Wake Forest University
General Hackler Championship
Wake Forest Wins Second Straight General Hackler Title
3/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
March 9, 2009
MURRELLS INLET, S.C. - For the second-straight season, the Wake Forest men's golf team came back in the final round to win the General Jim Hackler Invitational at the TPC of Myrtle Beach.
The Demon Deacons carded a tournament-low 290 on Monday to erase a four-shot deficit and post a 10-shot victory over ACC-rival NC State.
The win was the second-straight at the General Hackler as Wake came back from a 16-shot deficit last season. This was also the second double-digit win this year for the Deacs as they lapped the field at the VCU Shootout back in September, winning by 16 shots after a shooting a school-record 269 in the second round.
"We got off to a great start today and picked up some momentum early and I think that really got us going," said Wake Forest head coach Jerry Haas. "It was tough to really get a gauge on exactly where we stood throughout the day but I knew we had a good chance with the way we were playing."
"With the winds up today, the course played tough and the guys did a really nice job of hanging in there and not making many mistakes," Haas continued. "This was also a very good field and I'm proud of the guys they way they responded after the last tournament."
Wake's final two rounds of 291 in the afternoon on Sunday and the 290 on Monday were the two lowest rounds of the tournament.
The Deacons placed three golfers in the top-10 led by junior Brendan Gielow. He carded his second-straight round of 71 on Monday to finish tied for 3rd at 3-over while fellow junior Travis Wadkins recorded his first career top-10 finish with a tie for 8th.
Senior Dustin Groves was the third Deacon in the top-10 as he tied for 10th after rounds of 74-78-70=222 (+6).
Wake came into the final round in third place after rounds of 300 and 291 yesterday. The Deacs started the day trailing East Tennessee State by four shots and Pepperdine by just a single shot.
Wake got off to a fast start as a pair of birdies from both junior Preston Yates and freshman Daniel Meggs gave Wake an early 3-shot lead through six holes.
At the turn, the Deacs had opened up a 10-shot cushion and would extend it to as many as 13-shots through 12 holes.
The lead was trimmed down to as low as six shots as the scores started to trickle in but, Groves birdied two out of his last three holes to push the lead back to 10 and help provide the final margin.
Gielow, who was coming off the worst finish of his career at the Florida Gator Invite last month, played some of his best golf on Monday. He started the day with ten straight pars before a bogey at No. 11 dropped him to 1-over. He would then bounce-back with a birdie at the par-4 12th followed by another at the par-5 14th to move to 1-under par. Four straight pars to finish would give Gielow his third top-10 finish this season.
After struggling in the second round on Sunday, Groves regrouped to fire a team-low 2-under par 70 on Monday. He started the day with a bogey but bounced right back with a birdie on No. 2. He would then par his next 11 holes before birdying three out of the last five holes to post his eighth under-par round of the season.
Meggs continued his solid play, posting four birdies on Monday en route to a round of 74. After rounds of 76-78 yesterday, the Charlotte, N.C., native, would finish tied for 32nd at 12-over.
Yates started his day 2-under through the first six holes and would end up carding a final round 75. He finished the tournament tied for 44th after round of 84-72-75=231 (+15).
Freshman Lee Bedford as an individual this weekend and would finish in 73rd place with rounds of 79-76-91.
Wake's final round partners, East Tennessee State and Pepperdine, each struggled on Monday. ETSU came into the final round with the lead but shot its highest round of the tournament (311) to finish tied for 4th. Pepperdine carded a round of 303 but would slip to third behind NC State, who posted a 292 on Monday.
The Wolfpack's charge up the leader board was led by individual champion Matt Hill, who carded the lowest round of the tournament on Monday, a 3-under 69, to claim medalist honors by 3-shots over Coastal Carolina's Zach Byrd. Hill posted rounds of 74-70-69=213 (-3).
"After playing a bad tournament, the first thing you want to do is get right back out there," Haas said as he reflected on the team's first two tournaments this spring. "The guys had to sit around for a month after the Florida tournament and I know it ate at them. They really focused in practice the last few weeks and they were ready to go this week. Hopefully this can allow them to enjoy their spring break and give them some momentum for the rest of the spring."
As mentioned, the win was the second this season for the Deacs and it makes the third time in the last five seasons that Wake has won at least two tournaments in the same year.
The Deacons will be off until they head to the Hootie at Bulls Bay on March 29-31. The Hootie is a tournament that Wake has won twice.
Wake Forest Scores
t3 Brendan Gielow 77-71-71=219 ( +3)
t8 Travis Wadkins 73-70-78=221 (+5)
t10 Dustin Groves 74-78-70=222 (+6)
t32 Daniel Meggs 76-78-74=228 (+12)
t44 Preston Yates 84-72-75=231 (+15)
73 Lee Bedford 79-76-91=246 (+30)
Players Mentioned
