Oct. 9, 2008
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Coming off an impressive win at the VCU Shootout, the Wake Forest men's golf team will get back to action this weekend as it heads to both the Brickyard Collegiate in Macon, Ga., and to the Duke Coca-Cola Individual Collegiate in Durham, N.C. Eight players will be playing this weekend with the five-man team of senior Dustin Groves, juniors Brendan Gielow, Travis Wadkins and freshmen Lee Bedford and Daniel Meggs heading to the Brickyard on Saturday through Monday. Individuals Marc Gladson, Preston Yates and Justin Bryant will represent Wake Forest at the Duke Individual on Monday and Tuesday. The five-man team will compete in the 15-team field on The Brickyard course at Riverside. This is the second year the event is being held at The Brickyard at Riverside, which re-opened on June 27, 2005. Mark McCumber re-designed the course, which now features a par-72, 7,128-yard layout. In 2007, Golf Digest ranked the course No. 12 in the state of Georgia. Wake did not compete in the tournament last season. "I think the guys are excited to get back out there and their ready to play," said head coach Jerry Haas. "It's a pretty good field and a beautiful course. The guys are already talking about the practice round and getting out there and seeing the course."
The Deacs are coming off one of the best performances in school history at the VCU Shootout. Wake won the tournament by a stunning 16-shots and carded a school record 15-under, 269 in the second round. "There's definitely a difference in their confidence," said Haas when asked if the team prepared any different coming off of a win. "After Shoal Creek they went out there thinking they could play well and now they know they can play well." Gielow claimed his first career medalist honors at the VCU Shootout after carding three rounds in the 60s, including a career-low 7-under, 64 in the second round. Groves also shot three rounds in the 60s, and he too posted a career-low in the second round with a 65. He finished the tournament one-stroke behind Gielow. "Brendan and Dustin are playing well and I expect them to go out there and have another good tournament this weekend," Haas said. Bedford has played consistently well this season and he is also coming off a strong showing in Virginia. The Cary, N.C., native posted a season-low 67 in the first round and was the leader after one round. He finished the tournament in eighth place at 4-under par. Wadkins carded a pair of season-low 70s at the VCU Shootout and wound up finishing tied for 37th. This will be Meggs' second tournament of the year as he played at the Carpet Capital where he tied for 40th after a 1-under 71 in the second round. "Both Travis and Daniel are playing better," said Haas. "Travis shot a 67 and Daniel shot a 68 in qualifying last week so they have some confidence going into this weekend." The Duke Individual is an individual only tournament with no team scoring. Gladson will be playing in his third tournament of the season as he played in both the Shoal Creek Inv. and the VCU Shootout. His best round of the season thus far came in the first round of the VCU Shootout when he posted an even-par 71. Bryant played in his first tournament of the season at the VCU Shootout and after a pair of tough rounds on the opening day, he bounced back with a 73 in the final round. Yates will be seeing his first action of the season this weekend. He has played in two tournaments in his career with his low round of 70 coming at the Belmont Intercollegiate two years ago as a freshman. "The course there at Duke can be tough especially if it rains," Hass commented. "But it will be good for those guys to go out there and play. They are all close to qualifying so if they make it for the next tournament, they will have at least competed within the last month." The Deacons will wrap up the fall portion of its schedule at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate on Oct. 24-26. |
