June 3, 2002

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest golfer Bill Haas has been named to the 2002 PING All-America team, as announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). Haas, who just completed his sophomore season with the WFU golf team, is the first Demon Deacon since 1986 to be named a first-team All-America.

Haas, a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection and honorable mention All-American a season ago, has led the team in stroke average the last two seasons. This year Haas averaged 70.86 strokes per round, one of the lowest averages in the ACC. He compiled eight top-five finishes in 12 events, including two first-place finishes. Bill won his first collegiate event, the Birkdale, in March and followed that up a month later with a career-best 13-under 203 to win individual medalist honors at The Intercollegiate. He also added a fourth-place finish at the ACC Championships to his resume', marking the second year in a row he's finished among the top six in the conference tournament.

Haas finished the 2001-02 campaign ranked No. 5 nationally in the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings and is one of eight collegiate golfer who will represent the United States in the Palmer Cup this summer.

Haas becomes the 10th player in Wake Forest golf history to be named a first-team All-America, and the first since Chris Kite in 1986. Haas and his father, Jay (a two-time first-team All-America for Wake Forest in 1975 and '76) are also believed to be the first father-son duo to be named first-team All-Americans.

The 10-member 2002 All-America team was loaded with underclassmen, with just one senior, Purdue's Lee Williamson, making the team. Haas was one of four sophomores on the squad, and joined Georgia Tech's Troy Matteson and Clemson's D.J. Trahan as the representatives from the ACC. No other conference had more than two golfers named to the team.

2001-02 PING All-America Team
Player                                      Yr.                 School Hometown
Bill Haas                     Soph.          Wake Forest Greer, S.C.
Ryan Hybl                   Soph.                 Georgia Colbert, Ga.
Hunter Mahan                      Soph.                 Oklahoma State McKinney, Texas
Troy Matteson                       Jr.                 Georgia Tech Austin, Texas
Graeme McDowell Jr. UAB Portrush, Northern Ireland
D.J. Trahan                             Jr.                 Clemson Inman, S.C.
Camilo Villegas Soph. Florida Medellin, Colombia
Nick Watney                          Jr.                 Fresno State Dixon, Calif.
Lee Williamson                     Sr.                 Purdue Crawfordsville, Ind.
Oliver Wilson Jr. Augusta State Mansfield, England