Wake Forest Athletics
Lee Bedford Set To Compete At NCAA Championships
5/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
STILLWATER, Okla. - Wake Forest junior Lee Bedford will begin his quest for a national title on Tuesday as the Demon Deacon All-American tees it up at the NCAA Men's Golf Championships at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla.
Bedford is the first Demon Deacon since Bill Haas in 2004 to qualify individually for the NCAA Championships. He earned his trip with a clutch birdie at the final hole of the NCAA Central Regionals nearly two weeks ago. The Cary, NC, native put himself in contention with a second round 70 and then made four birdies in a final round 69. He finished the tournament at 1-under par and tied for ninth.
This season, Bedford has played in a total of 13 events and tops the team with a 71.8 scoring average. He has recorded a pair of victories and have a total of eight top-10s. In the fall, he finished all five team events under-par and has played 23 of his 39 rounds on the year at par or better.
Bedford earned All-ACC honors for the second-straight season, becoming the 18th Demon Deacon to named a two-time All-ACC performer. He currently has the seventh-best stroke average in the ACC.
Bedford is looking to improve on his first NCAA Championship appearance. In 2009, he carded rounds of 75-77-79 at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio and finished tied for 131st in the 156-player field.
The task won't be easy this week as Karsten Creek is regarded as one of the toughest NCAA venues. The course will be played as a par-72 and has been stretched to over 7,400 yards. The last time Karsten Creek hosted the NCAA Championships in 2003, the winning team score was 40-over par. That is the second-highest winning score since 1978.
Bedford will begin the championship at 2:20 p.m. CST on Tuesday off the first tee and will start the second round at 9:00 a.m. CST off the back nine. He is paired for the first two rounds with Jason Millard of Middle Tennessee State and Jace Long of Missouri. NCAASports.com will have live scoring off all three rounds.
Players Mentioned
