Wake Forest University
General Hackler Championship
Wake Forest Completes Improbable Comeback, Wins General Hackler
3/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
March 10, 2008
The No. 18 Wake Forest men's golf team, down 16 strokes entering the final round, shot a four-over 292 to win the General Jim Hackler Championship in comeback fashion Monday in Myrtle Beach.
It is the first team victory of the season for Wake and its first since the win at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate in the spring of 2007.
"We talked about it last night at dinner that we weren't out of it," Wake Forest head coach Jerry Haas said. "We played three-under as a team on the last four holes. No one bogeyed and those are probably the toughest holes of the course."
Wake Forest (292) shot the best round of the day by a wide margin with Florida State and North Florida's 10-over 298s being the closest scores.
Tournament host Coastal Carolina led the event going into the final round but shot a 26-over 314 to end in fourth place.
Three Deacon golfers (Chris Cannon, Travis Wadkins and Dustin Groves) topped their best rounds of the tournament and Chris McCartin scored a 74 for the third consecutive round.
The Deacs ascent was sparked by Wadkins' one-under 71. The sophomore finished in a tie for 27th after entering the final round in 55th place. Wadkins finished with a three-round total of 229.
McCartin recorded 74s in every round of the tournament to land in a tie for sixth and gives the senior his first top 10 finish of the season. McCartin now has eight top 10 finishes for his career.
Cannon shot his best round of the tournament, a 73 in the final round, to put the freshman in a tie for 20th place after entering the final round in 41st. It was Cannon's first competition since recovering from an injury suffered last fall. The England native now has two top 20 finishes in his short Wake Forest career after shooting a 228 at the General Hackler.
Groves carded a 74 (+2) Monday to finish with a 14-over 230 for the tournament. The junior finished in a tie for 31st after his best round of the two-day event.
Brendan Gielow shot a 78 (+6) to also finish tied for 31st. The sophomore fell six spots from 25th in the final round but his teammates were there to pick him up.
"I'm very happy for them," Haas said. "They played very, very well. Travis birdied the last hole, Dustin birdied the last hole, Cannon shot one-over and hasn't played all that much. This will be a good confidence booster for our guys."
Freshman Justin Bryant, competing as an individual, finished in 62nd with a three-round total score of 241.
Duke finished third with a 901 and North Carolina finished 12th after recording a 903 for the tournament.
Wake will return to action March 23-25 in the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate, an event the Deacs won one year ago.
Players Mentioned
