Deacs Nearly Make Historic Comeback to Win Old Town Club Collegiate

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Sitting in fifth and down 11 strokes to eventual Old Town Club Collegiate champions Kansas State, the No. 19 Wake Forest men’s golf team nearly pulled off the comeback, falling one stroke short of being co-champions and winning the event for the second-straight season.

The Demon Deacons carded the lowest score on the course in Tuesday’s third and final round at the historic club as they were helped by a strong start to the day, jumping into contention within the first four holes.

Wake Forest carded a 54-hole total of 829 (-11), finishing one stroke back of the Wildcats. The Deacs were 10 shots better in the final round, posting a third round 274 (-6) and the lowest score on the course by multiple shots.

Sophomore Marshall Meisel led the charge Tuesday, posting the second-lowest score of his young career with a 66 (-4). He was nearly bogey free with his lone blemish on the scorecard coming on No. 11. Meisel was aided by a trio of birdies and for the second-consecutive round he carded an eagle on No. 4.

Meisel was the only Wake Forest player to have an eagle during the tournament and one of just two players in the field to have multiple eagles.

His third round helped him claim his highest finish as a collegiate golfer, tying for seventh on the leaderboard. Meisel jumped 13 spots in the final round.

He was the second-highest finisher for the Demon Deacons as freshman Andrew McLauchlan continues to have an impressive start to his career at Wake Forest. McLauchlan was one of just six golfers in the field to card a round of par or better in each of his three rounds.

The Neptune Beach, Fla. has now been par or better in five of six rounds to start his career.

After tying for sixth at the Maui Jim Individual earlier this month, McLauchlan bested that effort this week, claiming a tie for fourth which was the highest by any Wake Forest player.

He shot 68 (-2) in the third round on Tuesday and was a key reason the Deacs nearly defended their Old Town Club Collegiate title.

Joining them in the top 25 was Fulton Smith who shot 1-under-par for the tournament to tie for 17th while Scotty Kennon was tied for 24th at even par for the week.

Final Scores:

Team