Deacs Set to Begin NCAA Championship Play Friday

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The Wake Forest men's golf team is set to begin their run for a fourth national championship this week at Greyhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The nationally-ranked Demon Deacons, who most recently had a dominant performance at the New Haven NCAA Regional where they won by seven strokes and set a school record score for a regional, are set to start the first round of play on Friday afternoon.

19 of the nations top 25 ranked teams according to the latest Golfstat.com ranks made the NCAA Championships. Additionally, 17 of the top 20 teams in the nation will be competing in the final event of the season.

The reigning ACC Champions, who took home their conference-best 19th title at Sharkstooth Golf Club in late April, will compete for the first two days alongside No. 14 Arkansas and No. 15 Georgia.

Friday's first round is scheduled for a 4:20 p.m. start with the Demon Deacons, teeing off with No. 10.

THE DEACS' LINEUP FOR THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP

Michael Brennan

Brennan, who has now risen to No. 18 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.

In the run to the ACC Championship title, he gave the Demon Deacons the clinching point over North Carolina in the semifinal and the second point for the team in the title match against Georgia Tech.

Additionally, he finished tied for fourth at the New Haven NCAA Regional, carding a three-day-score of 7-under-par.

Alex Fitzpatrick

Fitzpatrick also is the current No. 7 ranked player in the World Amateur Golf rankings and is No. 7 on the PGA Tour University rankings. Fitzpatrick also tied for medalist honors with Brennan at the Old Town Club Collegiate. He also tied for 20th at the ACC Championship, his sixth top-20 finish of the season.

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.

In the ACC Championship run, he provided a point in each of the match play wins including the clinching point in the title match over Georgia Tech.

Most recently in the NCAA Regionals, Fitzpatrick claimed a runner up finish, his second runner-up finish of the season and the third top-two finish of this season.

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.

In the ACC Championship match against Georgia Tech, Gillam posted the first point.

Most recently in the NCAA Regionals in New Haven, Conn., Gillam provided two counting rounds to bookend the week while tying for 31st overall.

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.

The freshman was one of one of three Demon Deacons to be sub par for all three rounds, recording a 68-69-69 to place tied for ninth on the individual leaderboard at 4-under-par.

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. 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.

In the ACC semifinal, Power provided the second point in the win over North Carolina.

At the NCAA Regionals, Power played his best tournament of the season, tying for ninth along with Kennon at 4-under-par. The junior was even par or better for each round including a 67 (-3) to open the week's action in New Haven, Conn.

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 most recently helped Wake Forest finish third at the Calusa Cup. He has been the alternate player for each of the postseason tournaments so far at ACC Championships and NCAA Regionals.

Golf Channel Coverage (All Times ET)

Beginning with the fourth round of stroke play, live coverage of the NCAA Championships from Greyhawk Golf Course in Scottsdale, Ariz. can be seen live on Golf Channel. This could mark the third time that the Demon Deacons have played on the Golf Channel this season as the Deacs were also featured during play at both the Maridoe Collegiate in September and the Southwestern Invitational in January.

A full coverage schedule for the week is below with all times listed in Eastern Time:

Monday, May 30

5 - 9 p.m. Individual National Championship (Live)
10 p.m. - 1 a.m. Individual National Championship (Re-Air)

Tuesday, May 31

3 a.m. – 5:30 a.m. Individual National Championship (Re-Air)
9 - 11:30 a.m. Individual National Championship (Re-Air)
Noon – 2:30 p.m. Team Match Play Quarterfinals (Live)
5 – 9 p.m. Team Match Play Semifinals (Live)
10 p.m. – 1 a.m. Team Match Play Semifinals (Re-Air)

Wednesday, June 1

3 – 5 a.m. Team Match Play Semifinals (Re-Air)
5 - 9 p.m. Team Match Play National Championship (Live)
10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Team Match Play National Championship (Re-Air)

All-Time NCAA Championship Appearances

Wake Forest is 11th in the country and has the highest total in the ACC with 47 NCAA Championship appearances in program history.

School	NCAA Championship Appearances
1. Oklahoma State*	74 appearances
2. Texas*	67 appearances
3. USC	58 appearances
4. Arizona State*	57 appearances
5. Florida*	55 appearances
6. Stanford*	54 appearances
7. Georgia*	50 appearances
T8. Houston	48 appearances
T8. Ohio State*	48 appearances
T8. Oklahoma*	48 appearances
11. Wake Forest*	47 appearances

* Indicates 2022 qualifier for NCAA Championships

Elite Golf School

With the Demon Deacon women's golf team qualifying two weeks ago for the NCAA Championships, Wake Forest is one of just three schools in the nation to have both their men's and women's programs qualify for the NCAA Championships during the last three events (Arizona State and Texas).

In the 2019 NCAA Championship, the men and women's programs advanced to match play. Wake Forest was one of just three schools to have both programs move on to the match play portion of the Championship.

NCAA Championship Seeding

Below is the full seeding for the NCAA Championships:

2022 NCAA Men's Golf Championship Seeds
Seed	School	Latest GolfStat Rank
1	Oklahoma	1
2	Oklahoma State	2
3	Vanderbilt	3
4	Arizona State	4
5	North Carolina	5
6	Pepperdine	6
7	Texas	7
8	Texas Tech	8
9	Florida	10
10	Georgia Tech	11
11	Texas A&M	12
12	Stanford	13
13	Arkansas	14
14	Georgia	15
15	Wake Forest	16
16	Auburn	17
17	Florida State	18
18	Ole Miss	23
19	Kansas	25
20	Arizona	26
21	Oregon	27
22	East Tennessee State	30
23	South Florida	31
24	Ohio State	32
25	North Florida	33
26	Liberty	38
27	BYU	41
28	Georgia Southern	44
29	Utah	47
30	College of Charleston	49

COURSE INFORMATION

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Greyhawk Golf Course - Scottsdale, Ariz. – Par 70 – 7,289 yards

The Tom Fazio-designed Raptor course offers thrilling challenges that command players' respect through a high-stakes game of risk and reward.

Most of Raptor's fairways are generous, and the greens are large with sweeping undulations. Misses tend to find deep greenside bunkers and grass collection areas, making the scramble to get up and down a true test of the short game.

Raptor is considered to be one of the finest daily fee golf courses in Scottsdale and is listed among the best public golf courses in Arizona by Golfweek and Golf Magazine. Raptor is one of only two Scottsdale golf courses to host a PGA TOUR event – the Frys.com Open 2007-2009. Other tour-sanctioned tournaments include the inaugural Williams World Challenge, Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf and Waste Management Phoenix Open pro ams.

On the amateur side, the PGA Jr. League Championship presented by National Car Rental is held on Raptor as well as the men's and women's NCAA Championships from 2021 through 2023.

LIVE SCORING

NCAA Championships

Stroke Play Live Scoring
- Friday through Monday
Match Play Live Scoring
- Tuesday and Wednesday

TEE TIMES (All time ET)

Friday, May 27 - First Round - Play begins at 9:10 a.m. ET with Wake Forest teeing off of No. 10 starting at 4:20 p.m. ET.
Saturday, May 28 - Second Round - Play begins at 9:10 a.m. with Wake Forest teeing off No. 1 starting at 11:00 a.m.
Sunday, May 29 - Third Round - Play begins at 9:10 a.m. ET with tee times dependent on place through 36 holes of competition.
Monday, May 30 - Fourth Round - Play begins at 1:00 p.m. ET with tee times dependent on place through 72 holes of competition. Only the top 15 teams will compete on the fourth day.
Tuesday, May 31 - Match Play - The quarterfinal round is scheduled for a 9:20 a.m. ET start while the semifinal round is set to begin at approximately 3:45 p.m. ET.
Wednesday, June 1 - Match Play - The final round will tee off at 4:35 p.m. ET

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