March 26, 2007

AWANDAW, S.C. -- Chalk one up for the private schools.

With public schools dominating the 15-team Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate field, private schools Wake Forest and Baylor were the only squads to shoot under par in Monday's second round, setting up a four-team chase for the title in Tuesday's final 18 holes.

The 24th-ranked Demon Deacons (-6) will enter Tuesday's round four strokes behind tournament leader Central Florida (-10). Florida State and Baylor are tied for third place at 5-under through 36 holes. No other school in the 15-team field is within 16 strokes of the leader.

Wake Forest, the tournament's defending champion, shot a sizzling 5-under par 279 today to take over second place and move within striking distance of UCF. Baylor, the only other team to shoot in the red today, fired a 4-under 280.

Four Deacon players, paced by sophomore Dustin Groves, are all in the top 15 individually through 36  holes.

Groves is 3-under after two rounds, including a 2-under 69 on Monday. Groves, who made the turn today at 2-under, has already earned one second-place finish earlier this season.

Junior Webb Simpson shot a bogey-free 68 today to jump into a tie for sixth place overall at 2-under for the tournament. Freshman Brendan Gielow has shot scores of 71 and 70 to tie for 12th overall at 1-under. Senior Sean Moore is tied for 15th after a 36-hole total of even par.

Deacon junior Chris McCartin improved his score from an opening-round 77 to a 73 on Monday. His score, however, did not count toward the team score for the second straight day.

Every player is looking up at UCF's Greg Forest, who is threatening to run away with the individual championship. Forest shot a 66 in the opening round, followed by a 67 Monday for a 36-hole total of 9-under. He leads Baylor's Jeremy Frye by four shots.

Team Standings
Central Florida 270 288  558 -10
Wake Forest 283 279  562 -6
Florida State 274 289  563 -5
Baylor 283 280  563 -5
Coastal Carolina 285 290  575 +7
LSU 288 288  576 +8
Augusta State 286 292  578 +10
Duke 288 291  579 +11
North Carolina 287 293  580 +12
South Carolina 289 294  583 +15
Charleston 291 295  586 +18
Kentucky 301 285  586 +18
NC State 297 293  590 +22
Vanderbilt 292 300  592 +24
Arkansas 307 293  600 +32

Individual Standings
Greg Forest, UCF 66 67  133 -9
Jeremy Frye, Baylor 68 69  137 -5
Jeremy Alcorn, Baylor 70 68  138 -4
Dustin Groves, WAKE 70 69  139 -3
Matthew Savage, Florida State 72 67  139 -3

Wake Forest Individuals
T4, Dustin Groves 70 69  139 -3
T6, Webb Simpson 72 68  140 -2
T12, Brendan Gielow 71 70  141 -1
T15, Sean Moore 70 72  142 E
T54, Chris McCartin 77 73  150 +8