Wake Forest University
VCU Shootout
Men's Golf Tied For Sixth After Two Rounds At VCU Shootout
9/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
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MANAKIN-SABOT, Va. - Wake Forest junior Charlie Harrison made seven birdies and just two bogeys in his opening two rounds of the VCU Shootout and is tied for seventh heading into Tuesday's final round. Harrison led the Demon Deacons to a pair of under-par rounds as the Deacons are tied for 6th at 5-under par.
Harrison opened the day with a beautiful bogey-free round of 4-under 68 and was two shots off the pace of Iowa State's Scott Fernandez after the morning 18. In the afternoon, the Atlanta, Ga., native was even-par through 13 holes and would close out the day with a nice birdie at the long par-4 eighth to card a 1-under 71.
"Charlie played a couple of good rounds of golf today" said Wake Forest head coach Jerry Haas. "He didn't have any bogeys in the morning and got up-and-down well this afternoon. That's why he scored so well today because of his short game. He's worked hard on that and I'm happy for him."
Harrison also started strong last year in this event as he opened with a 3-under 69 but followed that with rounds of 74-77 and finished tied for 29th. He will start the final round this year at 5-under par and tied for 7th.
Seniors Lee Bedford and Justin Bryant both shot rounds of 72-71 and are tied for 18th at 1-under par. Bedford got off to a so-so start, making three birdies and three bogeys in the opening round and then fell to 2-over for the day after a double-bogey at his fourth hole in the afternoon. But he battled back with four birdies in a seven hole stretch to post a 1-under 71.
Bryant made four birdies in his opening round but like Bedford, fell to 1-over early in the second round. He was still 1-over for the day through 27 holes and would play the final nine in 2-under par to post a 1-under 143.
Evan Beck opened the day with three-straight birdies but made four bogeys in the next 14 holes to slip to 1-over for the round. He closed the morning 18 with a birdie at No. 9 to finish with a 72 and then started the afternoon round with a birdie at his fourth hole to get to 1-under par. He made two bogeys to finish the first nine at 1-over and would play the final nine at even-par to post a second round 73. Beck will start Tuesday's round in a tie for 38th.
Sophomores John Varol and Thomas Birdsey carded rounds of 75 and 76 respectively in the morning but both players bounced-back well to post rounds of 1-under 71 in the afternoon. Varol was 3-over par in the second round with six holes to play but made four birdies to finish-up. Birdsey made three birdies in his afternoon round to post his first sub-par round as a Demon Deacon.
Freshman Brandon Ng and sophomore Beau Cutts are playing as individuals this week along with Bryant. Ng carded a 75 in his first collegiate round and then carded a 73 in the afternoon. Cutts had an even-par round of 72 in the opening round but couldn't shake off a pair of double-bogeys in the afternoon and would settle for a 78.
"As a team, we just didn't score as well as we needed," said Haas. "You need to take advantage of the short holes and the par-5s out here and we just didn't do that today. Overall though, we didn't play that bad. I was encouraged with what I saw. Coach Dan (Walters) and I know this isn't what we're going to get all year. We can see improvement each round and I think we're close."
Virginia Tech and Iowa State both shot rounds of 8-under 280 in the morning and shared the 18-hole lead. But Virginia got a bogey-free 7-under 65 from Ben Kohles in the afternoon and the Cavaliers would storm back with a 15-under 273 to take the overnight lead at 17-under par. The Hokies are second at 14-under and East Carolina is third at 13-under.
Individually, Scott Fernandez followed his opening round 66 with a 3-under 69 and leads by one shot at 9-under par. Denny McCarthy or Virginia is second at 8-under and Harold Varner is third at 7-under.
The final round is set to begin with a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday morning. Wake is paired with Iowa State and Wichita State. Golfstat.com will have live scoring of the final round.
| Wake Forest | 287 | 284 | 571 | -5 | t-6th |
| Charlie Harrison | 68 | 71 | 139 | -5 | t-7th |
| Lee Bedford | 72 | 71 | 143 | -1 | t-18th |
| Justin Bryant # | 72 | 71 | 143 | -1 | t-18th |
| Evan Beck | 72 | 73 | 145 | +1 | t-38th |
| John Varol | 75 | 71 | 146 | +2 | t-45th |
| Thomas Birdsey | 76 | 71 | 147 | +3 | t-52nd |
| Brandon Ng # | 75 | 73 | 148 | +4 | t-60th |
| Beau Cutts # | 72 | 78 | 150 | +6 | t-69th |
Players Mentioned
