Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Looking for Momentum Heading Into ACC Championship
4/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 10, 2008
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - A 12th-place tie at the Hootie at Bulls Bay two weeks ago quickly erased memories of a Deacon win at the General Jim Hackler Championship for the Wake Forest men's golf team but Head Coach Jerry Haas and his squad are confident they can end the season on a high note.
The Deacs will travel to Wallace, N.C. this weekend for the River Landing Intercollegiate hosted by Murphy Family Ventures and NC State University. Teams will play the par-72, 7,112-yard Landing Course and will tee-off at 8 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday from the 1st and 10th tees.
This is the final regular season event before the ACC Championship in Uwharrie, N.C. April 18-20.
The Deacs are competing in the NC State-hosted Intercollegiate for the first time since the 2004-05 season. Wake tied for second in a shortened tournament that year, falling to Duke by one stroke. Webb Simpson, then in his freshman season, tied for fourth along with Wake's Kyle Reifers. Both shot seven-under 137s for the two rounds. Chris McCartin, also in his freshman year, shot two-over to tie for 33rd.
Wake will send seniors Simpson and McCartin, junior Dustin Groves and sophomores Travis Wadkins and Brendan Gielow to go against a field that includes six ACC opponents. Freshman Justin Bryant will be competing as an individual.
"I'm looking for some better composure, some more consistency," Haas said. "But our guys know they're good players. They'll be fine. We're ready to go out and play well these next two weeks and get ready for the NCAAs."
Simpson leads the team with an average of 70.3 strokes per 18 holes.
The Deacons boast a history of success in the Intercollegiate, winning the event in the springs of 2000 and 2002. The 2000 Intercollegiate, then called the Bell South Intercollegiate, was held in Cary, N.C. at MacGregor Downs. The 2002 event, simply The Intercollegiate, was played on the Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Bill Haas won individual honors for the Deacs in 2002.
Wake has recorded second-place finishes at the Intercollegiate in 2001 in Chapel Hill and in the aforementioned 2005 tournament.
The field at River Landing will feature five teams, all from the ACC, currently ranked in the top 35 including Florida State, Wake Forest, Duke, North Carolina and NC State. Virginia and Maryland are also in the field.
This weekend marks the first time the Intercollegiate has been held in Wallace.
"For the 30 minutes before you tee-off and the 30 minutes after you finish, there's a lot that goes on," Haas said. "We've got to be confident and know how to handle everything and I know we can."
Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com.
A high of 83 degrees and partly cloudy skies has been projected for the Wallace area by Weather.com for Friday's first round but storms are expected to move in Saturday and Sunday.
Players Mentioned
