Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Eight Strokes Back After ACC Championship First Round
4/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 20, 2007
NEW LONDON, N.C. -- For 20th-ranked Wake Forest, reality is more important than perception after the first round of the ACC Men's Golf Championship at the Old North State Golf Club on Friday.
The Demon Deacons are in a tie for sixth place. A closer examination of the tightly-bunched leader board, however, shows that Wake Forest is just eight strokes out of the lead.
"The reality is that we are only eight shots back," Wake Forest coach Jerry Haas said. "I know it appears bad when you are in sixth or seventh place, but in college golf, an eight-shot deficit can be erased over three holes."
Clemson, which had three players shoot par or better Friday, holds a slim one-stroke lead after 18 holes at the par 72, 7,102-yard course. Eight teams are within 10 shots of the 8th-ranked Tigers and 10 of the 11 teams remain in realistic contention for the team crown.
Clemson's 3-under par 285 was one stroke better than 26th-ranked Duke (-2) and two shots in front of 24th-ranked North Carolina (-1) and 13th-ranked Georgia Tech (-1). Virginia Tech (+1), Wake Forest (+5), Virginia (+5), NC State (+7), Florida State (+10), Maryland (+12) and Boston College (+22) are all chasing the Tigers.
Wake Forest freshman Brendan Gielow, playing in his first ACC Championship, paced the Deacons with a 1-under par 71. Deacon junior All-American Webb Simpson shot 39-33 for an even par 72.
Gielow, who is tied for seventh place in the individual race, got off to a hot start with birdies on three of the first six holes. He completed the front nine at 3-under 33, drew back to even par by the 12th hole, then closed out with a birdie on the par 5 18th. Simpson entered the 11th hole 3-over par, then put together three consecutive birdies to get back to even par. He earned pars on each of the final five holes for a solid 72 and is in a logjam at 12th place overall.
Junior Chris McCartin, who shot a 2-over 74, was 1-under par over the final three holes. Deacon senior Sean Moore suffered two double-bogies on the first five holes. Moore, who was the ACC individual medalist as a freshman in 2004, rallied for a 4-over 76 and played the final 11 holes at 1-under. Sophomore Dustin Groves' 5-over 77 did not count toward the team score, but he showed some life late in the day with back-to-back birdies on holes 15 and 16.
"I was happy with the way our guys rallied toward the end of the round," Haas said. "There are 36 holes remaining and that's a lot of birdie opportunities."
Every Deacon player suffered at least one double-bogey on Friday. Wake also had trouble taking advantage of birdie opportunities on the par 5s.
"It's easy to say, but if not for the double-bogies we could be leading the tournament," Haas said.
The race for individual medalist honors is as much up for grabs as the team competition. Clemson's Kyle Stanley and Virginia Tech's Ryan Sypniewski both shot 4-under par 68 on Friday to share the lead. A pack of three golfers are just one stroke back at 3-under 69.
The second round of the 54-hole tournament is scheduled for Saturday. Sunday's final 18 holes, broadcast live by ACCSelect.com, will crown the ACC champion. North Carolina and Georgia Tech shared the ACC championship last year. The two teams tied with identical 54-hole scores of 833. Georgia Tech's Cameron Tringale was the individual medalist with a 10-under 206. Tringale finished one shot in front of Wake Forest's Kyle Reifers.
ACC Championship
April 20-22, 2007
Old North State Club/New London, NC
6th (tie) of 11 / Par 72 / 7,102 Yards
Team Standings
Clemson 285 -3
Duke 286 -2
Georgia Tech 287 -1
North Carolina 287 -1
Virginia Tech 289 +1
Virginia 293 +5
Wake Forest 293 +5
NC State 295 +7
Florida State 298 +10
Maryland 300 +12
Boston College 310 +22
Top Individuals
Kyles Stanley (Clem) 68 -4
Ryan Sypniewski (VT) 68 -4
Martin Ureta (UNC) 69 -3
Michael Schachner (DU) 69 -3
Roberto Castro (GT) 69 -3
David Holzworth (UNC) 70 -2
Wake Forest Scores
Brendan Gielow 71 -1 7th
Webb Simpson 72 E 12th<br>Chris McCartin 74 +2 26th<br>
Sean Moore 76 +4 37th
Dustin Groves 77 +5 42nd
TEAM 293 +5 5th
Players Mentioned
