Wake Forest Athletics
Deacon Golf/ACC Championship Notebook
4/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 19, 2006
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Deacons Begin ACC Championship Play Friday At The Old North State Club
Wake Forest begins its pursuit of its 19th ACC Championship Friday through Sunday at the Old North State Club in Uwharrie Point, NC.
The Demon Deacons, ranked 18th in the GCAA Coaches Poll and 19th in Golfweek, have won more ACC titles (18) and more ACC individual crowns (21) than any other school. Wake Forest, however, is in search of its first ACC crown since 1989.
Last year the Deacons finished sixth after shooting a combined 889 (+45) at the Old North State Club. Then-junior Kyle Reifers (10th place) and then-freshman Webb Simpson (13th) both finished in the top 20.
An Experienced Lineup
Wake Forest will take five veteran players to the ACC Championship -- seniors Kyle Reifers and Doug Manchester, junior Sean Moore and sophomores Webb Simpson and Chris McCartin. It's the same starting lineup the Deacons used at last year's ACC Championship.
Reifers will be playing in his fourth ACC Championship. He has two top-20 finishes and has never finished lower than 29th. Manchester, who has individual finishes of 19th and 30th, will be playing in his third straight ACC Championship. McCartin and Simpson were rookie competitors in last year's event.
Moore Hoping To Make History
Wake Forest junior Sean Moore, who won the ACC individual title in 2004, could become just the fifth player in league history to win the tournament two times. Wake Forest's Ronny Thomas (1959 and 1960) and Scott Hoch (1977 and 1978) are two of the two-time winners.
Moore, in 2004, became the first Deacon to win the ACC Tournament since 1989.
Deacons Closer To Full Strength
Two of Wake Forest's top competitors -- sophomore Chris McCartin and junior Sean Moore -- each missed tournament time this year because of various ailments.
McCartin was diagnosed last fall with mononucleosis and did not return to full strength until recently. Moore withdrew from the Texas/GCAA Hall of Fame Invitational earlier this spring after feeling sick.
Wake Enters Postseason With Momentum
Wake Forest won two tournaments during the 2005-06 regular season -- the Mattaponi Springs Shootout in the fall and the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate in the spring. The last time the Deacons won two or more tournaments in the same season came in 2002-03.
Wake closed out the spring season on a high note. The Deacons finished first out of 15 teams at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate March 26-28 in Awandaw, SC, then closed the regular season with a third-place finish at the prestigious U.S. Collegiate Championship in Alpharetta, GA.
Sophomore Webb Simpson finished second at both events. Kyle Reifers, Doug Manchester and Chris McCartin also posted a top-10 finish in one of the tournaments.
Four different Deacon golfers -- Simpson, Reifers, Manchester, McCartin and Sean Moore -- all posted at least one round in the 60s over the last two tournaments.
No Sophomore Jinx For Wake's Webb Simpson
Webb Simpson, the 2005 ACC Rookie of the Year, gained valuable experience earlier this spring when he participated in the PGA Tour's Bay Hill Classic. Simpson did not make the cut, but he returned to Winston-Salem with newfound confidence.
Simpson enters the ACC Championship after finishing second in each of his last two tournaments. He finished just one stroke off the pace recently at the U.S. Collegiate Championship.
More on Simpson:
- He is ranked 20th nationally in Golfweek's individual ratings.
- Simpson leads the team and ranks among the ACC leaders in stroke average (72.07).
- Has has posted two rounds of 65 this season -- at the Mattaponi Springs Shootout and at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate. Both rounds tied for the 11th-lowest round in Deacon history.
- Simpson had four top-10 finishes and a team-best six top-20 finishes in 2005-06.
- Only one of his 27 rounds this season did not count toward the team score.
- Fourteen of Simpson's 28 total rounds were at par or better.
Reifers' Consistent, Superb College Career Nearing An End
Senior Kyle Reifers hopes to enjoy a few more rounds of golf as a collegian, but the end of his illustrious four-year career will soon end.
Reifers has been a solid performer for the Deacons all four seasons. He will play in the ACC Championship for the fourth time this week.
More on Reifers:
- Reifers will represent Wake Forest in his 45th tournament this week. He has logged more than 130 career rounds.
- His stroke average, with the exception of his freshman season, has remained at under 73.
- Reifers has finished in the top 10 16 times and he has finished in the top-20 25 times.
- He has shot par or better 57 times in his career.
- Reifers was a member of the U.S. Walker Cup Team last summer.
- In the fall, he won his first collegiate tournament at the Mattaponi Springs Shootout.
Head Coach Jerry Haas
Jerry Haas, a former Wake Forest All-American, is in his ninth season as head coach of his alma mater. Haas has returned Wake golf to its place among the nation's elite programs.
Haas is a long-standing member of the Wake Forest golf family, and Wake Forest golf is a big part of the Haas family. Jerry's brother, Jay Haas, led Wake Forest to back-to-back NCAA championships in the 1970s. Bill Haas -- Jay's son and Jerry's nephew -- played for the Deacons from 2001 to 2004, earning national player of the honors two times and All-ACC honors four times. Is there another Haas out there who can help the Deacons? Perhaps. Jerry and wife Elizabeth had a son, Kyle, born August, 2004.
Reifers Named One Of 10 Semifinalists For The Ben Hogan Award
Wake Forest senior Kyle Reifers is one of 10 semifinalists for the 2006 Ben Hogan Award, which goes annually to the nation's top collegiate golfer. Bank of America, in cooperation with Colonial Country Club, The Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), announced the 10 semifinalists.
The Ben Hogan Award, the most prestigious award in men's college golf, is presented annually to the top men's NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or junior college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the last 12 months.
Joining Reifers on the list of semifinalists include returning PING First-Team All-America selections Roberto Castro of Georgia Tech, East Tennessee State's Rhys Davies, Matt Every of Florida, Oklahoma Anthony Kim and Pablo Martin of Oklahoma State, Baylor's Ryan Baca, Andres Gonzales of UNLV, and Brian Harman and Chris Kirk of Georgia.
The Hogan Award selection committee will name the honor's three finalists on May 2. The three finalists will attend The Hogan Award banquet on Saturday, May 13 at Colonial Country Club - the Saturday prior to the Bank of America Colonial - with the recipient announced that evening.
2006 The Ben Hogan Semifinalists
Ryan Baca, Baylor
Roberto Castro, Georgia Tech
Rhys Davies, East Tennessee State
Matt Every, Florida
Andres Gonzales, UNLV
Brian Harman, Georgia
Anthony Kim, Oklahoma
Chris Kirk, Georgia
Pablo Martin, Oklahoma State
Kyle Reifers, Wake Forest
Palmer Named One Of NCAA's 100 Most Influential Student-Athletes
Wake Forest legend Arnold Palmer has been named to the NCAA's list of the "100 Most Influential Student-Athletes", as announced by the NCAA. One of the most prestigious student-athletes in Demon Deacons history, Palmer has been pegged as No. 25 on the list.
While at Wake Forest, Palmer enjoyed an impressive career, winning two NCAA Championships (1949, `50) and was the first-ever ACC Champion (1954). As a professional, he played from 1955-2005 and won 62 PGA Tour victories along the way, including 10 Champions Tour victories. Named to the Wake Forest Hall of Fame in 1971, Palmer remains one of the most celebrated athletes at Wake Forest.
Two Sign Letters-Of-Intent
Two highly-touted high school seniors have signed men's golf letters of intent to play at Wake Forest beginning in 2006-07.
Brendan Gielow of Muskegon (MI) Mona Shores High School and Travis Wadkins of Dallas (TX) Trinity Christian Academy will both come to Wake Forest with an impressive list of credentials.
Gielow is the two-time Michigan High School Mr. Golf (state player of the year). He is a four-time selection to the Michigan High School Coaches' "Super Team," which is comprised of the top eight prep golfers in the state. Gielow is the only player to ever earn that honor four times.
A qualifier for the United States Amateur in 2005, Gielow won the AJGA Canadian Junior championship in 2004. Gielow owns a high school career scoring average of 70 and he is 32-under par for the current season. He is the son of Eric and Renea Gielow.
Wadkins is the son of former Wake Forest All-American, WFU Hall of Fame member and current PGA pro standout Lanny Wadkins. The younger Wadkins, an honor roll student at Trinity Christian Academy, shot a career-low of 65 in 2005. He finished fourth in the Texas state high school championship in 2004.
Wadkins, who is passionate about the game and excited to follow in his father's footsteps, is the son of Lanny and Peni Wadkins.
Moore's North/South Amateur Crown Will Remain A Feather In His Cap
Sean Moore is a 20-year-old golf traditionalist who follows the history of the game. For the final of the North & South Amateur, he donned a pair of plus-fours along with a white tam-o'-shanter cap, much like the outfit preferred by the late Payne Stewart.
Then Moore went out and joined Stewart as a winner at Pinehurst's famed No. 2 course.
After falling 3-down in the morning round, Moore rallied and eventually beat Ryan Posey on the first extra hole of their 36-hole match yesterday. The winning putt came from about 5 feet on the first hole, which set off a raucous celebration by Moore and his family and friends in the gallery.
He added his name to the list of previous winners from Wake Forest, including Curtis Strange, Billy Joe Patton and Billy Andrade. Posey lost in the final for the second consecutive year.
"It's just unbelievable," said Moore, who will be a junior when classes start. "Every time I walk through that hallway, I see those names on that plaque, and now I'm going to be on it, too. I really can't put that into words."
Deacons Eye 42nd NCAA Championship Appearance
Wake Forest will participate in one of three NCAA regionals May 18-20. The Deacons are hoping to finish high enough to qualify for the NCAA Championship for the 42nd time.
Players Mentioned
