April 12, 2008
The Wake Forest golf team rose one spot into third place after carding a six-over 294 in the second round of the River Landing Intercollegiate in Wallace, N.C. An in-state battle is brewing as the Deacs are seven strokes behind tournament co-leaders NC State and Duke entering the final round. Webb Simpson is in sole possession of first place heading into the final round after posting an even-par 72 in Saturday's round. The senior is looking for his first individual victory in a team event for the season. Simpson's won the Western Refining All-America Golf Classic in the fall, competing as an individual. Simpson recorded two birdies Saturday and has eight total after the first two rounds at the par-72, 7,112-yard River Landing Golf Course. The Raleigh-native is five-under for the tournament and holds a one-stroke lead over NC State's Kent Copeland and Duke's Michael Schachner. Justin Bryant, competing as an individual, shot the best round of the day for the Deacs- a three-under 69. The freshman bettered his first round score by 11 strokes and beat his career low by four strokes. Bryant rose from 78th in a tie for 33rd. Brendan Gielow is tied for 26th place following a two-over 74 in the second round. The sophomore entered Saturday tied for 25th. A top 20 finish for Gielow would be his first since placing ninth at the SunTrust Gator Invitational in February. Travis Wadkins fell from a 14th-place tie into a tie for 26th. The sophomore posted a three-over 75 on the day. Chris McCartin jumped six spots Saturday into a tie for 33rd place after shooting a two-over 74. The senior is averaging 73.4 strokes per 18 holes for the season.
Dustin Groves climbed seven spots in the second round to land in a tie for 42nd. The junior carded the third two-over 74 on the day for the Deacs. The Deacs are in contention for their second team win of the season and a win for Simpson would be the first individual victory in a team event for Wake on the year. Teams are scheduled to tee-off for Sunday's final round at 8:00 a.m. Wake will play with co-leaders Duke and NC State. A high of 70 degrees and a 20 percent chance of rain has been projected for the Wallace area by Weather.com. Live scoring and statistics will be available on Golfstat.com. |
