Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Chase NCAA Championship Beginning Wednesday
5/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 24, 2006
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Wake Forest Carries East Regional Crown Into NCAA Championships
Three-time NCAA champion Wake Forest will join 29 other teams May 31-June 3 in Sunriver, Ore., for the NCAA Men's Golf Championships.
The 16th-ranked Demon Deacons, playing in the NCAA Championships for the 42nd time, won the NCAA East Regional May 18-20 at the Lake Nona Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. Wake Forest shot a final-round 283 (5-under par) to overtake defending NCAA champion Georgia for its second consecutive East Regional title.
Last year Wake Forest won the East Regional at the Golf Club of Tennessee in Nashville, then finished tied for 16th at the NCAA Championships in Baltimore, Md.
Representing Wake Forest will be seniors Kyle Reifers and Doug Manchester, junior Sean Moore and sophomores Chris McCartin and Webb Simpson -- the same five who played in last year's event.
Demon Deacons Have Sterling NCAA Championship History
Wake Forest, rich in golf tradition, has been one of the most successful schools in NCAA Championship history:
- The Deacons have won three NCAA Championship crowns -- in 1986, 1975 and 1974.
- Only Oklahoma State (8 titles) and Houston (5) have won the Chamionship more often than Wake Forest.
- Wake Forest has finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships 25 times, including two different streaks of finishing in the top 10 six consecutive years.
- The Deacons have won the NCAA Championship individual title five times -- Gary Hallberg (1979), Jay Haas (1975), Curtis Strange (1973) and Arnold Palmer (1949 and 1950).
- Wake Forest will play in an NCAA Championship in Oregon for the second time. The Deacons finished seventh in 1978 in Eugene, Ore.
- Ninth-year Deacon head coach Jerry Haas participated as a player in the NCAA Championships three time as a Deacon. He led the team and finished 18th in 1985 in Grenelefe, Fla. Haas tied for 48th in 1984 in Houston. He tied for 16th in 1982 at Pinehurst No. 2.
- Haas is one of three from the Haas family to finish in a top 20 at the NCAAs. Jerry's nephew, Bill, finished second in 2004 in Hot Springs, Va. His brother, Jay, was an All-American on the 1974 and 1975 teams that won the NCAA crown.
Veteran Deacon Lineup Has NCAA Tournament Experience
Wake Forest will take five veteran players to the NCAA Championships -- seniors Kyle Reifers and Doug Manchester, junior Sean Moore and sophomores Webb Simpson and Chris McCartin. It's the same starting lineup that has produced two NCAA East Regional titles and the same group that finished tied for 16th last year at the NCAA Championships in Baltimore.
Wake Forest Captures Second Straight NCAA East Regional Title
Wake Forest rallied for a 5-under par 283 on the final day to overtake defending NCAA champion Georgia for the East Regional crown May 18-20 in Orlando.
Senior Doug Manchester fired a 4-under par 68 in Saturday's final round, junior Sean Moore opened play with a 68 and senior Kyle Reifers shot a steady 3-under 213 to lead the Deacons.
Last year Wake Forest won its first ever regional championship when it took first place at the NCAA East Regional at the Golf Club of Tennessee in Nashville, TN. The Deacons, who finished with a score of 835, were led by Moore, who tied for third overall.
Wake Forest also owns one individual title in regional play. Bill Haas finished first in 2004 at the Yale Golf Course.
Wake Forest Send Men And Women's Teams To NCAA Championships
Wake Forest's men's and women's golf teams both qualified for their respective NCAA Championship events.
Wake Forest is one of 13 schools to qualify both its men's and women's teams, joining: Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Duke, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, Texas A&M, UCLA, UNLV and Washington.
Reifers To Do Blog From Oregon
Wake Forest senior Kyle Reifers will do a daily blog from Sunriver, Ore., giving fans a behind-the-scenes look at the Demon Deacons at the NCAA Championships. The blog can be found at www.WakeForestSports.com.
Wake Familiar With Crosswater
Eight months ago when the 2005-06 season began, Wake Forest got a taste of the Crosswater Golf Club, home of the NCAA Championships.
The Demon Deacons finished 12th out of 15 teams at the PING/Golfweek NCAA Preview. Wake Forest struggled at times, shooting a cumulative 18-over par for the tournament.
The bright spot for Wake Forest was sophomore Webb Simpson, who shot a 70-67-72--209 (-7) to finish fourth in the individual race.
Reifers' Consistent, Superb College Career Nearing An End
Senior Kyle Reifers will play his final rounds of college golf at the NCAA Championships. Reifers has been a solid performer for the Deacs all four seasons:
- Reifers will represent Wake Forest in his 47th tournament and he has logged 136 career rounds.
- His stroke average, with the exception of his freshman season, has remained at under 73.
- Reifers has finished in the top-10 18 times and he has finished in the top-20 27 times.
- He has shot par or better 63 times in his career. He enters the NCAA Championships having shot par or better in seven consecutive rounds.
- He was a member of the U.S. Walker Cup Team last summer.
- In the fall, Reifers won his first collegiate tournament at the Mattaponi Springs Shootout.
- This spring he has produced a stroke average of 72.32 -- the best on the team and one of the lowest in the ACC. In eight spring tournaments, he has finished in the top 10 five times.
- Reifers was one of 10 semifinalists for the 2006 Ben Hogan Award, which goes annually to the nation's top collegiate golfer.
Wake Takes Fifth Place, Reifers Finishes Second At ACC Championship
Wake Forest senior Kyle Reifers shot 9-under par over the final 36 holes to come within one stroke of tying for individual honors and the Deacons finished fifth in the race for the ACC Championship at the Old North State Golf Club April 21-23.
North Carolina and Georgia Tech were declared co-champions when the two teams remained tied after two playoff holes.
Georgia Tech's Cameron Tringale shot 65-69-72--206 (-10) to take individual medalist honors. Tringale held off Reifers to win the crown. Reifers opened with a 72, then fired off rounds of 67 (-5) and 68 (-4) to finish alone in second place.
For Reifers, his performance capped a brilliant ACC career in which he finished second, 10th, 17th and 29th in four ACC Tournament appearances.
Reifers, Simpson Earn All-ACC Honors
Wake Forest's Kyle Reifers and Webb Simpson were selected to the All-ACC Men's Golf Team.
Reifers is on the All-ACC team for a third consecutive year. The senior from Columbus, Ohio, placed in the top 10 in seven of his 13 events, including a victory at the Mattaponi Springs Shootout in October.
Simpson, a sophomore from Raleigh, leads the Deacons with a 72.23 stroke average and has four top 10 finishes to his credit this season. His best finish came at the Mattaponi Springs Shootout when he finished second to Reifers. Simpson, last year's ACC Rookie of the Year, is on the All-ACC team for the second straight season.
Reifers and Simpson are the 59th and 60th Wake Forest golfers since 1975 to earn All-ACC honors.
Duke's Ryan Blaum was named ACC Player of the Year. Georgia Tech's Bruce Heppler was voted ACC Coach of the Year and Yellow Jacket Cameron Tringale was the Freshman of the Year.
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.
Deacons Have Won Three Events In `05-06
Wake Forest has won three tournaments during the 2005-06 season -- the Mattaponi Springs Shootout in the fall and the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate and NCAA East Regional in the spring. The last time the Deacons won three 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.
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.
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.
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. The winning putt came from five 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.
No Sophomore Jinx For 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 NCAA Championship after finishing second in each of his last two regular season tournaments. He finished just one stroke off the pace recently at the U.S. Collegiate Championship.
More on Simpson:
- He is ranked 22nd nationally in Golfweek's individual ratings.
- Simpson leads the team and ranks among the ACC leaders in stroke average (72.23).
- 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 1.5 of his 30 rounds this season did not count toward the team score.
- Sixteen of Simpson's 33 total rounds were at par or better.
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 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 year 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.
Players Mentioned
