Men's Golf Heads to NCAA Championships
5/28/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 28, 2001
Durham, N.C. -
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Wake Forest Men's Golf News & Notes
2001 NCAA Championships * May 30-June 2 * Duke University Golf Club * Durham, N.C.
Basic Information
Course
Duke University Golf Club *Durham, N.C.
Par 72 * 7,088 Yards
Schedule
May 28-29: Practice Rounds
Monday, May 28: East-West Match
Tues., May 30: First Round - WFU tees off at No. 10 from 8:03 to 8:39 a.m.
Wed., May 31: Second Round - WFU tees off at No. 1 from 1:03 to 1:39 p.m.
After two rounds, the field will be cut to 15 teams and nine top individuals. Pairings/tee times will be adjusted.
Wake Forest Lineup
(stroke average)
Bill Haas (72.58)
Brent Wanner (72.82)
Cortland Lowe (73.24)
Chris Yoder (73.90)
Jay Morgan (74.38)
Obtaining Results
Live scoring and daily results on Golfstat.com and Goduke.com
2000-01 WFU Men's Golf Roster
Name Ht. Class Hometown High School
Bart DeLuca 6-2 Jr. Baltimore, Md. The Gilman School
*Bill Haas 6-2 Fr. Greer, S.C. Riverside
*Cortland Lowe 6-0 So. Augusta, Ga. Augusta Prep
*Jay Morgan 6-0 Jr. Cochtaw, Okla. Choctaw
*Brent Wanner 6-0 So. Chatham, Mass. Nauset Regional
Chad Wilfong 6-2 So. Thomasville, N.C. East Davidson
Buck Williams 5-10 So. Raleigh, N.C. Broughton
*Chris Yoder 6-1 So. Ashland, Ohio Ashland
Head Coach: Jerry Haas (Wake Forest `85, fourth season)
* - will compete in NCAA Championships
Wake Forest Earns a Bid to NCAA Championships...
The Wake Forest men's golf team will make its 38th overall appearance in the NCAA Men's Golf Championships when it heads to Durham, N.C. and the Duke University Golf Club for the 2001 event next week. The Demon Deacons placed ninth in the NCAA West Regional last weekend for the right to advance to the championships.
WFU is one of 30 teams, including three other ACC squads (Clemson, Georgia Tech and NC State) that will convene in Durham next week. In their second consecutive NCAA appearance, the Deacs will be looking to improve on last year's 15th-place finish.
WFU's NCAA Tradition...
In terms of history and tradition, Wake Forest golf is considered one of the finest programs in the country. WFU has captured the national championship three times (1974, `75 and `86), and is one of only 10 schools in history to win at least three titles.
Wake Forest also boasts five individual NCAA titles, won by some legendary golfers - Arnold Palmer (1949, `50), Curtis Strange (1974), Jay Haas (1975) and Gary Hallberg (1979).
The 2001 NCAA Championships marks Wake Forest's 38th overall appearance in the tournament. The Deacons owned a 25-year streak of NCAA Championship appearances from 1962 to 1988.
Regional Recap...
Wake Forest travelled to Corvallis, Ore. last weekend to compete in the NCAA West Regional, held at Trysting Tree Golf Club. Twenty-seven teams vied for the top 10 spots which would advance to the Championships. The Deacs were in good position after the first round, sitting in third place after shooting an even par 288. The second round did not go as smoothly, however, as WFU turned in a 14-over 302 and dropped to sixth place in the standings. Although Wake turned in the sixth-lowest round of the day, a four-over 292, in the third and final round, they dropped three more spots to ninth with a total of 882. Three teams - Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA - all tied for sixth place just one stroke ahead of the Deacons with an 881. Arizona State ran away from rest of the field, using an 11-under second round to finish in first place with a 12-under 852 for the event.
Wake Forest's only top-20 finisher was freshman Bill Haas, who placed 19th with a three-over 219 (74-73-72). Sophomore Cortland Lowe and Brent Wanner started off strong, each shooting a 70 in the first round, but finished 77th and 85th, respectively. Sophomore Chris Yoder and junior Jay Morgan both finished tied for 49th, as each recorded a low round of 71 during the event. South Carolina's Kyle Thompson and Arizona State's Matt Jones tied for individual medalist honors with an eight-under 208.
Head Coach Jerry Haas...
Wake Forest head coach Jerry Haas is in his fourth season at the helm of the men's golf program. Haas is familiar with the tradition and history of the Wake program, having played under legendary coach Jesse Haddock from 1982-85 and earning All-America honors four times as a Deacon golfer.
Haas' leadership and enthusiasm have been instrumental in the Deacons' recent return to national prominence, as he led Wake to a 15th-place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2000 after a two-year hiatus from the event.
A Look at the Deacon Lineup...
Wake Forest will sport a lineup of one junior, three sophomores and one freshman at this year's NCAA Championships. Leading the way for the Deacs are freshman Bill Haas (Greer, S.C.) and sophomore Brent Wanner (Chatham, Mass.). The duo are very close in stroke averages, (Haas owns a 72.58 and Wanner has a 72.82 average) and collectively have posted 10 top-10 finishes. Wanner has been a consistent force all season long, as he is the only Deacon to play in every event so far this year. After winning the individual title at the Duke Classic in October, Wanner has posted four top-10 showings this spring, including a fourth-place finish at the ACC Championships.
Haas has really come on strong during the spring campaign, posting five consecutive top-10 finishes to close out the regular season, including a pair of second-place finishes. He also posted the team's best finish at the Regional, placing 19th. Haas has dropped his average by nearly two strokes from the fall to spring (73.75 to 71.84).
Sophomore Cortland Lowe (Augusta, Ga.) holds the third spot in the Deacon lineup. After leading the Deacs in the fall with a 72.6 average, Lowe currently owns a 73.24 with two top-10 finishes to his credit while playing in 10 tournaments.
Jay Morgan (Choctaw, Okla), the team's "elder statesman" though just a junior, has seen action in 11 events this year. While he ranks third on the squad with nearly 44 percent of his rounds equal/under par, Morgan has also increased his consistency in the latter part of the season. He posted his best finish of the season at the ACC Championships, placing 10th.
Sophomore Chris Yoder (Ashland, Ohio) rounds out the Deacon lineup. After playing as an individual in two fall events, Yoder has appeared in six team events this spring, compiling a 73.90 average. He posted the team's second-best finish at Regionals, placing 49th with an eight-over 224.
It Must Run in the Family...
The name Haas has significant meaning in the world of golf, and Wake Forest golf in particular. The 1975 NCAA individual champion was none other than Wake Forest's Jay Haas, who went on to a highly successful career on the PGA Tour. Haas's younger brother Jerry, who was a four-time All-America as a collegiate golfer at WFU, is now in his fourth season at the Deacons' head coach. Jay's son and Jerry's nephew, Bill, is currently a freshman on the team and was named the ACC Rookie of the Year this season.
The golfing tradition in this talented family goes back even further, however, as Jay and Jerry Haas's uncle, Bob Goalby, was a Master's Champion in 1968. Goalby's son, Kye, was a member of the Wake Forest golf team from 1983-86.
Home Sweet Home in North Carolina...
The Deacon squad should look forward to playing the NCAA Championships on a course in its home state. Wake Forest has played in three events this season in North Carolina, and has enjoyed success in all three. WFU competed on the Duke University golf course back in October for the Duke Classic, finishing fifth among 18 teams. Another NCAA participant, NC State, won the event. Deacon sophomore Brent Wanner captured individual medalist honors, scoring a career-low 65 in the second round to finish first with a five-under 211.
The Demon Deacons also posted a pair of second-place finishes in the two other tournaments played in North Carolina, including the Birkdale Collegiate in Charlotte and The Intercollegiate in Chapel Hill.
Wake Forest and NC State are the only teams from North Carolina competing in this year's NCAA Championships at Duke.
Looking back over NCAA history, Wake Forest has played in four previous NCAA Championships in North Carolina, and has excelled in all. The last time the event was held in the state was 1986, when Wake Forest hosted and won the national title. Pinehurst hosted the 1982 championships, where WFU finished 10th. In 1979, Wake Forest finished third in another championship hosted by the school. The first NCAA men's golf championship to take place in North Carolina was in 1962 at the Duke University golf course, where WFU placed eighth.
Scouting the NCAA Championship Field...
As expected, this year's 30-team field is an elite group. Only three NCAA teams (Oregon State, Pacific, and Toledo) are not currently listed among the nation's top-50 in the Mastercard Collegiate Rankings. Wake Forest, currently ranked 12th, is the ninth highest-ranked team in the field. Seventeen of the last 20 NCAA team champions are represented among the 2001 field. Twelve teams (including Wake Forest) in this year's field have captured at least one NCAA championships over the years, led by Houston's 16 titles.
The Deacons have competed in at least one event against 27 of the teams competing in this year's NCAA Championships, and are facing Alabama-Birmingham, Mississippi and Toledo for the first time this season. WFU's combined record against NCAA-bound teams this season is 27-42-1. The Deacs own winning records this year against Arizona State (2-1-0), Charleston (1-0-0), Georgia Southern (1-0-0), Kent State (1-0-0), Minnesota (2-1-0), NC State (4-3-0), Purdue (2-0-0), SMU (2-0-0) and Washington (1-0-0).
Deacs Look to Resume Spring Hot Streak...
Before finishing ninth at last weekend's NCAA Regional, Wake Forest owned a streak of five straight top three finishes. After finishing second at the Birkdale on March 5-6, Wake captured the team title at the USC Aiken/Cleveland Golf Collegiate on March 19-20. The Deacs followed that up with a second-place finish at the Augusta State Invite on March 31-April 1, then another second place finish at The Intercollegiate in Chapel Hill. At the ACC Championships, the Deacs led the field going into the final round, but finished third.
Over those five tournaments, the Deacs' final score has trailed the team champion by a combined total of 18 strokes. In both the Augusta State and Intercollegiate, WFU was just two strokes off the winning team score.
WFU's ninth place finish at the Regional marked their sixth consecutive 10th place finish and 11th overall out of 12 tournaments this season.
Deacons Rack Up ACC Honors...
Two members of the Wake Forest men's golf team, sophomore Brent Wanner and freshman Bill Haas, were named to the 2001 All-Atlantic Coast Conference men's golf team. Haas was also named the ACC's Rookie of the Year, as selected by a vote of the league's nine head coaches.
Wanner and Haas are the 49th and 50th All-ACC selections in Wake Forest's history, which begins with Bill's father, Jay Haas, who picked up two of the school's first conference honors in 1975 and `76. Twenty-eight different Deacons have been tabbed All-ACC over the years, including current head coach Jerry Haas, who earned the honor from 1983-85.
Bill Haas is just the second Deacon to be named ACC Rookie of the Year, as Justin Roof earned the honor in 1994.
Fountain of Youth...
If this year's roster and results are any indication, the future of Deacon golf looks bright. The 2000-01 roster includes no seniors, two juniors, five sophomores and a freshman. Wake's most consistent lineup this season (including the NCAA Championships) includes one junior, three sophomores and a freshman.
Wake Forest won the Cleveland Golf Collegiate in March with its youngest lineup of the season - four sophomores and a freshman.
Frosh-Soph Duo Provide One-Two Punch...
Wake's top players this season, in terms of stroke average, top finishes and statistics, have been freshman Bill Haas and sophomore Brent Wanner. As a tandem, Haas and Wanner have been Wake's top two finishers in five tournaments this season, including four of the last six events. Other Wanner and Haas accomplishments this season include:
* The pair has owned the team's best stroke averages for most of the season, as Wanner currently has a 72.82, Haas a 72.58.
* Both have pocketed a team-high five top-10 finishes, while Haas has seven top-20 showings and Wanner has six this season.
* Wanner won individual medalist honors at the Duke Classic in the fall, while Haas has picked up two second-place finishes this spring.
* The duo owns Wake's lowest rounds of the season - Wanner carded a 65 at the Duke Classic, while Haas fired a 64 at the Augusta State Invite.
* The duo leads the team in rounds counted, as Haas has counted nearly 94 percent of his rounds toward team totals, while Wanner has contributed 90 percent.
The Rankings Report...
Wake Forest has been a mainstay in the Top 25 all season long, and is currently ranked 12th in the MasterCard/Collegiate Golf Rankings. The Deacons attained their highest ranking of the season, 10th, prior to the West Regional.
Two Deacons are ranked individually. Brent Wanner, who entered the rankings at No. 23, is currently 36th. Bill Haas checked into the rankings in mid-season and is now 49th.
Statistically Speaking...
Collectively, over 42 percent (73-of-173) of the Deacons' individual rounds this season have been equal or under par ... team members have combined for 28 top-20 finishes this season ... Wake Forest has compiled a won-loss record of 118-55-3 (.679) ... Bill Haas' first-round 64 at the Augusta State Invite was the lowest score posted by a WFU golfer since the fall of 1996 ... Haas' spring stroke average of 71.84 ranks fifth in the ACC and tops among league freshman.