March 31, 2009 AWENDAW, S.C. - Freshman Lee Bedford fired a career-best 5-under 66 Tuesday to lead the Wake Forest men's golf team to a tie for seventh finish at The Hootie at Bulls Bay in Awendaw, S.C. Bedford's round, which included six birdies and just one bogey, vaulted him from a tie for 41st to start the day to a tie for 15th. As a team, the Demon Deacons posted a round of even-par 284 on Tuesday and was able to pull even with ACC-foe Clemson to finish tied for seventh. Wake's three-round team total of 855 (+3) was its second-best finish this season, bested only by its 825 (-27) total at the VCU Shootout last fall. Bedford opened the day with three birdies on the front nine and climbed to 5-under with his fifth birdie of the day on the par-5 13th. He would then make his only bogey of the round on No. 15 but closed with a birdie-two on No. 17 and a solid par on 18 for a round of 66. "It was good to see Lee turn it around a little this week and his round really held us in there today," said Wake Forest head coach Jerry Haas. "He struggled a bit there at the last tournament but he stayed focus this week and shot a really nice round today." This was also the second-straight day that Bedford made a total of six birdies in the round. He posted a score of even-par 71 yesterday and a 5-over 76 in the opening round on Sunday. Junior Travis Wadkins also finished tied for 15th with Bedford at even-par for the tournament. He opened with a round of 2-under 69 on Sunday and followed it the next two days with rounds of 72. Wadkins found himself 3-over for the day with three holes to play before birdying both the 16th and 17th holes coming in. He has now averaged 72.1 strokes per round over his last eight rounds.
Senior Dustin Groves finished the tournament in a tie for 19th at 1-over par after rounds of 74-68-72. His round on Tuesday featured a little bit of everything. He made nine pars, four birdies, three bogies, a quadruple-bogie and a hole-out for eagle on the 436-yard, par-4 16th. Brendan Gielow opened his round on Tuesday with an eagle at the par-5 second but found trouble towards the end of the round and would settle for a 3-over 74. He finished the tournament with rounds of 74-69-74=217 (+4) to finish tied for 33rd. Freshman Daniel Meggs sandwiched his round of 1-under 70 on Monday with a pair of 81s to finish 73rd at 19-over. "I saw a lot of good things this week," Haas continued. "We hit a lot of good shots and made a good number of birdies so I don't think anyone is overly pleased with how we finished but we're moving in the right direction." Augusta State led wire-to-wire to capture the team title. The Jaguars posted the low round in each of the first two days to open up a six-shot lead. They then fired a round of 277 on Tuesday to claim an eight-shot victory over Virginia. Janne Kaske of Augusta State, the first round leader, fired a 6-under 65 in the final round to take medalist honors by two-shots over George Bryan IV of South Carolina. Kaske opened the tournament with matching rounds of 67. The Demon Deacons will be back in action on Friday, April 10 at the NC State Intercollegiate at River Landing in Wallace, N.C. Wake Forest Scores |
