Wake Forest Athletics
Deacon Golfing Greats To Participate in WFU Pro-Am
4/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 25, 2003
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Former Demon Deacon golfing greats, including WFU??s ACC Champions from the 1950s, will be on hand Monday, April 28 at Old Town Club for the Wake Forest Pro-Am Golf Tournament. The annual event provides a major portion of the funding for the Demon Deacon men??s and women??s golf programs.
Twelve professional golfers and 60 amateurs will participate in the captain??s choice event. Professionals include golfing legend Arnold Palmer, who was the first ACC individual champion in 1954 as well as the NCAA stroke play medalist in 1949 and ??50.
Former Wake Forest NCAA individual champions Curtis Strange (1974), Jay Haas (1975) and Gary Hallberg (1979) will be in attendance at this year??s Pro-Am. Haas is the brother of current Wake Forest head men??s golf coach Jerry Haas, and his son, Bill, is a junior on this year??s Deacon squad.
Also participating are Billy Andrade and Len Mattiace, current PGA Tour players as well as members of Wake Forest??s 1986 national championship team. Mattiace was the 2003 Masters runner-up earlier this month. Former Deacon Scott Hoch, the 2001 Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic champion, will participate in the Pro-Am festivities in addition to two-time All-America and current CBS golf analyst Lanny Wadkins. Other Wake graduates who will compete on Monday include Champions?? Tour members Jay Sigel and Leonard Thompson. Another Champions?? Tour player, Tom Purtzer, will also play in the event as a ??guest?? professional.
On the women??s side, 1997 WFU graduate Laura (Philo) Diaz will make an appearance at the 2003 Pro-Am. Diaz has steadily become one of the LPGA??s top golfers, winning two events in 2002.
In this, the 50th anniversary year of the ACC, Wake Forest will honor its conference golf champions of the 1950s at a reception on Sunday evening at the Haddock Golf Center. WFU won team titles in 1955, ??57, and ??58, while individual champions of that decade include Palmer, John Gerring (1957) and Ronny Thomas (1959, ??60).
The tournament begins with a shotgun start at 11:00 a.m. on Monday with the awards presentation/reception slated for 3:30 p.m. at the Old Town terrace.
