Wake Forest University
Southwestern Invitational
Deacs Pass Three Teams in Final Day of Southwestern Invitational
1/26/2022 8:50:00 PM | Men's Golf
With the help of three rounds of par or better, Wake Forest rose past No. 8 Texas, UCLA and San Diego State.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. -- For the second consecutive day, the No. 14 Wake Forest men's golf team were the highest risers on the leaderboard.
With the help of a 288 (E) final round, the Demon Deacons finished inside of the top five with a three-round score of 869 (+5) as the Deacs moved past No. 8 Texas, UCLA and San Diego State on Wednesday afternoon.
The Deacs shaved nine strokes off their score from a day ago, recording a second round team score of 286 (-2). It was the fourth lowest score in the tournament in round two and saw the Demon Deacons move up three spots, passing SMU, USC and San Jose State.
Sophomore Michael Brennan continued to build on his impressive play in the fall season, carding his third consecutive 70 (-2) to finish tied for second on the individual leaderboard. Additionally, he was the only player in the field to have a score of 70 or better in each of the three rounds.
Brennan has now been the top Demon Deacon on the leaderboard after 12 of 15 rounds so far this season while also having three top two finishes and a pair of individual victories. In 15 career events, he has finished inside of the top five seven times.
Additionally, he has a team-best 69.80 stroke average this season, which would rank second in program history. It trails just Bill Haas' historic 2004 Fred Haskins Award winning season where he had a stroke average of 68.93.
Senior Alex Fitzpatrick rose up the leaderboard for the second consecutive day with the help of a final round 72 (E) to finish even par for the tournament and in a tie for 18th.
Fellow senior Parker Gillam carded his second consecutive below-par round, turning in a 71 (-1) on Wednesday to rise up 13 spots on the individual leaderboard and tie for 34th in the competition.
From Coach Haas:
"We moved up the leaderboard each and every day. There is a lot to learn from this week as the NCAA course will be very similar. I am glad we came out here and made the trip. The people here at North Ranch were awesome hosts as we were Pepperdine. We have to keep learning as our big numbers or just simple execution have nothing to do with hitting the balls wayward. We will figure it out. Go Deacons." - Head Coach Jerry Haas
Final Scores:
Team
|
1 |
Arizona State |
-30 (834) |
|
2 |
Pepperdine |
-17 (847) |
|
3 |
Washington |
-8 (856) |
|
4 |
Georgia |
-1 (863) |
|
5 |
Wake Forest |
+5 (869) |
|
6 |
San Diego State |
+7 (871) |
|
7 |
UCLA |
+12 (876) |
|
8 |
Texas |
+22 (886) |
|
9 |
USC |
+29 (893) |
|
T10 |
San Jose State |
+38 (902) |
|
T10 |
SMU |
+38 (902) |
|
12 |
UNLV |
+42 (906) |
Wake Forest Team
|
T2 |
210 (-6) |
|
|
T18 |
216 (E) |
|
|
T34 |
223 (+7) |
|
|
T40 |
226 (+10) |
|
|
63 |
239 (+23) |
Next Up
The Demon Deacons are off for nearly a month before returning to competition in Tallahassee, Fla. at the Camp Creek Seminole Invitational.
With the help of three Deacs inside of the top five, Wake Forest shot 22-under par a season ago at the event and tied for the team title.
The first round of the event starts on Sunday, Feb. 20.
Players Mentioned
