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The Deacs came into this year's NCAA regional at UNC Finley Golf Course with high hopes, but once again got off to a slow start in an important tournament, finding itself in tenth place after shooting a +6 (294) in the first round.
The best five teams from this weekend will advance to the NCAA Championships. Wake Forest was the 5th ranked team in the regional, meaning that it is not a stretch at all to think Coach Haas' squad could (should) advance to the Finals.
With the first round 294, Wake is already 8 shots back of host No. 19 North Carolina (-2, 286), with No. 25 Kennesaw State, No.11 Stanford, Penn State, and No. 49 Georgia Regents also scoring better in the first round.
No. 50 Charlotte jumped out to a surprisingly commanding six shot lead over No. 37 Florida after firing a -13 (275).
Freshman Will Zalatoris led the Deacs with a -2 (70) to put himself in a tie for 13th individually going into Friday's second round.
Wake started on the back nine, the much harder of the two sides, and got off to a rough beginning, with Davis Womble and Paul McBride going +5 in their first four combined holes.
McBride fought back to finish with a +1 (73), while Womble shot a +5 (77).
Woody Woodward (+3), and Tanner Owen (+4) rounded out the five scores on a challenging Friday overall.
As Rob noted in yesterday' preview, there can be a lot of variance between rounds in college golf events, but Wake Forest has put itself behind the eight ball today. It will take a round of 284-286 tomorrow to get back into contention headed into Saturday's final round.
The Deacs managed to card 13 birdies between the five players, which isn't going to get the job done when first place shoots -13 overall as a team.
Wake Forest will tee off on Friday morning beginning at 8:55 on No.10 with Davis Womble. The Deacs are paired with McNeese State (+8), and Miami (OH) (+9)
In better news, former Deac Webb Simpson shot a first round -5 to find himself in third after the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, NC.
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