Two Demon Deacons Selected to 2024 NCAA Division I PING All-Region Team
5/25/2024 12:27:00 PM | Men's Golf
CARLSBAD, Calif.- The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) announced their Division I PING All-Region team Saturday morning, placing two Wake Forest men's golfers on the team.
Senior Michael Brennan earned GCAA/PING All-Region accolades for the third-straight season, while junior Scotty Kennon was named for the first time in his career.
Players across six regions and 83 schools earned all-region honors in 2024.
Michael Brennan's Senior Season
The Leesburg, Va. native is ranked tenth in the PGA Tour University and 29th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. Brennan is currently ranked as the 59th best player in National Collegiate Golf Rankings. Going into NCAA Championships, he leads the Deacs with the lowest scoring average on the team of 71.25.
In his last outing at the NCAA Austin Regional, Brennan finished as the top Demon Deacon on the individual leaderboard, tying for fifth at 5-under-par for the tournament. The senior came up clutch for the Deacs in the 5v5 playoff format that put one player from each team against each other on five separate holes. Brennan had a clutch par at the par-4 10th helping the Deacs punch their ticket to the NCAA Championship. During Brennan's four years as a Demon Deacon, this will be his third trip to the NCAA Championship.
At the Calusa Cup, Brennan finished the tournament tied for 12th at 4-over-par. Brennan had some key moments during round one, including a pair of birdies on the back nine and carding 12 pars through his opening round, ending the round with a 71 (-1). At the Valspar Collegiate, Brennan shot under par in the opening rounds including a low opening round score of 68 (-3), and ended the Valspar Collegiate Invitational tied for eighth and 3-under-par for the tournament. This is Brennan's second top ten finish of the 2024 spring season.
In his outing at the Wake Forest Invitational, Brennan shot two-under par during the second round, scoring his lowest round of the tournament 68 (-2). Brennan ended the Wake Forest Invitational tied for thirteenth. At the Invitational at the Ford, Michael Brennan recorded his lowest score in round one, 67 (-5), and ended tied for third.
A History of Champions
Senior Michael Brennan became the 24th ACC Individual Championship winner from Wake Forest. In the 70 ACC Championships that have been held, the Deacs have accounted for over a third of the individual titles, the most in conference history and 10 more than the next closest conference member:
After a 5-hole playoff, Wake Forest men's golf Brennan captured his second ACC Individual Championship.
Brennan is now tied with Curtis Strange in holding eight individual titles as a Demon Deacon, the third highest total in program history.
Wake Forest Individual Titles
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Bill Haas (10)
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Gary Hallberg (9)
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Curtis Strange (8)
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Michael Brennan (8)
Additionally, this is the first time someone has gone back-to-back since Louisville's Robin Sciot-Siegrist in 2015 and 2016, and only the fifth time in ACC history that someone has gone back to back with Wake Forest golfers accomplishing the feat three of those times (Ronnie Thomas, 1959 and 1960; Scott Hoch, 1977 and 1978). 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:
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1954 Arnold Palmer
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1957 John Gerring
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1959 Ronnie Thomas
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1960 Ronnie Thomas (2)
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1962 Ken Folkes
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1963 Jay Sigel
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1964 Dennis Milne
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1966 John Harris
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1967 Charles Snipes
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1968 Jack Lewis
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1969 Lanny Wadkins
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1970 Kent Engelmeier
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1972 Jim Simons
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1973 Jay Haas
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1974 Bob Byman
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1975 Curtis Strange
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1977 Scott Hoch
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1978 Scott Hoch (2)
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1980 Gary Hallberg
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1989 Tim Straub
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2004 Sean Moore
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2008 Webb Simpson
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2023 Michael Brennan
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2024 Michael Brennan (2)
Scotty Kennon's Junior Season
Kennon currently has a career best scoring average of 71.69 and four top-10 finishes in his 2024 season, including his first collegiate individual title at the Calusa Cup.
At the ACC Championship, Kennon def. Peter Fountain (2&1) in the semi final round of match play, ultimately helping send the Deacs to the NCAA Austin Regional.
As a consistent presence in the Wake Forest lineup, Scotty Kennon had his second top ten finish of the 2024 spring season at the Wake Forest Invitational, tying for sixth and carding 54-hole scores of 213 (+3). Kennon shot his lowest in round two, posting two-under (68). Scotty Kennon finished round three even, and led the Deacs' in birdies (11) for the week, helping the team to a third place finish.
In his outing at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational, junior Scotty Kennon turned in a key 1-under-par opening round to help move the Deacs up the leaderboard ahead of multiple nationally ranked teams in the field.
At the Southwestern Invitational earlier this year, Kennon carded three rounds of 70 (-1) and finished the week tied for 13th at 3-under-par. The junior made a total of sixteen birdies over three rounds during the Invitational at the Ford. In round three, Kennon hit back to back birdies on the front and back nine, and ended tied for eighth.
Kennon's First Collegiate Title
Junior Scotty Kennon captured his first collegiate title at the Calusa Cup on Tuesday, as he set a new tournament record, shooting six-under par.
Kennon tallied 14 birdies on the tournament, and he was one of just six players to finish under par in the 42-player field. Additionally, he topped the Demon Deacons on the leaderboard after every round at the Calusa Cup.
The Florida native shot his best in the first round, carding a low 67 (-5). He started the Deacs off hot with a strong effort on the front-nine going bogey free, and tallied back-to-back birdies on holes 14 and 15. The junior ended round one sitting atop the individual leaderboard by two strokes before eventually taking home the individual title.
Players Mentioned
