Men's Golf Heads To Olympia Fields This Weekend
9/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Sept. 16, 2009
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's golf team heads to famed Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill., this weekend for the Olympia Fields/Illini Invitational hosted by Illinois.
For the second straight week, the team will go up against a very strong field as 14 of the 15 teams are ranked in the Golf World preseason poll including six of the top-10. The venue, Olympia Fields, is certainly worthy of the top-notch field as the course has hosted the 1928 and 2003 US Opens as well as the 1925 and 1961 PGA Championships.
Wake Forest head coach Jerry Haas, who is celebrating his birthday today, Wednesday, Sept. 16, is excited for the opportunity to compete at such a great venue.
"I couldn't be more excited to head up to Olympia Fields this weekend," said Haas. "The weather looks like it's going to be great and obviously Olympia Fields is a tremendous course that has hosted major championships. I have talked to a lot of people that have said this may be the best college event this year so we're really looking forward to it."
Rejoining the team this week will be senior standout Brendan Gielow. The Muskegon, Mich., native missed last week's tournament as he was representing Team USA at the 2009 Walker Cup. Gielow helped the American side to its third-straight victory.
Gielow will be joined by fellow senior Marc Gladson, who is playing in his first tournament of the year, junior Travis Wadkins and sophomores Lee Bedford and Daniel Meggs.
Meggs and Bedford led the team last week at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic as both players finished at 1-over par 217. Meggs opened with a 78 but rebounded to shoot a career-best 68 on Saturday and finished with a 1-under 71 on Sunday. Bedford carded rounds of 74-71-72 on his way to finishing tied for 17th.
As a team, the Deacons played solid at the Carpet Capital, finishing tied for sixth at 11-over par. They posted a 10-over 298 in the first round but bounced-back with two solid rounds to finish.
Oklahoma State, the nation's top ranked team according to the Gold World preseason poll, will highlight the field this week as fellow top-10s Georgia (No. 3), Stanford (No. 5), Arizona State (No. 6), Florida (No. 9) and Southern Cal (No. 10) will also tee-it-up. Wake Forest is ranked 27th in the preseason poll.
Golfstat will host live scoring throughout the tournament, which gets underway on Friday, Sept. 18, and the final two rounds will follow on Saturday and Sunday. The weather forecast looks favorable for the weekend with temperatures in the mid-70s and only a slight chance of rain on Sunday.
Players Mentioned
