A bustout victory for Brennan powers Wake Forest to team crown in Kiawah Invitational

    It had to have been a frustrating fall for Wake Forest and Clemson, two of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s traditional powers that were told by their conference they were unable to compete due to coronavirus concerns.

   Jerry Haas at Wake and the legendary Larry Penley at Clemson knew they had talent, but they were unable to unleash that talent. But if there was any rust built up during that coronavirus-enforced layoff, it’s not apparent in the early returns for the Demon Deacons and the Tigers.

   Wake Forest, playing without arguably its two best players, unfurled a record-breaking performance to claim a nine-shot victory over Clemson in the Kiawah Invitational, which wrapped up Tuesday at Oak Point Golf Club in Kiawah Island, S.C.

   The Demon Deacons had opened their spring sprint to the NCAA Championship by losing in a playoff to ACC rival and tournament host Florida State and settling for a runnerup finish in last month’s Seminole Invitational at Camp Creek Golf Club in Watersound, Fla. Wake then headed to the desert Southwest and picked up another runnerup finish to the tournament host, finishing second to Arizona in the Arizona Intercollegiate at Sewailo Golf Club in Tucson, Ariz.

   Wake Forest was without Alex Fitzpatrick, a junior from England and No. 25 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), and Mark Power, a sophomore from Ireland and No. 28 in the WAGR. Both had teed it up in the Jones Cup Invitational at Ocean Forest Golf Club in Sea Island, Ga. the week before the Kiawah Invitational, Fitzpatrick finishing in a tie for second place and Power ending up in a tie for 28^th.

   Both are on the list of the Royal & Ancient’s 15 candidates for the Great Britain & Ireland team in the rare spring Walker Cup Match that will be contested at the iconic Seminole Golf Club in the middle of the college postseason. I’ve had this theory that the NCAA’s adoption of a match-play layer to determine its champion has made the college kids better at match play. This year, however, the Walker Cup will be prelude to the NCAA Championship, reversing the normal order.

   Bad weather forced the Kiawah Invitational, originally scheduled to be played over three days beginning on a Valentine’s Day Sunday, to be compressed into two days.

   None of this seemed to bother Wake Forest one little bit. Led by the eventual individual champion, Michael Brennan, a freshman from Leesburg, Va., and the Demon Deacons’ third top-50-in-the-world player, Eric Bae, a graduate student from Pinehurst, N.C. and No. 41 in the WAGR, the Demon Deacons roared out of the gate with a ridiculous 21-under-par 267 team over the 6,701-yard, par-72 Oak Point layout and never looked back.

   It was the best team round in relation to par in the storied history of the Wake Forest program. You might recall that that Arnold Palmer guy from Latrobe, Pennsylvania went there. Jay Sigel, too. And for those of us who were hanging out at the 1971 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course, Jim Simons of Butler, Pennsylvania. And Simons was a teammate of Lanny Wadkins.

   The attempt to play 36 holes Monday fell a little short, but when the second round was completed, Wake Forest had added a more modest 14-under 274 before finishing up with a positively pedestrian 2-under 286 that gave it a 37-under 827 total. It was the 40^th career tournament victory for the Demon Deacons under Haas. And yeah, he was a pretty fair player at Wake as was his brother Jay. And Jay’s son Billy, he had a pretty nice run in Winston-Salem, too. You get the picture.

   Not that Clemson needs any motivation, but the Tigers got a big shot if it last month when Henley, in his 38^th season at the helm, announced that he would be stepping down at the end of this season. You think these kids are going to be putting it all out there for their Hall of Fame coach in his farewell tour? Yeah, me too.

   It took a global pandemic to stop Henley’s streak of consecutive NCAA Tournament berths.

   Clemson finished third behind Florida State and Wake Forest in the Seminole Invitational. And the Tigers were pretty good at Kiawah Island, too, finishing a solid runnerup to their ACC rival. Clemson couldn’t match Wake Forest’s scorching start, posting a 5-under 283. But the Tigers kept chasing as their 16-under 272 was the best team round of the second round and their closing 7-under 281 was also the best in the final round.

   That gave Clemson a 28-under 836 total, nine shots behind Wake Forest and three ahead of Kentucky, out of the Southeastern Conference. The Wildcats were strong from the start, firing a 12-under 276 in the opening round and adding an 11-under 277 in the split second round before closing with a 2-under 286 for a 25-under 839 total.

   East Tennessee State, out of the Southern Conference, was a shot behind Kentucky in fourth place, the Buccaneers opening with an 8-under 280 and adding an 11-uneder 277 before finishing up with a 5-under 283 for a 24-under 840 total.

   Iowa, which finished in a tie for fifth place with North Carolina-Wilmington at 14-under 850, 10 shots behind East Tennessee State, headed a parade of Big Ten teams in the top 10 in the Kiawah Invitational. Like the ACC, the Big 10 teams are trying to regain their competitive edge after not being allowed to compete in the fall.

   After opening with a 1-over 289, the Hawkeyes ripped off a 10-under 278 in the second round before closing with a 5-under 283. The Seahawks, an underrated Colonial Athletic Association entry, were under par in every round, opening with a 6-under 282 and adding a 3-under 285 and finishing up with a 5-under 283.

   Purdue was two shots behind UNC-Wilmington and Iowa in seventh place at 12-under 852, the Boilers also getting hot in the second round with an 11-under 277 after matching par in the opening round with a 288. Purdue finished up with a 1-under 287.

   Ohio State was four shots behind Purdue in eighth place at 8-under 856, the Buckeyes struggling in the final round with a 2-over after posting a pair of solid 5-under 283s. It was five more shots back to Wisconsin in ninth place as the Badgers opened with a 4-under 284 and matched par in the second round with a 288 before closing with a 1-over 289.

   I first stumbled across Brennan when he earned a trip to the 2018 U.S. Amateur out of rain-plagued Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier at Chambersburg Country Club at age 16. The kid threw up a 2-under 70 at Spyglass Hill Golf Course on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula in the opening round of qualifying for match play before coming back to earth with a 79 at the Pebble Beach Golf Links and failing to advance to match play.

   It was pretty obvious, though, that Brennan isn’t one to get intimidated by the moment. He opened with a 5-under 67 at Oak Point and trailed his teammate Bae by two after the opening round. But Brennan kept his foot on the gas, adding a 4-under 68 in the second round and matching Bae for the low round of the tournament with a 7-under 65 in Tuesday’s final round for a 16-under 200 total that gave him his first collegiate victory by five shots.

   Bae added a 68 to his opening-round 65 and led his teammate Brennan by two shots going into the final round, but could only match par in the final round with a 72 that left him in a tie for second place with East Tennessee State’s Archie Davies, a redshirt freshman from England, at 11-under 205.

   Marco Steyn, a senior from South Africa, finished among the group tied for 30^th place at 1-under 215 for Wake Forest as he contributed a 3-under 69 to the Demon Deacons’ blazing start and added a solid 2-under 70 in the second round before falling back with a final-round 76.

   B.J. Rogillio, a freshman from Baton Rouge, La., struggled in the opening round with a throw-out 77, but bounced right back with a 4-under 68 in the second round before closing with a 1-over 73 to join the group tied for 39^th place at 2-over 218.

   Parker Gilliam, a senior from Cary, N.C., was another key to Wake Forest’s fast start with his sparkling 6-under 66. Gilliam struggled after that with a 3-over 75 in the second round and a throw-out 78 in the final round as he finished among the group tied for 46^th place at 3-over 219.

   East Tennessee State’s Davies sandwiched a 3-under 69 in the second round with a pair of 4-under 68s to get his share of second place with Wake Forest’s Bae.

   A couple of Big Ten guys, Ohio State’s Maxwell Moldovan, a freshman from Uniontown, Ohio, and Purdue’s Herman Wibe Sekne, a freshman from Norway, finished in a tie for fourth place at 10-under 206. Moldovan closed with a 4-under 68 after signing for a pair of 69s in the first two rounds. Wibe Sekne added a 5-under 67 to his opening-round 70 before finishing up with a 3-under 69.

   Clemson was led by its talented junior, Jacob Bridgeman of Inman, S.C., who finished in a tie for sixth place at 8-under 208 with Kentucky’s Zach Norris, a junior from McKee, Ky. Bridgeman opened with a 3-under 69 and added a second-round 71 before closing with a 4-under 68. After opening with a 71, Norris carded a 4-under 68 in the second round before finishing up with a 69.

   Iowa’s Gonzalo Leal Montero, a junior from Spain, and East Tennessee State’s Trevor Hulbert, a graduate student from Orlando, Fla., shared eighth place, each landing on 7-under 209. Leal Montero finished strong with a 4-under 68. Hulbert opened with a 70 and added a 4-under 68 in the second round before closing with a 71.

   Clemson picked up two more top-10 finishes as Turk Pettit, a senior from Auburn, Ala, and William Nottingham, a fifth-year player from Kingsport, Tenn., finished in a tie for 10^th place with Kentucky’s Reid Bedell, a grad student from Fair Haven, N.J., at 6-under 210.

   Pettit fired a second-round 66 to get into the hunt and closed with a 71. Nottingham, who chose to come back for a fifth year at Clemson when the NCAA offered last year’s seniors an extra year of eligibility to make up for the spring stolen by the pandemic, was only two shots behind Bae in the individual standings after he added a 6-under 66 to his opening-round 69. But he struggled to a 75 in the final round to fall back to 6-under.

   Bedell is taking his extra year of eligibility at Kentucky after playing at South Carolina Upstate. Bedell also put up a 6-under 66 in the second round before falling back with a final-round 74.

   Maryland, another Big Ten entry, finished in 13^th place with an 8-over 872 total. The Terrapins were led by sophomore Austin Barbin, the Elkton, Md. native whose victory in the 2019 GAP Junior Boys’ Championship highlighted a monstrous summer of junior golf. Barbin sandwiched a 2-under 70 in the second round with a pair of even-par 72s as he finished among the group tied for 28^th place at 2-under 214.

   East Carolina finished last in the 14-team field, the Pirates ending up 20 shots behind Maryland with an 892 total. East Carolina’s fourth-best total was turned in by sophomore Jake Calamaro, who moved to Johns Creek, Ga. after helping Radnor capture the PIAA Class AAA team crown as a freshman in 2015.

   Calamaro, who went on to play on a couple more state championship teams in Georgia, opened with a 2-over 74 and added a 77 in the second round before closing with an 80 for a 231 total that left him alone in 86^th place.