Oct. 25, 2008 JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - The weather didn't get much better than it was in round one but the Demon Deacon sure did, carding the only under par round of the day to take a two shot lead after 36 holes of the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate at The Ridges Country Club. Freshman Lee Bedford made three birdies and no bogies on his back to nine to post a 2-under 70 and junior Brendan Gielow had an up-and-down round of 1-under 71 to lead the Deacs. Wake carded a round of 3-under 285 to come from three shots back of host East Tennessee St. to take a two-shot lead with just one round to play. "We played a very solid round today," said Wake Forest head coach Jerry Haas. "We have five guys at 147 or lower so that it some pretty good playing. The weather wasn't any better today but our guys hung in there and played solid." After six holes, the team had jumped up to even-par and was tied for second. It wasn't until early on the back nine, after a pair of birdies from Bedford, that the Deacons grabbed the lead for the first time. After ETSU took the lead back, the Deacs kept rolling on the back and eventually took a four-shot lead midway through the back nine. Wake held the lead throughout the rest of the day will start the final round in front. Bedford offset three bogies on the front nine with a pair of birdies to turn at 1-over 37. But it was the back nine where he did his damage. He birdied No. 10 and No. 12 and another birdie on No. 14 got him to 2-under for the day. He made some good up and downs on his final four holes to finish with a round of 70. Bedford made five birdies in his second round and has a total of eight through 36 holes. Despite making bogie on his final two holes, Gielow played a strong round of golf, making four birdies and a number of clutch putts in his round of 71. "Lee had a very good finish and even though Brendan bogied his final two holes, he played a very good round today," said Haas. "He (Gielow) was kind of all over the course and he knows his score could have been worse than it was, so he is happy with it." Bedford will start the final round tied for 24th while Gielow is at even-par through two rounds and finds himself tied for eighth. Senior Dustin Groves is also tied for 8th at even-par after his second straight round of 72. It was also the second straight day that the Keswick, Va., native made four birdies and bogies in his round. Travis Wadkins made one birdie and one bogie on his front nine to post an even-par 36. He also made two birdies and two bogies on the back nine for a round of 72. After a 74 on Friday, Wadkins finds himself tied for 18th with a round to play. Freshman Daniel Meggs made three birdies in his second round and wound up shooting a 3-over 75. He will start the final round tied with Bedford in 24th place. Juinior Marc Gladson, playing as an individual, was bitten by the big numbers on Saturday. He had two doubles and a triple but still managed a pair of birdies in his round of 40-40=80 (+8). North Carolina State's Darren Blair fired a 69 on Saturday to take the individual lead at 4-under par. He leads Zach Byrd and Dan Obremski of Coastal Carolina by one shot. Haas knows the final round will be tough and he is excited to see what his team has left. "This is East Tennessee State's home course so they still have to be considered the favorites," Haas said. "But we know if we go out and play well tomorrow, we'll have a really good shot. We have already won a tournament this season so they know how to get it done. We'll just see tomorrow what these guys are made of. The Deacons will be in the final group off the front nine Sunday morning with the first tee time at 10:10 a.m. Live scoring of the final round can be found at www.golfstat.com.
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