Wake Forest Athletics
Jerry Haas Wins Western North Carolina Open
7/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
July 28, 2009
Wake Forest men's golf coach Jerry Haas overcame a four-shot deficit over the final six holes to win the Western North Carolina Open at Mimosa Hills Country Club in Morganton, N.C., on Tuesday.
Haas opened the tournament with a strong round of 5-under 67 on Monday. He missed just two greens on the day.
On Tuesday, he was 1-under through 12 holes, 6-under for the tournament but found himself four-shots behind playing partner Greg Parker, who was 5-under for the day.
The 13th hole was a long 220-yard, downhill par-3. Parker hit first and pulled his shot left of the green. Haas followed with a nice shot, 15-feet right underneath the hole. Parker's chip went a bit long and he two-putted for bogey while Haas drained his birdie putt to cut the deficit in half.
On the 14th hole, Haas hit a perfect drive and a nice 5-wood to 35-feet and was staring at an eagle putt. Parker was greenside in two and after a good chip, he settled for a birdie-four. Showing the poise of a former PGA Tour player, Haas stepped-up and rolled in his left-to-right breaker for eagle and cut into the lead once again.
Both players pared the 15th hole and Haas still found himself one back with three holes to go. On the 16th, he hit a poor drive into the right rough and his second shot came up just short of the green. After Parker also missed the green and eventually made bogey, Haas once again came through with a clutch shot, chipping-in for birdie and taking a one-shot lead.
Both players played the par-4 17th to par, Haas two-putting and Parker making a nice up-and-down.
After solid drives off the tee on the par-4 18th, Haas hit first and pushed his second shot into the deep greenside bunker. Parker followed with a similar shot that hit the fringe and bounced down into the same bunker.
Haas again went first from the bunker and hit a solid shot but clipped the lip of the bunker and the ball meekly rolled onto the green, 18-feet from the hole. Parker, facing a much more difficult shot off the down slope, hit a fine shot but his ball hit the same lip and rolled back down into the bunker.
Now with a much flatter lie, Parker blasted out to four-feet and rolled in the putt for bogey. Haas now had to just two-putt for the victory. He rolled his first attempt to two-feet and cleaned-up the bogey putt to finish one-shot ahead of Parker.
Haas finished at 9-under par for the two rounds after a 4-under 68 on Tuesday.
His next tournament will be the MCPGA Club Car Chapter Championship at Oakwoods Country Club on August 17-18 before returning to campus to prepare for the 2009 season.
