Wake Forest University
2025 NCAA Regionals
Deacons Punch Ticket to Carlsbad with Postseason Record-Breaking Final Round
5/14/2025 1:49:00 PM | Men's Golf
This marks the 49th time that the Wake Forest men’s golf team has advanced to NCAA Championships which also ranks in the top 10 in NCAA history.
AMHERST, Va. - For the 49th time which is the 10th highest total in NCAA history, the Wake Forest men's golf team has qualified for the 2025 NCAA Championships, finishing fourth at the NCAA Amherst Regional Wednesday, May 14.
Wake Forest is now in California for the NCAA Championships and more information about the event can be found on GoDeacs.com and fans are encouraged to follow along via social media. First round play is set to begin on Friday, May 23 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
The Demon Deacons had a historic final round to punch their ticket to NCAA Championships, recording a score of 265 (-15). The total score is the second lowest in program history, trailing just the opening round of the 2021 Old Town Club Collegiate when the Deacs shot 264 en route to winning the team title and the to-par score on Wednesday also was tied for ninth in program history.
Additionally, this marked the lowest postseason total score and to-par score in program history:
|
Rank |
Score |
Tournament |
Round |
|
1. |
265 (-15) |
NCAA Amherst Regional (2025) |
Third |
|
2. |
267 (-13) |
NCAA New Haven Regional (2022) |
First |
|
3. |
271 (-13) |
NCAA East Regional (2005) |
First |
|
4. |
272 (-8) |
NCAA New Haven Regional (2022) |
Second |
|
5. |
274 (-14) |
ACC Championship (2018) |
Third |
The round saw all five players finish under par with the Deacs posting counting rounds of 5-under, 4-under, 3-under and 3-under. It helped them soar up the leaderboard as the Deacs went into the third round nine strokes off the cutline and Wake Forest finished 11 strokes above the cut by the end of the day. This included finishing higher than four teams ranked higher in the Scoreboard rankings going into the week in No. 6 LSU, No. 19 Pepperdine, No. 31 Arizona and No. 42 Stanford.
In total, the Deacs counting scores recorded 24 birdies on the day while just having seven bogies the entire round. After play was halted early in the round Tuesday due to rain conditions, the Demon Deacons had already moved up on the leaderboard, slicing the deficit on the cutline down to just five strokes. By early in the round, Wake Forest had the lowest score on the course and had climbed into contention for one of the five spots to advance to NCAA Championships, holding a score of 13-under par as the Deacs hit the turn.
By this point, the Deacs had safely climbed into fourth place and were well above the cutline.
Overall on the final day, the Demon Deacons were led by junior Jakob Melin who carded his lowest round of the season, firing a third round score of 65 (-5). Mellin, like the Deacs, got off to a hot start on the opening nine, carding five birdies in an eight hole stretch from No. 11 to No. 18. He would add two more in the final nine holes to also help him rise on the individual leaderboard. He tied for 24th which marked his sixth top-25 finish of the season.
Sophomore Kyle Haas also fired his lowest round of the season with a 66 (-4) that included just one bogey for his entire day and he was bogey free over his last 15 holes on Wednesday.
Senior Marshall Meisel was the highest Demon Deacons on the individual leaderboard for the week finishing in a tie for sixth place, marking his fourth top-10 finish of the season and second consecutive after tying for sixth at ACC Championships earlier this month. Additionally, he has been the Deacs top finisher for the team for the third consecutive tournament.
During the final round, Meisel was 3-under-par and was the lone Deac to be bogey free for the entire day. This was the second consecutive round that he was bogey free after posting a 4-under score in round two. In total, he was bogey free over his last 38 holes in the competition.
Sophomore Tom Harberer, who was also 3-under-par on Wednesday and his 67 tied his lowest score of his collegiate career, claimed his seventh top-25 finish of the season, finishing tied for 17th at even par for the week.
Senior Scotty Kennon shot his best round of the week with a 2-under-par score and was bogey free through the first 11 holes of the day, climbing up into a tie for 34th individually, but his under-par score did not count for the overall team score.
This marks the 14th NCAA Championship appearance under the direction of head coach Jerry Haas including the fifth in the last six years. The Deacs have finished inside of the top 10 four times under Haas' direction including making match play during the 2019 NCAA Championship and finishing tied for third in 2006.
From Coach Haas:
"What a week. I'm very proud of this group for hanging in there starting a day early. We had three delays and it looked like we wouldn't get it in today, but somehow the weather held up. Liberty University and Poplar Grove did an unbelievable job hosting and it was fantastic work by everybody here. We look forward to hosting a Bermuda Run next year. When you play your best round of the year on the last day when it really matters, it says a lot about the character of this team. 24 birdies and only 7 bogies, we had ourselves a day. Many of our players have played La Costa and we can make some adjustments this year and carry this momentum into the NCAA Championship next week. Go Deacs!"
Next Up
First round play is set to begin on Friday, May 23 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
The Demon Deacons will learn their pairings and tee times later this week.
The top 15 teams after the first three rounds will advance to a fourth round of stroke play with the top eight teams moving on to match play which is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, May 27 and the Championship Match is scheduled for Wednesday, May 28.
Coverage of the fourth round of stroke play and match play can be seen on Golf Channel with more information on times to be released next week.
All-Time NCAA Championship Appearances
Wake Forest is 10th in the country and has the highest total in the second-highest ACC with 49 NCAA Championship appearances in program history.
|
School |
NCAA Championship Appearances |
|
1. Oklahoma State* |
76 appearances |
|
2. Texas* |
70 appearances |
|
3. Arizona State* |
59 appearances |
|
T4. USC |
58 appearances |
|
T4. Florida* |
58 appearances |
|
6. Stanford |
56 appearances |
|
7. Georgia* |
52 appearances |
|
8. Oklahoma* |
51 appearances |
|
9. Ohio State |
50 appearances |
|
10. Wake Forest* |
49 appearances |
|
11. Houston |
48 appearances |
* Indicates 2025 qualifier for NCAA Championships
Elite Golf School
With the Demon Deacon women's golf team qualifying last week for the NCAA Championships, Wake Forest is one of just two schools in the nation to have both their men's and women's programs qualify for the NCAA Championships during five of the last six years (Texas).
This year Wake Forest is one of 17 schools to have both its men's and women's golf program advance to the NCAA Championship. Additionally, Wake Forest is one of just seven schools to have both programs advance to the NCAA Championships in each of the last two years along with Florida State, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Texas, Vanderbilt and Virginia.
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.
Additionally in 2023, the Wake Forest women's golf team claimed their first national championship in program history, the fourth overall between the two golf programs and the 10th overall in Wake Forest history.
Final Scores
Team
|
Rank |
Team |
Round One |
Round Two |
Round Three |
Total |
|
1 |
Oklahoma |
276 (-4) |
285 (+5) |
269 (-11) |
830 (-10) |
|
2 |
Vanderbilt |
278 (-2) |
279 (-1) |
277 (-3) |
834 (-6) |
|
3 |
Tennessee |
271 (-9) |
285 (+5) |
279 (-1) |
835 (-5) |
|
4 |
Wake Forest |
284 (+4) |
290 (+10) |
265 (-15) |
839 (-1) |
|
5 |
Pepperdine |
280 (E) |
292 (+12) |
277 (-3) |
849 (+9) |
|
6 |
Arizona |
286 (+6) |
278 (-2) |
286 (+6) |
850 (+10) |
|
7 |
Arkansas |
280 (-1) |
286 (+6) |
286 (+6) |
852 (+12) |
|
T8 |
Stanford |
290 (+9) |
284 (+4) |
279 (-1) |
853 (+13) |
|
9 |
LSU |
286 (+6) |
289 (+9) |
279 (-1) |
854 (+14) |
|
10 |
Kent State |
282 (+3) |
292 (+12) |
283 (+3) |
857 (+17) |
|
11 |
Florida Gulf Coast |
282 (+2) |
283 (+3) |
296 (+16) |
861 (+21) |
|
12 |
Princeton |
284 (+4) |
301 (+21) |
283 (+3) |
868 (+28) |
|
13 |
Howard |
304 (+24) |
306 (+26) |
292 (+16) |
902 (+66) |
Wake Forest Team
|
Player |
Rank |
Round One |
Round Two |
Round Three |
Total |
|
T6 |
67 (+4) |
66 (-4) |
67 (-3) |
207 (-3) |
|
|
T17 |
67 (-3) |
76 (+6) |
67 (-3) |
210 (E) |
|
|
T24 |
69 (-1) |
78 (+8) |
65 (-5) |
212 (+2) |
|
|
T34 |
74 (+4) |
73 (+3) |
68 (-2) |
215 (+5) |
|
|
T43 |
76 (+6) |
75 (+5) |
66 (-4) |
217 (+7) |
Players Mentioned
