April 11, 2006

ALPHARETTA, Ga. - Wake Forest closed out the regular season here today with a solid third-place finish and Deacon sophomore Webb Simpson took second place in the inaugural U.S. Collegiate Championship at the Georgia Golf Club.

Clemson won the team title after shooting a cumulative even par in the two-day, 54-hole tournament.  Florida finished second, three strokes off the pace, and Wake Forest took third out of 13 teams at 11-over par.

Clemson's Stephen Poole shot a final-round 1-under par 71 to take individual medalist honors, edging Wake's Simpson and Georgia's Brendon Todd by one stroke.  Simpson held a five-stroke lead heading in to today's round, but struggled to a 77 and finished 4-under par for the tournament.

Wake Forest sophomore Chris McCartin turned in arguably his best career performance. McCartin finished a career-best sixth place and at 1-under par. Senior Kyle Reifers just missed his 26^th career top-20 finish. He ended tied for 21^st place at 6-over par. Senior Doug Manchester finished tied for 40^th at 11-over and freshman Marc Gladson was tied for 57^th place at 17-over.

The U.S. Collegiate Championship was Wake's final regular season event. The Deacons begin play in the ACC Championship later this month at the Old North State Golf Club.

The Deacons should carry momentum into the postseason. Wake Forest recently finished first in the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate and it finished one stroke better than ACC favorite Georgia Tech and defending NCAA champion Georgia at the U.S. Collegiate.

 

TEAM STANDINGS

Clemson                          291-283-290--864 (E)

Florida                             287-288-292--867 (+3)

Wake Forest                    288-287-300--875 (+11)

Georgia Tech                  290-296-288--876 (+12)

Georgia                           298-293-285--876 (+12)

Georgia State                   303-279-303--885 (+21)

TCU                                297-299-294--890 (+26)

East Tennessee St.          294-305-296--895 (+31)

Alabama                          294-298-304--896 (+32)

Texas                              294-297-308--899 (+35)

BYU                                 304-301-298--903 (+39)

Tennessee                      307-297-309--913 (+49)

Florida State                    306-299-311--916 (+52)

 

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

1              Stephen Poole, Clemson                             70-70-71--211 (-5)

2              Webb Simpson, Wake Forest                       68-67-77--212 (-4)

2              Bremdon Todd, Georgia                              70-72-70--212 (-4)

4              Michael Barbosa, Georgia Tech                  70-75-68--213 (-3)

4              Matt Every, Florida                                      68-72-73--213 (-3)

6              Chris McCartin, Wake Forest                       72-69-74--215 (-2)

 

WAKE FOREST SCORES

2              Webb Simpson             68-67-77--212 (-4)

6              Chris McCartin             72-69-74--215 (-1)

21            Kyle Reifers                 75-75-72--222 (+6)

40            Doug Manchester        73-77-77--227 (+11)

57            Marc Gladson              77-76-80--233 (+17)