- Wake Forest photo
With the help of four players inside of the top 11 on the individual leaderboard and a field-low score of 277 in the final round, the No. 2 Demon Deacon men's golf team took home the team title for the Wake Forest Invitational at No. 2.
The event was highlighted by freshman Michael Brennan's second consecutive individual title. Firing off low scores of 66 and 68 in the second and third rounds, Brennan finished with a five-under-par score of 205. He also led the field in total birdies for the event, carding 12 over his three rounds.
Just four players in the 66-person field finished under par and two of them were Wake Forest players. With Brennan taking the top spot, junior Alex Fitzpatrick was just two strokes behind him, finishing three-under-par for fourth place. Fitzpatrick was the only player in the field to record an eagle, doing so on the 10th hole in the final round. His best scorecard came on the final 18 holes, carding a field-low 67.
Senior Eric Bae recorded his second-consecutive top-10 finish for the Deacs, coming in a tie for eighth. Bae has finished inside the top 15 for three of the four events so far this spring. Fellow senior Parker Gillam recorded his second top-11 finish of the spring , coming in at 11 on the individual leaderboard. He finished in T5 at the Deacs' spring opener in January.
Freshman BJ Rogillio and sophomore Fulton Smith, competing on the second Wake Forest squad in the field, both finished inside the top 25. Smith's T15 and Rogillio's T22 finishes are season-bests for them both.
"A very cool, tough win for us today," said WFU coach Jerry Haas. "The course played difficult, but we made some great saves at the right time. Carolina got close, but Alex's eagle pushed us and Mark made par to keep us ahead. It was a great team effort. Parker played really solid for 54 holes and Michael brought it home. Eric played very well also. The final 18 was a really good team round for everyone and we're happy to be bringing home the hardware."
On the team's outlook going forward, Hass added: "When you start playing well and winning, as a group you start to expect it. We have a deep team and the chemistry is excellent. They want to be the best team and they know what they have to do to be the best team. They know it won't be easy and there may be a target on their backs but they're ready. We have to continue to be good mentally and get through the tough moments. We have all the physical talent, just need to keep the mentality right and we'll be able to accomplish some great things."
ABOUT THE Wake Forest Invitational at Pinehurst #2
54-hole men's college tournament hosted by Wake
Forest University. Team (best four scores out of five
players each round) and individual competitions.
View Complete Tournament Information