Oct. 24, 2008
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - On a day when the rain blew sideways, senior Dustin Groves and freshman Daniel Meggs showed their mettle and carded even-par rounds of 72 to lead the Wake Forest men's golf team to strong round of 291 on the first day of the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate at the Ridges Country Club. The Demon Deacons sit just three shots in back of host East Tennessee State after round one. Wake got off to a strong start and at one point on the front nine, all five players were at 1-under par. After a total of 10 combined birdies, the Deacs would make the turn with the lead at 5-under par. But the back nine was when the weather got nasty. The temperatures dropped and the rain picked up. No Deacon would break par on the second nine but the team played the tough 17th and 18th holes at 1-under par to finish strong. "A 291 today is really good considering the conditions," head coach Jerry Haas said. "The teams that went out before us definitely had an advantage but our guys hung in there and played five solid rounds." Groves opened with three birdies and just one bogie on the front nine to pace the Deacs at 2-under at the turn. However, bogies on holes 10, 12, and 15 dropped him to 1-over par but like a veteran, the Keswick, Va., native finished strong with a birdie at the last to card an even par round of 72. Meggs' round looked to similar to Groves in that he made a pair of birdies and just one bogie on the front to turn at 1-under 35. On the back nine, Meggs posted two bogies and one more birdie to also card an even par 72. Junior Brendan Gielow recovered from a three bogies and a double bogie to card a first round 73.
Gielow birdied No. 6 but gave it right back with a double on No. 8 and would turn at 1-over 37. He would sandwich a bogie on No. 12 with birdies on both the par-5 10th and the par-5 14th to get back to even par. But back-to-back bogies on No. 15 and 16 dropped him to 2-over but like Groves, he fought back and birdied the par-4 18th. Travis Wadkins bogied his first hole of the day but birdies on No. 4 and No. 8 gave him a front nine of 1-under 35. But his birdie on No. 14 was offset by four bogies and Wadkins would go on to post a 2-over 74. Freshman Lee Bedford started the day 1-under through his first four holes and would make seven straight pars to remain at 1-under after 11. As he walked to the 12th tee, the rain worsened to its hardest of the day. Bedford would bogie No. 12 and 13 before a birdie on the par-5 14th got him back to even. But he would play the last four holes at 5-over to finish with an opening round of 77. Playing as an individual in the worst of the weather all day, junior Marc Gladson carded a solid round of 7-over 79. He went out in 4-over 40 and after a double on 10, he was 6-over for the day. A birdie on 14 got him back to 5-over and he would eventually finish with a pair of bogies for a round of 79. "Everyone survived the round today and they all seem to be in pretty good spirits," Haas continued. "With a little later tee time tomorrow, we should have good conditions and hopefully a good round." The weather is supposed to improve for the final two rounds. The forecasts are calling for the rain to end this evening and the temperatures should be steady in the mid-60s under mostly sunny skies the next two days. The Deacons are scheduled to tee-off at 11 am Saturday morning. Live scoring for the final two rounds can be found at www.golfstat.com. Wake Forest Scores |
