The Demon Deacon men's golf team is off to a flying start. After earning a victory in their first event overseas in Scotland, the team came back to claim its first event of the year on American soil by winning the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate at The Ridges Golf and Country Club in Jonesborough, Tenn.

Junior Bill Haas was victorious individually for the Deacons, finishing in a five-way tie for medalist honors.

The par-72, 7,147-yard course, coupled with rainy conditions throughout the event, led to high scores all around for those involved.

Going into the particularly rainy final round, the Deacs found themselves tied with Tennessee at 5-over par.

The team then used a 7-over-par round of 295, which turned out to be one of the best of the day, to pull away from Tennessee and hold off a charging North Carolina to win the event by two strokes over their in-state rival. For the tournament the Deacs were 12-over par.

The victory had much to do with three of the Deacon golfers finishing in the top-10 for the tournament.

Haas led the charge and wound up being the only Deacon in red figures at 1-under par.

The junior found himself in only a tie for 10th place going into the final round, but used a sparkling 2-under round of 70 on the final day to climb all the way up and into the tie for the lead.

This was the third career victory for Haas, who comes into this year ranked No. 7 individually in the nation.

Senior Brent Wanner also used a strong final round to climb up the leaderboard. Wanner shot an even-par 72 to stay at 2-under for the event and finish in a tie for ninth place. It was the second straight top 10 for the senior, who finished second in Scotland. More important was the way that Wanner finished the event, birdying the final three holes.

"He's a clutch player," Head Coach Jerry Haas said. "It shows that he is mentally tough and he plays to win. That's why we won."

Also finishing at 2-over and in a tie for ninth place was senior Chad Wilfong.

Wilfong, who actually led the Deacon squad through two rounds, slightly fell back to the pack with a final round of 2-over 74.

This marked the third time that the senior has finished in the top 10 of an event during his career.

"Chad Wilfong stepped up," coach Haas said. "He played with the No. 1 guy the last day according to his scores, so he was in a different position he'd never been in and he handled himself very well.

That's a very encouraging sign for the team and I know it made him feel good that he could handle that position."

Seniors Chris Yoder and Cortland Lowe really struggled under the tough conditions in the final round. Yoder shot a 79 and ended up finishing in a tie for 37th while Lowe put up an 83 dropping him into a tie for 62nd.

It will be tough to beat this Deacon team, which is currently ranked No. 6 nationally and whose winning streak has given an extra boost of confidence to its players and coach.

"We are riding high," Coach Haas said. "I think we should win every week; that's a tall order, but that's the way they should feel and that's the way I feel."

The Deacs have already matched their win total from their very successful campaign last year.

As a result, the expectations and goals of this experienced squad have been raised.

"Our team goal at the start of the season was five or six wins," coach Haas said. "Now that should be our team goal ¯ to win every week."

Part of the reason for the higher win expectation comes from the players having another year of competition under their belts.

"We were in the hunt, I think we played in the last group seven straight weeks last year and now I think that we've been in that position, we're starting to get a little more comfortable with it."

The Deacs will have a couple weeks off after their busy, but productive start to the fall season.

The team will look to continue its winning ways and stay undefeated at the Carpet Capital Collegiate in Rocky Face, Ga.