Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Lead Central Regional Field After Six-Over 290
5/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 15, 2008
Wake Forest dominated the first round of the NCAA Central Regional in Columbus, Ohio and currently leads the field while Brendan Gielow's two-under 69 has the sophomore in the lead for individual honors.
As a team, the Deacs fired a six-over 290 on the par-71, 7,420-yard Scarlet Course and holds a two-stroke advantage over Golfweek's No.1, Alabama.
Gielow has now posted two straight rounds of 69 including the final round of the ACC Championship on April 20. Gielow recorded four birdies and 12 pars on the day.
Dustin Groves and Webb Simpson ended the day tied for 11th place to give the Deacs three individuals in the top 15. There are 140 golfers in the regional.
Groves posted a one-over 72 Thursday, his best round since firing a 69 in the second round of the SunTrust Gator Invitational on February 9.
Groves fired three straight birdies on holes 10, 11 and 12.
Simpson, the ACC Player of the Year, joined Groves in carding a one-over 72. The senior posted two birdies on the day. Simpson took individual honors at the ACC Championship on April 20 and he has never been on a Deacon team that missed qualifying for the NCAA Championship.
Fellow senior Chris McCartin tied for the team lead in birdies Thursday with four. McCartin posted a six-over 77 and is currently tied for 77th place. McCartin is playing in his fourth NCAA Regional.
Travis Wadkins closed out the Wake scoring with a nine-over 80. Wadkins is playing in his first regional.
Ten teams and two individuals not on advancing teams will move on from each regional to the championship finals at Purdue's Kampen Course, May 28-31.
Wake is playing in its ninth consecutive regional and its 19th since the NCAA went to a regional format in 1989. The 1999 season remains the lone season the Deacs have not been selected to a regional.
The Deacs are a combined 8-13-2 on the season against the Central Regional field, which includes No. 1 Alabama, No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 6 Florida, No. 8 Georgia Tech, No. 11 Tennessee, No. 17 Texas A&M, No. 23 Indiana, No. 25 Louisville and No. 27 Lamar.
Wake will tee-off in Friday's second round at approximately 7:45 a.m. The Deacs will be paired with Indiana and Texas A&M.
Live scoring will and course statistics will be available at Golfstat.com.
A high of 68 degrees with a 30 percent chance of rain has been projected in the Columbus area Friday by Weather.com.
- WakeForestSports.com -
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