Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Hold Lead After Two Rounds Of Spring Opener
2/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Feb. 10, 2007
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Freshman Brendan Gielow shot a second round, 2-under par 68 and junior Webb Simpson shot back-to-back rounds of 70 as Wake Forest holds a slim one-shot lead in the opening tournament of the spring, the SunTrust Gator Invitational.
With the final 18 holes remaining on Sunday, Wake Forest (+8) leads tournament host and No. 1-ranked Florida by one stroke. Georgia Southern (+10) is just two strokes back at the par 70, 6,701-yard University of Florida Golf Course. Florida State (+11) is in fourth place, three strokes back.
Gielow shot a 1-over 71 in Saturday's morning round, then shot 34-34--68 in the afternoon round for a 1-under 139 total. He is alone in fifth place, four strokes off the pace set by Florida's Manuel Villegas, who is at 5-under.
Florida State's Jonas Blixt (-3) is in second place in the individual race, followed by Coastal Carolina's Zack Byrd (-2), Georgia Southern's Bryan Jones (-2) and Gielow (-1).
Simpson, one of the nation's top amatuers and recovering from a broken bone in his hand suffered last fall, scrambled his way to shooting a pair of even par 70s today. He managed to shoot even par in the morning round despite a double- and triple-bogey. In the afternoon round, he birdied the 16th hole and eagled the 17th to finish even par.
Deacon junior Chris McCartin is tied for 11th place after shooting a 68-74--142 (+2). He is tied with Wake Forest sophomore Marc Gladson, who is playing as an individual and does not count toward the team score. Gladson shot a second-round 68 to finish 2-over for the day.
Sophomore Dustin Groves and senior Sean Moore both shot solid 1-over 71s in the morning round. In the afternoon, however, Groves shot 76 and Moore 79. Groves is in 42nd place and Moore is in 51st place.
The 14-team field includes six of the nation's top 26 ranked teams.
The Deacons return three of five starters from last year's team that won the NCAA East Regional and finished tied for third at the NCAA Championships.
Team Standings
Wake Forest 280 288 568 +8
Florida 280 289 569 +9
Georgia Southern 286 284 570 +10
Florida State 284 287 571 +11
Coastal Carolina 290 284 574 +14
UAB 287 289 576 +16
Georgia State 292 286 578 +18
Tulsa 290 290 580 +20
Ohio State 283 300 583 +23
North Florida 293 292 585 +25
Kentucky 295 293 588 +28
LSU 296 295 591 +31
UCF 297 297 594 +34
Purdue 299 303 602 +42
Individual Standings
Manuel Villegas, Florida 67 68 135 -5
Jonas Blixt, Florida State 70 67 137 -3
Zack Byrd, Coastal Carolina 71 67 138 -2
Bryan Jones, Georgia Southern 70 68 138 -2
Brendan Gielow, Wake Forest 71 68 139 -1
Wake Forest Individuals
5-Brendan Gielow 71 68 139 -1
t6-Webb Simpson 70 70 140 E
t11-Chris McCartin 68 74 142 +2
x 11-Marc Gladson 74 68 142 +2
42-Dustin Groves 71 76 147 +7
51-Sean Moore 71 79 150 -10
x-playing as individual
Players Mentioned
