Brendan Gielow Selected To 2009 US Walker Cup Team
8/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Aug. 10, 2009
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Rising-senior Brendan Gielow has been selected as a member of the 2009 U.S. Walker Cup by the U.S. Golf Association.
Gielow joins Bud Cauley, Rickie Fowler, Brian Harman, Morgan Hoffmann, Adam Mitchell, Nathan Smith, and Drew Weaver as the U.S. Team battles the Europeans at Merion Golf in Ardmore, Pa., on Sept. 12-13.
"It's a great honor to be picked for the team," said Gielow. "It's been my goal all year. I thought I had a good season during school and then my dad and I have put in a lot of hard work this summer and it paid off."
The final two members of the ten-player U.S. squad will be chosen after the U.S. Amateur at the end of the month.
Gielow has had a tremendous summer thus far, winning the Porter Cup and finishing in the top-10 at the Sunnehanna Amateur, the Northeast Amateur and the Southern Amateur. He also finished tied for 12th at the Monroe Invitational in mid-June.
Last summer, the Muskegon, Mich., native won the Northeast Amateur in record fashion and was the Medalist in his U.S. Amateur qualifying to go along with a tenth-place finish at the Porter Cup.
According to Golfweek/amateurgolf.com U.S. Amateur Rankings, Gielow is the No. 3 ranked amateur in the country.
"Brendan has played really solid the last couple of years and he really deserved this," said Wake Forest head coach Jerry Haas. "He's won a couple of tournaments and has had a bunch of top-tens this summer so he really made it with his play. He is also a great leader and has a lot of character so I think he will be a good team guy."
With the selection, Gielow automatically earns an exemption into the U.S. Amateur, which is being played in two weeks at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla. Gielow missed by one shot in his sectional qualifier last month.
Before heading to Tulsa, Gielow will make a stop in Ardmore, Pa., to meet-up with U.S. head coach Buddy Marucci and the rest of the team for practice rounds later this week.
This will be the 42nd playing of the Walker Cup which pits a team of 10 amateurs from the United States against 10 amateurs from Europe. Gielow becomes the 15th different Demon Deacon to be named to the Walker Cup Team.
Wake Forest has now had at least one member on 16 of the 42 US Teams including one on each of the last four teams. Bill Haas went 2-2 in the American's loss in 2003 while Kyle Reifers (2005) and Webb Simpson (2007) were both part of the Team USA's victories in the last two Walker Cups.
In 1987, there were a total of four Demon Deacons on the team that thumped its European counterparts 16.5 to 7.5. Len Mattiace, Billy Andrade, Chris Kite and Jay Sigel all represented both the US and Wake Forest that year.
