— Wake is the No. 5-seed in the New Jersey Regional

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest men’s golf will travel to Galloway, N.J., May 14-16 for the 2009 NCAA Men’s Golf Regional at Galloway National Golf Club.

The Demon Deacons will be the No. 5-seed at the regional that also features fellow ACC-foes Clemson and Virginia.

Clemson is the top-overall seed in the region followed by Alabama, Illinois and Tennessee to round out the top-4. The top-5 teams and one individual not already on those teams at the end of 54 holes will advance on to the NCAA Championships at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio on May 26-30.

“I really liked where we are placed,” said Wake Forest head coach Jerry Haas. “To start off with, we can drive to the site, which is always nice. I think we have a pretty good field and the course is real nice too. It’s a Tom Fazio design and our guys seem to play well on those types of courses.”

This is the first year that the NCAA has switched from three regionals to six. In previous years, a total of 28 teams would be at each of the three regional sites and eight teams would advance to the championship. There are just 14 teams battling it out this year for the five spots.

This year is also the first year where the NCAA Championship will consist of a 54-hole tournament to determine an individual champion and the top-8 teams after those 54 holes will then be seeded in an 8-team match play format to determine a team champion.

Wake Forest has had its share of success at the regionals over the past few years. The Deacs have won three out of the last four regionals and since 1989, the team has advanced onto the finals 14 times in 19 tries.

Last season, Wake won the Central Regional at Ohio State’s Scarlet Course by 10-shots over Oklahoma State and by 17-shots over then No. 1 Alabama. Junior Brendan Gielow and senior Dustin Groves each posted 74s in the final round to lead the Deacs. Gielow finished in a tie for second while Groves posted his best finish of the year with a fourth-place showing.

“Looking at the field we have in New Jersey, I think we got a pretty fair draw,” said Haas. There are a few teams below us that have beaten us but there are a few teams above us that we’ve beaten. Talking with Brendan (Gielow) and Dustin (Groves), the team seems excited and ready to get going.”

The first round is set for Thursday, May 14 with the final round on Saturday, May 16.

Galloway National Golf Club – Galloway, New Jersey Hosted by Columbia University

Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Illinois (Big Ten Conference)
4. Tennessee
5. Wake Forest
6. Colorado State
7. Kent State (Mid-American Conference)
8. Coastal Carolina (Big South Conference)
9. Virginia
10. Penn State
11. Minnesota
12. VCU (Colonial Athletic Association)
13. Columbia (Ivy Group)
14. Sacred Heart (Northeast Conference)

Individuals:
1. Kevin O’Connell, North Carolina
2. Dan Woltman, Wisconsin
3. Robert Karlsson, Liberty
4. Peter Williamson, Dartmouth
5. Eric Hawerchak, Central Connecticut

Wake Forest Sports