Wake Forest University
NCAA Championships
Deacs in 12th Place After Day One of NCAA Championships
5/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMGolf)
EUGENE, Ore. – The Wake Forest men's golf team opened play at the 2016 NCAA Championships with a 9-over 289 during Friday's first round at the Eugene Country Club. The Demon Deacons are tied for 12th place after the opening round of tournament.
The Deacs used a strong back nine to rally after making the turn at 12-over, shooting 3-under par over the final nine holes. The scoring four players made eight birdies and two eagles on the back nine to climb up to 12th place after being as low as 21st place during the round.
Wake Forest is tied with Texas and Kentucky at 9-over. No school shot under par during the opening round as Arkansas and TCU hold the first round lead at 2-over.
"It was not a great start, but we learned a lot today," said head coach Jerry Haas. "If you get in a bad position on this course, you have to accept you are going to make some bogeys. The doubles and triples kill you and I think each player can look at his card and think if I had just chipped out there. It is something we will talk about tonight and we have to get ready to go early tomorrow morning."
Wake Forest was led by sophomore Will Zalatoris, who shot a 1-under round of 69 to finish T-7th on the individual leaderboard. After making the turn at 2-over, he shot 3-under on the back, including an eagle on the par-4 No. 7 as he holed in his approach shot from 208 yards.
Freshman Kyle Sterbinsky shot an even par 70 to open his tournament. He made an eagle and two birdies on the back nine to rally from 2-over through 12 holes of play.
Davis Womble shot a 3-over round of 73, while Paul McBride and Cameron Young both shot 7-over rounds of 77.
"I am real proud of them as they all had a great attitude today despite not playing their best," said Haas. "For Will to shoot a two near the end and finish 1-under, and for Kyle, as a freshman, to shoot even, those are both good scores. Davis birdied the last and I know both Paul and Cam will play better tomorrow."
Round two of the NCAA Championship will be Saturday at the Eugene Country Club. The Deacs will tee off in the morning, beginning at 8:50 a.m. PT (11:50 a.m. ET). The field of 30 teams will be trimmed to 15 teams after Sunday's third round. Following Monday's fourth round, the top eight teams will compete in match play on Tuesday and Wednesday to determine the national champion.
Players Mentioned
