May 21, 2005

NASHVILLE, TN - Wake Forest never relinquished a lead it took on Thursday and captured the NCAA East Men's Golf Regional at the Golf Club of Tennessee today. The win - the Demon Deacons' first tournament victory since the spring of 2003 - qualifies Wake Forest for the NCAA Championship June 1-4 near Baltimore.

 

The Demon Deacons, who own three NCAA Championship titles, had never finished higher than third in a regional until today.

 

The top 10 teams from each of three regionals advance to the NCAA Championship. Wake Forest erased any doubt by shooting a cumulative 3-under par score today and finishing with a 54-hole total of 17-under par. The Demon Deacons finished two strokes in front of Tennessee. Georgia finished third, followed by Florida, Georgia State and Alabama. Georgia Tech, Coastal Carolina, Duke and Georgia Southern also finished in the top 10 and will advance to the NCAA Championship.

 

Sophomore Sean Moore, the 2004 ACC individual champion, turned in his best performance of the season with a 67-68-68--203 (-10). Moore finished tied for third overall and became just the 10^th Wake Forest golfer over the last 30 years to score in the 60s for an entire tournament. His 203 total ties for the fifth-lowest 54-hole score in Wake Forest history.

 

Moore finished five strokes behind individual champion Dustin Johnson of Coastal Carolina, who was 15-under. Rhys Davies of East Tennessee State finished in second place, one stroke back.

 

There were seven ACC teams among the 27-team East Regional field. Only Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Duke finished in the top 10.

 

Deacon junior Kyle Reifers finished with a 6-under par 207 and tied for 10^th place. ACC Freshman of the Year Webb Simpson shot a final round 68 today and finished 1-under and tied for 25^th place. Freshman Chris McCartin finished at even par for the tournament and tied for 33^rd.  Junior Doug Manchester finished with a 12-over 225 for the tournament.

 

Final Team Standings

Wake Forest                271-283-281--835 (-17)

Tennessee                    282-276-279--837 (-15)

Georgia                        275-283-285--843 (-9)

Florida                         287-270-288--845 (-7)

Georgia State               279-291-275--845 (-7)

 

Individual Leaders

Dustin Johnson, Coastal Carolina          65-69-64--198 (-15)

Rhys Davies, ETSU      66-65-68--199 (-14)

Sean Moore, WFU      67-68-68--203 (-10)

Matt Every, Florida      71-63-69--203 (-10)

Michael Schachner, Duke         69-63-72--204 (-9)

 

Wake Forest Scorers

Sean Moore     67-68-68--203 (-10)

Kyle Reifers     65-69-73--207 (-6)

Webb Simpson 71-73-68--212 (-1)

Chris McCartin 68-73-72--213 (E)

Doug Manchester         72-76-77--225 (+12)