No. 15 Deacs Ready to Begin Postseason Play at ACC Championships

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. – The No. 15 Wake Forest men's golf team is set to begin postseason play on Friday morning at the ACC Championship in Panama City, Fla.

The Demon Deacons will look to continue their rich tradition of competing for championships as the Deacs have won an conference-best 18 ACC titles while also having a league-best 22 individual champions at the tournament.

ACC Championships by School

Wake Forest, 18
Georgia Tech, 16
Clemson, 10
North Carolina, 10
Duke, 8

The nationally-ranked Demon Deacons will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament as they will be one of six schools ranked inside of the top 25 at Sharkstooth Golf Course. The Demon Deacons will be in search of their second tournament victory as a team this season after winning the Old Town Club Collegiate Invitational at the end of September.

The Demon Deacons are coming off two successful tournaments down in Florida. At the Valspar Collegiate, the Deacs finished ahead of No. 4 North Carolina and No. 6 Arizona State and later that week placed ahead of No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 8 Georgia, No. 22 Clemson and No. 23 Purdue at the Calusa Cup.

Michael Brennan, who will play in the No. 1 position for the Demon Deacons this week, has had a week to remember after being named to the Arnold Palmer Cup USA Team on Tuesday. The Demon Deacon sophomore continues a long tradition of Wake Forest golfers taking part in the event.

The Leesburg,Va. native becomes the 12th player from Wake Forest to compete in the event. Additionally over the last five years, nine different Demon Deacons have competed in the three-day tournament, accounting for 15 appearances.

Brennan was also named to the 2022 Fred Haskins Award Watch List, as announced by the Fred Haskins Commision and Stifel on April 11.

He was one of just 16 players to make the latest watch list. The Haskins Award recognizes the most outstanding male NCAADI college golfer as voted on by players, coaches and members of the college golf media.

This comes two months after Brennan was also named to the Ben Hogan Award Watch List along with teammate Alex Fitzpatrick.

Friday's first round is scheduled for a 7:30 a.m. start with the Demon Deacons, teeing off with No. 1 with Clemson and Florida State.

Match play round will also be televised on ACC Network Extra for the Semifinals on Sunday and the Championship Match on Monday.

THE DEACS' LINEUP FOR THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIP

Michael Brennan

Brennan, who has now risen to No. 17 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, made his PGA Tour debut at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in February. That Monday, he earned a spot in the field as the only amateur, setting a Collegiate Showcase record Monday, shooting a five-under-par 66. He will look to claim potentially his fifth individual title, trying to join elite company in Wake Forest history. It could be his third win of the season after tying for medalist honors at the Old Town Collegiate and winning the Colonial Collegiate. He was named a watch list member for both the Ben Hogan Award and the Fred Haskins Award this spring.

Alex Fitzpatrick

Fitzpatrick also is the current No. 6 ranked player in the World Amateur Golf rankings and is No. 9 on the PGA Tour University rankings. He is looking for his third top-15 finish after a tie for 13th finish at the Colonial Collegiate. Fitzpatrick also tied for medalist honors with Brennan at the Old Town Club Collegiate. He also tied for 16th at the Watersound Invitational, his fifth top-20 finish in six starts.
He also made his PGA Tour debut this spring, playing in the Valspar Championship in March. Additionally, he was named a watch list member for the Ben Hogan Award in February.

Parker Gillam

Gillam was the Demon Deacons top finisher at the 2021 NCAA Championships as he tied for 13th on the individual leaderboard. The performance helped him earn PING All-America Honorable Mention honors. He finished tied for 26th at the Old Town Club Collegiate Invitational. Gillam also just qualified for the 2022 Canadian Tour, tying for seventh in qualifying school last month. He looks to continue his impressive run of play after tying for 17th at the Valspar Collegiate with the help of a 65 (-6) opening round and most recently finishing eighth at the Calusa Cup as he was one of just eight players to be par or better for the tournament.

Scotty Kennon

Kennon had an impressive showing at the Old Town Club Collegiate Invitational. He was par or below in all three rounds of the tournament, finishing the week tied for ninth and nine-under par, the first career top-10 finish. Kennon picked up his second top-10 finish of the season at the Valspar Collegiate with the help of his best round of his young career. He finished eighth, firing a final round 64 (-7), moving up 20 spots on the final day of competition.

Mark Power

Power helped the team to a title at the Old Town Club Collegiate Invitational, tying for 35th on the individual leaderboard. He was helped by a 66 (-4) in the second round of the tournament. He was one of three Demon Deacons to compete at the Genesis Collegiate Showcase. Most recently, he captured his second consecutive top-25 finish at the Calusa Cup, helping the Demon Deacons finish inside of the top three on the leaderboard.

WAKE FOREST ALTERNATE

Clay Stirsman

Stirsman captured the Wolfpack Invitational on Feb. 27 in Raleigh, N.C. This marks the first individual title in his two seasons at Wake Forest, winning the tournament by five strokes and being one of just two players in the 41-player field to be under par for the tournament. This marks the second time this season Stirsman will be in the lineup for the Demon Deacons. He recently helped Wake Forest finish third at the Calusa Cup.

PARTICIPATING TEAMS AT ACC CHAMPIONSHIP (12)

2022 ACC Men's Golf Championship Seeds
Seed	School	GolfStat Rank (As of Monday)
1	North Carolina	5
2	Georgia Tech	11
3	Notre Dame	13
4	Wake Forest	17
5	Clemson	23
6	Florida State	24
7	NC State	26
8	Louisville	40
9	Duke	41
10	Virginia	58
11	Virginia Tech	70
12	Boston College	190

COURSE INFORMATION

ACC Championship

Shark's Tooth Golf Course - Panama City Beach, Fla. – Par 72 – 7,202 yards

Tucked among the oaks and pines of the coastal sanctuary of the Wild Heron Community and along the shores of the largest dune lake in Florida, Lake Powell, Shark's Tooth is one of the most challenging Panama City Beach golf courses.

This was also the course Wake Forest played on at the Watersound Invitational earlier this season.

LIVE SCORING

ACC Championship

TEE TIMES

Friday, April 22 - First Round - Play begins at 7:30 a.m. with Wake Forest teeing off of No. 1 with continuous play through the second round.

Saturday, April 23 - Third Round - Play begins at 9:00 a.m.

Sunday, April 24 - Semifinals of Match Play - Play begins at 9:00 a.m.

Monday, April 25 - Finals of Match Play - Play begins at 9:00 a.m.