the BellSouth Intercollegiate last week, tying for 38th (81-77-69=227)...his 69 in the final round tied his career-low round (set as a freshman in 1995-96)...played in two fall events, posting a 76.8 stroke average...participated in two events last year, averaging 74.3 strokes...has one career top 10 finish, an eighth place at the '96 ReliaStar Invitational (75-73-73=221)...helped the Spanish National Team to its first European Amateur Team Championship in the summer of 1997.
Head Coach Jerry Haas
Jerry Haas took over the reins of the Demon Deacon golf program in September of 1997 upon the retirement of Jack Lewis. A 1985 graduate of Wake Forest and a four-time collegiate All-American, Haas played nine years of professional golf, including four years on the PGA Tour, before returning to his alma mater as a coach. This is his first college coaching stint.
Looking For a Late-Season Surge
Although Wake Forest has struggled somewhat in the 1997-98 season, don't count the Deacs out of the postseason race just yet. The team will be looking to make a late-season surge similar to last year, when Wake rallied down the stretch to finish second at the NCAA's. The Deacs got some momentum going last week with a strong showing at the BellSouth Intercollegiate, recording their lowest team scores of the year in the final two rounds to jump from sixth to second place. Wake fell just a stroke shy of the team title, which was taken by top-ranked UNLV.
Leading the way for Wake this year is a trio of talented veterans: seniors Ryan Gioffre and Todd Lynch and junior Michael Capone. Lynch and Capone are returning All-Americans who were vital to Wake's NCAA run last year, and they've continued their solid play this season. Gioffre, always a consistent player in the past, has elevated his game a notch to emerge as the Deacs' top player this spring. The key to Wake's postseason fate, however, may lie in the play of their No. 4 and 5 golfers. Several players have rotated into those lineup spots during the year, including seniors Ray Floyd, Jr. and Thomas Parker, juniors Oscar Sanchez and Juan Vizcaya, and sophomore Jamie Gallacher. All five Deacs have played well at times but struggled at other times, and it is critical that Wake gets more consistent play out of those two spots in order to be successful in the postseason
Wake in the ACC's
Wake Forest owns 18 ACC titles, far more than any other conference school, and a Demon Deacon has captured the ACC individual title 20 times since 1954. In recent years, however, the Deacs have suffered a bit of an ACC title drought. Wake's last team and individual conference title came nine years ago, when Tim Straub took individual medalist honors and led the '89 Deacs to the ACC crown. Interestingly enough, that '89 title sweep also followed an eight-year drought, dating back to the Deacs' 1980 title sweep. Since 1989, the closest Wake has come to the ACC crown is a third-place finish last season. From 1967 to 1980, WFU won 13 of 14 ACC team titles, including 10 straight from '67 to '76. A Deacon won 18 of the 24 individual conference titles between 1957 and 1980.
1997-98 Individual Top 20 FinishesMichael Capone 16th The Topy Cup (Sept. 16-18) 16th Taylor Made Red River Classic (Oct. 13-14) Ray Floyd, Jr. 15th Puerto Rico Classic (Feb. 23-24) Ryan Gioffre 4th BellSouth Yellow Pages Intercollegiate (Apr. 10-11) 11th Puerto Rico Classic (Feb 23-24) 11th Golf Digest Invitational (Mar. 13-15) 16th The Topy Cup (Sept. 16-18) Todd Lynch 2nd BellSouth Yellow Pages Intercollegiate (Apr. 10-11) 10th Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate (Oct. 20-21) Thomas Parker 10th Taylor Made Red River Classic (Oct. 13-14) Oscar Sanchez 20th Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate (Oct. 20-21)
Percentage of Rounds Counted
The percentage of rounds played which were counted toward the team's top four scores in tournament play this season:
Name Played Counted Percent Todd Lynch 27 27 1.000 Michael Capone 27 25 .926 Thomas Parker 18 16 .889 Ray Floyd, Jr. 15 12 .800 Ryan Gioffre 24 19 .792 Patrick Damron 6 4.5 .750 Oscar Sanchez 15 8 .533 Jamie Gallacher 9 4.5 .500 Juan Vizcaya 9 4 .444 TEAM 30 120
(Note: When two players shared the lowest score in a round, each player was awarded half a point under "rounds counted".)
Wake at the 1997 ACC Championships
Wake Forest was in the running for the ACC team title last year before fading in the final round. The Deacs were tied for second with UNC, four strokes behind Clemson, after the second round, but both the Tigers and UNC both outshot the 10th-ranked Deacs in the final round. Two Wake players cracked the top 10: Todd Lynch started strong and finished fifth at 2-over par, while Michael Capone showed continual improvement to tie for eighth at 4-over.
WAKE'S PERFORMANCE IN THE 1997 ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Todd Lynch 72- 70- 76= 218 t5th Michael Capone 76- 73- 71= 220 t8th Ryan Gioffre 77- 77- 73= 223 18th Oscar Sanchez 71- 75- 80= 226 t22nd Justin Roof 80- 74- 75= 229 t30th TEAM 296-290-295=881 3rd
