Morgan paces Deacs to third-place finish
By Jordan Webster
Sports Editor

Riding high following an impressive second-place performance Sept. 28-30 on the same course that will host next spring’s NCAA Championships, the men’s golf team maintained momentum in last weekend’s Carpet Capital Collegiate in Rocky Face, Ga., but still managed to claim a third-place finish in a 15-team field for the three-day event, held Oct. 5-7.

Senior Jay Morgan carded the Deacons’ top score, placing fifth individually with a three-round score of two-under 214 on The Farm Golf Club’s par-72, 6,906-yard course. As a team, the Deacons finished at an eight-over 872, 14 shots behind team champion and host Georgia Tech.

The Yellow Jackets led the event wire-to-wire, despite closing with an eight-over par 296 in the final round. Tennessee grabbed second place, finishing four strokes ahead of the Demon Deacons. The Deacs did best ACC rival Clemson, which finished in fourth place, trailing the Deacons by 10 strokes.

Morgan played consistently well in the tournament, shooting a two-under 70 in the first round, and following with a one-over 73 in the second round. Entering Sunday’s final 18 holes, Morgan was tied for 11th, but his one-under-par 71 vaulted him into a tie for fifth.
Morgan’s finish and the team’s solid performance did not come easily, though.

“Both the teams that beat us played well,” Morgan said. “The course was so hard, and set up so hard on the last day, that it was almost a crapshoot on that last day.”

Junior Brent Wanner, one week after winning the individual crown at The Ping-Golfweek Preview Invitational, played erratically, opening with a three-over-par 75 in the first round before dominating in Saturday’s second round, carding a four-under 68 to put him at one-under entering third-round play, and evening him with Morgan in 11th place overall and six shots behind then-leader Troy Matteson of Georgia Tech. However, Wanner swelled to shoot a final round 81, as he slid out of contention and into 27th place overall.

Fortunately for the Demon Deacons, sophomore Bill Haas carded three solid rounds in the event, shooting even par on each of the first two days before falling off slightly to a one-over 73 in the final round. Haas’ efforts earned him an 11th-place tie, with a three-round score of one-over 217. The sophomore from Greer, S.C. was the second-highest Deacon finisher.

Junior Chad Wilfong recorded his second consecutive top-20 finish, placing in a tie for that 20th spot, with a three-round total of 223, seven shots over par. Wilfong played well in the first two rounds of the tournament, following a three-over 75 in the opening round with a one-under 71. But Wilfong must have caught the same final-round bug that infected Wanner, as he shot a five-over 77 on Sunday’s last 18 holes. The Thomasville native did manage to hold on to a share of 20th place, a spot he occupied after two rounds of play.

Rounding out the scoring for the Deacons was junior Cortland Lowe, who shot 74-75-76 over the 54-hole event, placing him in a tie for 30th individually. Lowe dropped one place, from 29th to 30th, on the final day of play.

Overall, Morgan was satisfied with the way he and his teammates played, but he still sees plenty of room for improvement.

“I think that we’ve got more talent, and we have the experience,” Morgan said.

“But everybody can do better. We’ve played well, but we’re not satisfied.”

The Deacons will tee off again this weekend in tournament play, as they will participate in the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate on Oct. 15-16 in Birmingham, Ala.