Wake Forest University
The Battle at Briar's Creek
Deacs Claim Battle at Briar’s Creek by Nine Strokes
2/7/2023 4:13:00 PM | Men's Golf
Senior Mark Power captured his second collegiate title Tuesday, winning going away by four strokes over the 66-player field.
JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. – The Wake Forest men's golf team claimed their first title of the season Tuesday afternoon and the 44th under the direction of head coach Jerry Haas, winning the Battle at Briar's Creek by nine strokes in Johns Island, S.C. while senior Mark Power claimed individual medalist honors.
When play was suspended on Monday, the Demon Deacons sat in fifth and were eight strokes back with a little over 18 holes to play. The Deacs had a dominant performance on Tuesday afternoon as before the third round even started Wake Forest had climbed up to second place and within two strokes of the team lead.
In the final round, the Demon Deacons were nearly flawless with all five of the lineup players carding under-par rounds including big third rounds from junior Michael Brennan, sophomore Scotty Kennon, sophomore Marshall Meisel and Power. The Deacs did not count the 1-under-par round of Boyd Owens despite it being one of just 13 under-par rounds recorded in round three.
The Deacs finished the final round 10-under-par, turning in its lowest round of the week by four strokes. Wake Forest turned in a 54-hole score of 851 (-13).
For the second-straight tournament, a Demon Deacon claimed individual medalist honors. Power led nearly the entire way at the Battle at Briar's Creek, taking the top spot on the individual leaderboard by four strokes. He was 2-under or better in every round, the only player to do so in the field. Additionally, he saved his best round for Tuesday, posting a bogey-free 68 (-4) to run away with his second career individual title.
This marks the Kilkenny, Ireland native's second career individual title, capturing medalist honors at the storied East Lake Cup as a freshman in 2019.
During his path to his second collegiate title, Power only had five bogies over the three rounds.
In total, seven Demon Deacons finished inside of the top 25 including all five of the lineup players. Brennan continued his impressive play, coming off his fifth career individual title at the Southwestern Invitational less than a week ago, ending the tournament tied for fifth on the leaderboard at 2-under-par for the tournament.
Kennon and senior Daniel Sheedy both tied for 12th at even par. This is the best finish in Sheedy's career while this is the highest finish for Kennon this season.
This marks the second time in the illustrious program history of the Wake Forest men's and women's golf programs that both teams have captured team titles on the same day. The only other occurrence came last season on Sept. 27 when the men's team won the Old Town Club Collegiate Invitational by a program-record score. The same day, the Wake Forest women won the Bryan National Collegiate in Greensboro, N.C.
From Coach Haas:
"The morning started very well with some guys making putts. Shooting six-under as a team got us back in contention. Today was very nice in the fact that every guy was under par and we threw out a 71. How about Mark Power. He hit every green today and was bogey free. I am so happy to see it. I've always thought for Mark that the sky's the limit for him and I'm happy that it all came together this week." head coach Jerry Haas
From Mark Power:
"It felt amazing to win. It's been a while since I won an individual event, so to play the way I did today under the circumstances was really satisfying. I hit every green in regulation and didn't make a bogey all day, so it was a nice way to win. I had coach Aaron walking with me all round and we got in a great rhythm. It's great to see the hard work paying off not only for me but for our team in general so hopefully we can carry some momentum into our coming events." - senior Mark Power
Final Scores:
Team
|
Rank |
Team |
Round One |
Round Two |
Round Three |
Total |
|
1 |
Wake Forest |
291 |
282 |
278 |
851 (-13) |
|
2 |
Memphis |
289 |
285 |
286 |
860 (-4) |
|
3 |
UNCW |
292 |
279 |
294 |
865 (+1) |
|
4 |
Kentucky |
290 |
286 |
291 |
867 (+3) |
|
5 |
Virginia Tech |
290 |
294 |
287 |
871 (+7) |
|
6 |
Campbell |
287 |
296 |
292 |
875 (+11) |
|
7 |
Lipscomb |
289 |
300 |
290 |
882 (+15) |
|
8 |
Elon |
297 |
291 |
294 |
882 (+18) |
|
9 |
Augusta |
304 |
290 |
291 |
885 (+21) |
|
10 |
Boston College |
302 |
295 |
290 |
887 (+23) |
|
11 |
College of Charleston |
298 |
295 |
295 |
888 (+24) |
Wake Forest Team
|
Player |
Rank |
Round One |
Round Two |
Round Three |
Total |
|
1 |
69 |
70 |
68 |
207 (-9) |
|
|
T5 |
73 |
71 |
70 |
214 (-2) |
|
|
T12 |
77 |
69 |
70 |
216 (E) |
|
|
T18 |
73 |
73 |
71 |
217 (+1) |
|
|
T32 |
76 |
72 |
72 |
217 (+1) |
Wake Forest Individuals
|
Player |
Rank |
Round One |
Round Two |
Round Three |
Total |
|
T12 |
70 |
73 |
73 |
216 (E) |
|
|
T18 |
72 |
76 |
69 |
217 (+1) |
|
|
T36 |
74 |
75 |
72 |
222 (+6) |
|
|
Andrew McLaughlan |
T48 |
73 |
73 |
78 |
225 (+9) |
|
51 |
79 |
73 |
74 |
226 (+10) |
Up Next
The Demon Deacons will bring Michael Brennan, Scotty Kennon and Marshall Meisel to the 2023 Genesis Collegiate Showcase on Monday, Feb. 13 at historic Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
The club has been host to the 1948 US Open, the 1983 and 1995 PGA Championships, the 1998 US Senior Open, the 2017 US Amateur and is the official site of the 2028 Olympics golf tournament.
Last year, Brennan took home the title and earned the lone amateur qualification for the PGA Tour's Genesis Invitational later that week at Riviera. In the seven-year history of the event no one has ever won the title twice and Wake Forest is the only school to have two champions (Brennan - 2022 and Will Zalatoris - 2015).
Players Mentioned
