Wake Forest overcame host Duke with a final-round surge
Sunday as the Demon Deacons captured the team title in the Rod Myers
Invitational at the Duke University Golf Club in Durham, N.C.
It turned into a battle between the Atlantic Coast
Conference rivals with the Blue Devils taking a six-shot lead after Saturday’s
double round before Wake Forest, led by a final round of 3-under-par 69 by
Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cupper Alex Fitzpatrick, a sophomore from
England, finished up with a 7-under 281 to edge Duke by three shots.
Wake Forest opened with a 5-under 283 over the 7,154-yard,
par-72 Duke University layout Saturday morning before firing a 10-under 278 in
Saturday afternoon’s second round. The final-round 281 gave the Demon Deacons a
22-under 842 total.
Duke had the best team round of the tournament, a 14-under
274, in the second round after opening with 7-under 281, but the Blue Devils backed
off a little in the final round with a 3-over 291 for a 19-under 845 total.
Another ACC entry, Louisville, was 13 shots behind Duke in
third place with a 6-under 858 total. After matching par in the opening round
with a 288, the Cardinals fired a 10-under 278 in Saturday afternoon’s second
round before finishing up with a 4-over 292.
Like most of the teams in the 13-team field, it was the
2019-2020 season opener for defending team champion Penn State. It was a decent
showing for the Big Ten representative as the Nittany Lions shared fourth place
with North Carolina Greensboro at even-par 864.
A veteran Penn State team was never able to build off that
season-opening success a year ago and was unable to secure a bid to the NCAA
regionals.
After opening with a 4-over 292, the Nittany Lions posted a
pair of 2-under 286 rounds to land at even par. UNC-Greensboro, led by individual
champion Jonathan Brightwell, a senior from Charlotte, N.C., sandwiched a
4-under 284 with a pair of 2-over 290s.
Wake Forest was led by Parker Gilliam, a junior from Cary,
N.C. who finished alone in fourth place at 8-under 208, three shots behind
Brightwell. Gilliam sparked Wake Forest’s second-round surge with a 6-under 66
before closing with a 2-under 70.
Eric Bae, a senior from Pinehurst, N.C., was two shots
behind Gilliam in a tie for fifth at 6-under 210. Bae carded a pair of 1-under
71s after opening with a 4-under 68.
Fitzpatrick, No. 36 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking
(WAGR), was coming right back after watching the United States rally to defeat
his GB&I side in last weekend’s Walker Cup Match at Royal Liverpool Golf
Club in Hoylake, England.
After a pair of even-par 72s, Fitzpatrick’s 3-under finish
helped Wake Forest pull out the team win and enabled him to join the group tied
for ninth place at 3-under 213.
Mark Power, a freshman from Ireland, gave the Demon Deacons
four finishers inside the top 10 as Power also was in the group tied for ninth
along with Fitzpatrick at 3-under 213. Power had three consecutive 1-under 71s
in his college debut.
Rounding out the Wake Forest lineup was Marco Steyn, a
junior from South Africa who finished among the group tied for 21st
at 1-over 217. Steyn closed with a 1-over 73, but his second-round 70 was a key
counter for the Demon Deacons.
Brightwell closed with a sparkling 5-under 67 to edge Duke’s
Adrien Pendaries, a junior from France, by a shot. Brightwell opened with a
4-under 68 and added a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s double round. His final-round
67 left him with an 11-under 205 total.
Pendaries, who played a key role as a freshman in the Blue
Devils’ run to the NCAA semifinals at the Karsten Creek Golf Club in the spring
of 2018, fired a pair of 3-under 69s after opening with a 68 to finish a shot
behind Brightwell at 10-under 206.
North Carolina’s Ryan Bennett, a sophomore from Lafayette,
Calif., owned the individual lead after adding a sizzling 6-under 66 to his
opening-round 69. He fell back a little with an even-par 72 in Sunday’s final
round to finish third at 9-under 207.
Sharing fifth place with Wake Forest’s Bae at 6-under 210
was Liberty’s Ervin Chang, a senior from Malaysia. Chang closed with a 1-under
71.
Charlotte’s John Gough, a senior from England, was another
shot behind Bae and Chang in seventh place at 5-under 211 after finishing up
with a 2-under 70.
Louisville was led by Matthias Schmid, a junior from Germany
who finished alone in eighth place at 4-undere 212, a shot behind Gough. After
opening with a 4-under 68, Schmid added a pair of even-par 72s. Schmid finished
in a tie for second in the NCAA Louisville regional last spring and led the way
as the Cardinals earned a ticket to the NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf
Club in Fayetteville, Ark.
Penn State was led by juniors Louis Olsakovsky, an Upper St.
Clair product, and James McHugh of Rye, N.Y., both of whom landed in the group tied
for 13th place at 1-under 215.
Olsakovsky opened with a 1-under 71 and added a 2-under 70
Saturday afternoon before closing with a 74. After rounds of 73 and 72
Saturday, McHugh had Penn State’s best round Sunday, a 2-under 70.
Another junior, Lukas Clark, who starred scholastically at
Council Rock South, closed with a 1-over 73 to finish in the group tied for 27th
at 3-over 219.
Penn State’s top two returnees, Ryan Davis, a junior from
Berkeley Heights, N.J., and Alec Bard, a senior from New Hartford, N.Y.,
struggled at Duke.
Davis recovered from an opening-round 78 with rounds of
even-par 72 and 1-under 71 to finish among the group tied for 32nd
at 221. Bard closed with an even-par 72 to finish a shot behind Davis in the
group tied for 34th at 222.
Penn State head coach Greg Nye mostly kept his prize
freshman recruits under wraps, but Jimmy Meyers, a member of Pittsburgh Central
Catholic’s PIAA Class AAA championship team last fall, competed as an
individual and finished among the group tied for 66th at 236. After
opening with an 82, Meyers bounced back with rounds of 79 and 75.
Zach Barbin, the oldest of the golfing Barbin family from
Elkton, Md., made the starting five for Liberty and finished in the group tied
for 32nd at 221. Barbin, a junior, added a pair of even-par 72s to
his opening-round 77.
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