WFU Men's Golf Gaining Early-Season Attention
9/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Sept. 13, 2002
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Fresh off a season-opening victory in Scotland, the Wake Forest men??s golf team quickly returns to action, participating in the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate at The Ridges in Jonesborough, Tenn. this weekend.
The Demon Deacons opened the 2002-03 campaign last weekend by winning The International Collegiate at St. Andrews Bay. Wake won with a nine-stroke victory over a team from Great Britain, and finished 10 strokes ahead of rival North Carolina, who placed third. Three Deacs finished among the top 10, including senior Brent Wanner (2nd), junior Bill Haas (3rd) and senior Chris Yoder (10th).
Wake Forest enters the year ranked sixth in GolfWorld??s preseason poll, while Haas was rated the nation??s seventh-best collegiate player. Haas is coming off a very successful summer in which he was MVP for the victorious United States squad at the Palmer Cup, the Players Amateur champion and stroke play medalist and overall semifinalist at the U.S. Amateur.
The publication also listed Wanner among its top 50 ??Players to Watch??, a honor he has received two straight seasons. Wanner who has been an All-ACC selection every year of his career so far, also had impressive appearances this summer in the North & South Amateur, Public Links Championship and the U.S. Amateur.
Haas and Wanner anchor a veteran squad that includes five seniors and returns four regulars from last year??s starting lineup, including Yoder and fellow senior Chad Wilfong, the 2001 North Carolina Amateur champion and 2002 runner-up. Senior Cortland Lowe, also a 2002 U.S. Amateur qualifier, is another experienced veteran for the Deacons. Senior Buck Williams, redshirt freshman Doug Manchester, and newcomers Kyle Reifers and Alex Yates will also provide depth to a strong lineup. Head coach Jerry Haas begins his sixth season with the Wake Forest program.
