Wake Forest University
ACC Championship
Brennan Wins ACC Championship; Deacs Advance to Match Play
4/23/2023 3:12:00 PM | Men's Golf
Junior Michael Brennan becomes the 23rd Wake Forest player to win the ACC individual championship while the Deacs will continue their ACC title defense in match play starting Sunday afternoon against Virginia.
PINEHURST, N.C. -- Wake Forest men's golf junior Michael Brennan captured the ACC Individual Championship Sunday at Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst, N.C., helping lead the Demon Deacons to the match play rounds for the second-consecutive year.
Brennan, who claimed the 23rd individual title by a Demon Deacon player in the 69 years of the ACC Championship and the first since Webb Simpson in 2008, came into Sunday with a three-shot lead at 9-under-par.
Sunday afternoon Brennan held the lead most of the day and stretched it out to as much as four strokes at one point. After a birdie on No. 9, Brennan hit the turn at 1-under-par for his round and 10-under-par for the tournament.
Heading into the 18th, Brennan was one stroke up, but Tai from Georgia Tech eagled to help send the individual title to a playoff.
Both players birdied the opening playoff hole, two putting after hitting the green in two shots. They continued to play the 18th hole. On the second playoff hole, they both birdied again and went back to the 18th tee for a third time.
On the third playoff hole, Brennan hit the green in two and Tair went left of the green in the bunker. Brennan converted his two-putt for birdie and Tai after working his way out of the bunker missed his birdie putt to give Brennan the title.
Brennan helped lead the Deacs to match play for the second-consecutive ACC Championship as the Deacs continue their title defense. Entering Sunday, Wake Forest sat in second place at 11-under-par and they were 11 strokes above the cutline for match play.
After the final round of stroke play was suspended Saturday due to weather, the Deacs started their round Sunday morning with a 7:30 a.m. first tee time.
Sophomore Scotty Kennon got Wake Forest started recording a birdie on No. 5 and helped start a wave of birdies on the par-5. Kennon was the low round for the Deacs Sunday morning, turning in a round of 2-under-par. This helped solidify the Demon Deacons claim to the No. 2 seed in match play, finishing stroke play 10-under-par.
The Demon Deacons will now continue their title defense in match play Sunday afternoon when they are set to face Virginia in the semifinal round. The round is set to begin at 3:30 p.m. on ACC Network Extra with the teams starting off of No. 10.
A History of Champions
Junior Michael Brennan became the 23rd ACC Individual Championship winner from Wake Forest. In the 69 ACC Championships that have been held, the Deacs have accounted for a third of the individual titles, the most in conference history:
ACC Individual Champions by School (includes ties)
- Wake Forest, 23
- North Carolina, 14
- Georgia Tech, 11
- Clemson, 8
- Duke, 6
- NC State, 6
Additionally, this marks the first individual title for a Wake Forest player since Webb Simpson in 2008. Brennan joins some elite company including future major champion winners Arnold Palmer, Lanny Watkins, Curtis Strange and Simpson. The rich history of of ACC individual champions dates back to the first ACC Championship in 1954 when Arnold Palmer won at Old Town Club in Winston-Salem:
- 1954 Arnold Palmer
- 1957 John Gerring
- 1959 Ronnie Thomas
- 1960 Ronnie Thomas (2)
- 1962 Ken Folkes
- 1963 Jay Sigel
- 1964 Dennis Milne
- 1966 John Harris
- 1967 Charles Snipes
- 1968 Jack Lewis
- 1969 Lanny Wadkins
- 1970 Kent Engelmeier
- 1972 Jim Simons
- 1973 Jay Haas
- 1974 Bob Byman
- 1975 Curtis Strange
- 1977 Scott Hoch
- 1978 Scott Hoch (2)
- 1980 Gary Hallberg
- 1989 Tim Straub
- 2004 Sean Moore
- 2008 Webb Simpson
- 2023 Michael Brennan
From Michael Brennan
On winning the ACC Championship
"It feels great. Last year, I played solid but didn't quite get it done. It's a little weird situation after winning ACCs as an individual and now I have to go play another match. It feels a lot better to win as a team. So, I hope to help the Deacs go win a match this afternoon and hopefully take it home tomorrow." - Junior Michael Brennan
On the playoff and day's play having the lead
"I was stressed for 21 holes. I mean, it actually felt the most calm and relaxed and those last four holes. The first 17 were my most nervous. Not entirely sure why, but I did feel a lot better those last couple of lessons felt ready to go."
On winning such a prestigious title and playing in the best golf conference
"Playing for the ACC is awesome. It's a huge honor. It is a great conference. That's what's great about it. A lot of our tournaments that we play in are very ACC heavy and teams and those are the best fields that we play in all year. So to be able to do it on their biggest stage at the championship just means that much more."
On doing something Arnold Palmer did 69 years ago at the first ACC Championship in 1954
"It's pretty cool. I hit a tee shot on 15 that I wanted to cut a little bit and I kind of held it off and my coach said to me that I looked like Arnie out there. And so that was just an hour ago. So that's pretty neat. But it's really cool to be able to represent him and represent his school."
How to Follow Match Play on Sunday
The Demon Deacons advanced to match play for the second time since the ACC changed the championship format ahead of the 2020-21 season.
The Deacs will look to continue their rich tradition of competing for championships as the Deacs have won an conference-best 19 ACC titles while also having a league-best 23 individual champions at the tournament after Michael Brennan's individual victory.
ACC Championships by School
- Wake Forest, 19
- Georgia Tech, 16
- Clemson, 10
- North Carolina, 10
- Duke, 8
As the No. 2 finisher in stroke play, Wake Forest is set to face No. 3 seed Virginia, who came into the event Ranked No. 16 by GolfStat.com.
The Deacs will tee off starting at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday with Mark Power as the first to begin match play. Full match pairings:
- Mark Power vs. Duangmanee (3:30 p.m. ET)
- Scotty Kennon vs. James (3:40 p.m. ET)
- Boyd Owens vs. Bovari (3:50 p.m. ET)
- Michael Brennan vs. Patel (4:00 p.m. ET)
- Andrew McLauchlan vs. Lee (4:10 p.m. ET)
The entire semifinal match against the Cavaliers can be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
If you are unable to watch the match, follow the live scoring on GolfStat.com.
Stroke Play Scores:
Team
|
Rank |
Team |
Round One |
Round Two |
Round Three |
Total |
|
1 |
No. 12 Georgia Tech |
274 |
289 |
275 |
838 (-26) |
|
2 |
No. 28 Wake Forest |
275 |
290 |
289 |
854 (-10) |
|
T3. |
No. 16 Virginia |
287 |
290 |
284 |
860 (-4) |
|
T3. |
No. 34 Duke |
282 |
291 |
287 |
860 (-4) |
|
5 |
No. 6 Florida State |
284 |
288 |
290 |
862 (-2) |
|
T6. |
No. 2 North Carolina |
290 |
288 |
288 |
866 (+2) |
|
T6. |
No. 27 Louisville |
287 |
290 |
289 |
866 (+2) |
|
8 |
NC State |
287 |
295 |
289 |
867 (+7) |
|
10 |
Clemson |
292 |
297 |
287 |
876 (+12) |
|
9 |
Notre Dame |
292 |
293 |
292 |
877 (+13) |
|
11 |
Boston College |
300 |
292 |
286 |
878 (+14) |
|
12 |
Virginia Tech |
296 |
298 |
302 |
896 (+32) |
Wake Forest Team
|
Player |
Rank |
Round One |
Round Two |
Round Three |
Total |
|
1 |
66 (-6) |
69 (-3) |
72 (E) |
207 (-9) |
|
|
T11 |
71 (-1) |
72 (E) |
70 (-2) |
213 (-3) |
|
|
T16 |
70 (-2) |
73 (+1) |
73 (+1) |
216 (E) |
|
|
T34 |
70 (-2) |
76 (+4) |
74 (+2) |
220 (+4) |
|
|
T40 |
72 (E) |
74 (+2) |
76 (+4) |
222 (+6) |
Players Mentioned
