Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Embark On NCAA Play Thursday In Nashville
5/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 16, 2005
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Wake Forest will participate in an NCAA Men's Golf Regional for the sixth consecutive year when the Demon Deacons play in the East Regional Thursday through Saturday in Nashville, TN.
The Deacons are one of 27 teams playing at the Golf Club of Tennessee in Nashville. The top 10 teams from each of three regionals advance to the NCAA Championships June 1-4 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, MD.
Wake Forest, looking to earn a berth to the NCAA Championships for the 41st time and the first time since 2003, has three national championships to its credit. The Deacons won back-to-back titles in 1974 and 1975 and won a third crown in 1986. No current Deacon player has ever participated in an NCAA Championship.
The Deacons are in the East Regional for the fourth straight year. In fact, Wake Forest has been shipped to a regional other than the East just once, in 2001.
The East Regional is loaded with some of the nation's top teams -- Georgia, Georgia Tech, Florida, ACC champion Duke, Tennessee, Georgia Southern, Alabama, Clemson and Georgia State, to name 10. Seven ACC teams are in the East Regional.
Last year Wake Forest finished tied for 12th in the East Regional, falling just short of qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Wake's best regional finish ever was a fourth-place finish in 1994.
Deacons Take Youthful Lineup To The East Regional
As it has done all season, Wake Forest will be without a senior when it begins play in the NCAA East Regional this week.
Wake Forest will send two juniors -- Kyle Reifers and Doug Manchester, sophomore Sean Moore and freshmen Webb Simpson and Chris McCartin to Nashville.
Moore, Reifers and Manchester all played in the NCAA regional last spring. Reifers, however, is the only current Deacon who has NCAA Championship experience. He was on the 2003 Wake Forest team that advanced to the championship.
Tee Times, Travel Plans
Friday - Wake Forest will tee-off on the 10th tee at 11:33 a.m. The Deacons will be paired with Duke and Tennessee.
Saturday - The Deacons will tee-off at 7:30 a.m. on the first tee. Wake will again be paired with Duke and Tennessee.
Team Hotel -- The team hotel is the Holiday Inn Select (615/327-4707).
Simpson Is ACC Freshman Of The Year; Joins Reifers On All-ACC Team
Wake Forest placed two players on the All-ACC Men's Golf Team and a Demon Deacon was named 2005 ACC Freshman of the Year.
WFU's Webb Simpson, who leads the team in stroke average and has three top-10 finishes this season, was named the ACC Freshman of the Year. Simpson is the third Wake Forest player to win the honor, joining Bill Haas in 2001 and Justin Roof in 1994.
Simpson joined junior teammate Kyle Reifers on the All-ACC Team. Reifers, who has finished in the top 20 nine times in 2004-05, was named to the all-league team for the second straight year.
Wake Forest has placed a freshman on the All-ACC Team in each of the last two seasons. Sean Moore was named to the team last spring as a freshman.
Reifers and Simpson are the 59th and 60th Wake Forest golfers since 1975 to earn All-ACC honors.
Spring Season Has Been A Roller-Coaster Ride For Wake Forest
With such a youthful lineup, it's no surprise that the 2004-05 season has had its share of ups and downs.
Playing a demanding schedule, Wake Forest has earned two second-place finishes in the spring -- at the SunTrust Gator Invitational in February and the Courtyard By Marriott Intercollegiate in April. In both events, the Deacons came within a few shots of winning their first tournament title since the spring of 2003.
The low point of the season came April 2-3 at the Augusta State Invitational when Wake finished 16th out of 18 teams. That result, however, is misleading as at least three Deacon players were sick that week. Sophomore Sean Moore, in fact, completed just one round.
Wake Owns Lofty National Rankings
Wake Forest is tied for 13th in the latest GCAA Coaches Poll and the Deacons are ranked 16th by Golf Week. Individually, freshman Webb Simpson is ranked 23nd and junior Kyle Reifers 27th.
Simpson 1 Of Nation's Top Freshmen
Wake Forest freshman Webb Simpson, who leads the team in stroke average, has been one of college golf's top freshmen this spring. In 10 collegiate tournaments, Simpson has finished 24th or higher in all but one. He has finished under par four times.
Simpson finished third in his first college tournament -- The Ridges. Recently, he took second place at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Collegiate. He also finished tied for fourth place at the Courtyard by Marriott Collegiate.
Players Mentioned
