Demon Deacon Men's Golf Notes
5/12/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 12, 2004
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WFU heads to NCAA REGIONALS
Wake Forest will make its 43rd NCAA Tournament appearance and its 35th appearance in the last 36 years when the Demon Deacons play in the East Regional May 20-22 at the Yale Golf Course in New Haven, CT.
The Deacons own a sterling NCAA Tournament history with three NCAA championships (1986, 1975, 1974), four individual NCAA titles and 40 trips to the NCAA finals. Last year coach Jerry Haas' team finished tied for fourth in the NCAA championships in Stillwater, OK.
There are 27 teams, plus six individuals (not on a selected team) in each of the three regionals. Ten teams and two individuals (not on an advancing team) will advance from each region to the championship finals June 1-4 at The Homestead in Hot Springs, VA.
The Wake Forest lineup
Wake Forest's NCAA Regional lineup begins with Bill Haas, ranked No. 1 nationally, the Ben Hogan Award winner and the 2003 and 2004 ACC Player of the Year. Haas has played in all 12 events so far this year, finishing among the top 20 in all 12 and among the top 10 in 10. His season stroke average of 69.00 is on pace to set a new NCAA record. Haas has won four events this season, bringing his career total to a school record-tying nine victories.
Sophomore Kyle Reifers, a first team All-ACC selection, has also seen action in all 12 events, and currently ranks second on the team and seventh among ACC golfers with a 72.23 stroke average. Reifers has five top 10 and eight top 20 finishes so far this season.
A pair of freshmen, Sean Moore and Chad Wilcox, will compete in their first NCAA competition. Moore shot an 11-under 205 to capture the ACC Championship individual title. He was also named first team All-ACC. Wilcox is fourth on the team in stroke average (75.03) with one top 20 finish five rounds of par or better this year.
Junior Doug Manchester will also make his NCAA debut. At the recent ACC Championship, Manchester shot a three-day 216 (Even par) and tied for 19th place.
WFU's NCAA EXPERIENCE
Senior Bill Haas is the only Deacon with NCAA Regional or Championship experience, even though Wake Forest has been invited to a Regional every year but one since 1989. Haas was on last year's team that finished tied for fourth in the NCAA Championship in Stillwater, OK.
Haas is playing in the NCAA postseason for the fourth consecutive year.
Playing in the East Regional last year in Auburn, AL, Haas finished tied for 33rd with a three-day 218 (+2). In the NCAA Championship, Haas tied for 26th with a four-day total of 300 (+12).
Haas also played as a freshman on the 2001 team that finished 10th in the NCAA Championship.
HAAS EARNS BEN HOGAN AWARD
Wake Forest senior golfer Bill Haas will receive the prestigious Ben Hogan Award, presented annually to the top men's golfer in NCAA Division I, II or III or NAIA.
The presentation banquet will be held at Colonial Country Club May 17 in Fort Worth. Haas and head coach and uncle, Jerry Haas, will attend the ceremony, just hours after Bill Haas attends the graduation ceremony on the Wake Forest campus. The following day (May 18), Wake Forest departs for one of three NCAA Regionals, where it will compete May 20-22.
"Winning the Hogan Award is special," said Haas. "That it takes into account not just college but amateur golf as well makes it extra special because you travel and play against the top-ranked amateurs no matter their age. College golf is a team sport and sometimes the individual doesn't get as much recognition, but all of your peers have great respect for this honor."
Haas, who recently earned ACC Player of the Year honors for the second straight year, was joined on the list of Hogan finalists by Clemson's Matt Hendrix, Brock Mackenzie of Washington, Arizona's Chris Nallen and Lamar's Chris Stroud. Haas is the fifth player in Wake Forest history to earn All-ACC honors four times.
A senior from Greer, S.C., Haas is a two-time first-team PING All-America selection and a finalist for the Hogan Award last season. A four-time All-ACC performer, Haas has won medalist honors four times this season. The nation's leader in scoring average, Haas represented the United States in both the Palmer Cup presented by Monster and Walker Cup last summer. Haas also claimed the South Carolina Amateur.
Haas is the fourth Wake Forest student-athlete in the last 10 years to be named national player of the year in his respective sport. Kelly Doton (field hockey) and Bea Bielik (women's tennis) won similar honors and Tim Duncan was the consensus men's basketball player of the year in 1997.
HAAS IS ACC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Bill Haas was named ACC Player of the Year for the second straight year, putting him in elite company.
Haas is the sixth Wake Forest student-athlete in any sport to earn back-to-back ACC Player of the Year honors and he is the first golfer to achieve the feat.
Three former Deacon men's basketball players -- Tim Duncan, Len Chappell and Dickie Hemric -- won ACC Player of the Year honors twice each. Field hockey standout Kelly Doton was the league's Player of the Year in 2002 and 2003 and Bill Merrifield was the ACC Player of the Year in baseball in 1982 and 1983.
HAAS, REIFERS, MOORE ALL-ACC
Wake Forest senior Bill Haas, sophomore Kyle Reifers and freshman Sean Moore were named to the All-ACC team.
Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and league champion Clemson each placed three players on the All-ACC team. Georgia Tech's Roberto Castro was named ACC Rookie of the Year and Clemson's Larry Penley was the ACC Coach of the Year.
Wake Forest earned three All-ACC selections for the second straight year. The Deacons have had 12 All-ACC selections over the past six years combined.
Moore became the first Deacon to capture the individual ACC championship since 1989 when he shot an 11-under 205 April 16-18 at the Old North State Club. Reifers has been a consistent performer for the Deacons all season, earning five top-10 finishes and owning the second-lowest stroke average (72.23) on the team.
HAAS MAKES 4TH ALL-ACC TEAM
Senior Bill Haas joins elite company with his All-ACC honor. He joins former Deacons Gary Hallberg, Robert Wrenn, Billy Andrade and Brent Wanner as the only players in Wake's illustrious golf history to earn All-ACC honors four times.
DEACS IN THE RANKINGS
Wake Forest is ranked 16th nationally in the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings (May 3), 21st in the GolfWorld coaches poll (April 15), and 21st in the Golf Coaches Association of America poll (April 23).
The Deacs have held pretty steady in the 'teens in all three sets of rankings this season after being ranked 7th by GolfWorld and 6th by the GCAA in the preseason. Sagarin, which also ranks strength of schedule, lists WFU's 2003-04 tournament slate as the 13th-toughest in the nation.
Individually speaking, Bill Haas tops the charts at No. 1 in the Sagarin ratings, a position he has held all season long. Haas' rating of 67.98 is more than one rating point better than the No. 2 player, Ryan Moore of UNLV. Haas' head-to-head record so far this season is 848-41-12.
Kyle Reifers, with some strong performances so far this spring, is 48th in the ratings and is the seventh-highest rated ACC player.
HAAS TIES HALLBERG's title record
With his ninth career collegiate victory at the Courtyard by Marriott Intercollegiate in Raleigh, Bill Haas tied former Deacon Gary Hallberg with the most individual crowns in Wake Forest history.
Haas has pocketed four such titles so far this year, one shy of tying Curtis Strange's school-record five victories set in the 1973-74 season. Statistically SPEAKING
So far this season, Bill Haas has counted 98.6 percent of his rounds toward team totals and has shot equal or under par in over 83 percent of his rounds -- both of those marks are on pace to set new single-season school records in those categories ... his season stroke average is on pace to set a new NCAA record (see chart) ... Haas has also finished among the top 20 in all 12 events entered this season, with 10 of those in the top 10 ... Wake Forest boasts two of the top 10 stroke averages in the ACC, as Haas leads the league with 69.00 and Kyle Reifers ranks seventh at 72.23 ... with his individual medalist honors at the ACC Championship, freshman Sean Moore now holds the team's third-lowest stroke average (74.91) ... as a team, Wake Forest has shot par or better 15 times this season, or 43 percent of its rounds.
A RECORD PERFormance
Bill Haas' 18-under 195 at the Jerry Pate National (63-66-66) this past fall was a new career low, and is the lowest tournament score by a Deacon golfer since Chris Kite shot a 21-under 195 at the 1986 Chris Schenkel. His first-round 63 at the Jerry Pate was the lowest single-round score by a Deacon golfer since Todd Lynch fired a 63 at the 1996 Taylor Made Red River Classic.
Jerry Haas PlAYS IN Wachovia
Wake Forest coach Jerry Haas competed in the 2004 Wachovia Championship May 6-9 in Charlotte.
Haas shot a 4-over 76 on Thursday, followed by an Even par 72 on Friday, falling just short of making the cut. Haas played a practice round with brother, Jay Haas, and former Deacon Billy Andrade.
Haas won a qualifier in March to earn a spot in the PGA TOUR event, which took place at Quail Hollow Country Club.
Haas, who competed on the European, NIKE and PGA tours from 1988-96, participated in his first professional event since qualifying for the 2002 U.S. Open. He is in his seventh season as head coach of the Demon Deacons.
Streaky Deac
Earlier this season, Bill Haas tied his own school record by carding 13 straight rounds under par. The chance to break the record ended with a second-round 79 in the General Jim Hackler Invitational, his highest score of the season. Haas' scoring average was 67.77 during that span. When he originally set the record last season, his stroke average during the streak was 70.00.
