Solid Second Round Pushes Deacs at Valspar Collegiate

PALM CITY, Fla. – Behind a late push in the second round, the Wake Forest men’s golf team climbed four spots on the leaderboard to finish ahead of No. 9 Arizona State and No. 17 UNC on Monday at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational. 

As a team, the Deacs tied the second-lowest round of the afternoon to move into a tie for 11th with No. 13 Pepperdine at 560 (-8) through two rounds.Four Demon Deacons posted under-par rounds in the second round to propel Wake Forest forward.

After opening with an even-par round, senior Jakob Melin fired a 66 (-5) in the second round, carding five birdies over his final nine holes. He jumped 30 spots up the leaderboard and enters the final round tied for 19th at five-under.

Junior Nicholas Prieto carded two under-par rounds, totaling nine birdies to sit at three-under and tied for 31st. Additionally, junior Kyle Haas matched nine birdies on the day and used a two-under second round to move into 48th at even-par.

Sophomore Jorge Hao is tied for 69th at five-over par while junior Tom Haberer is tied for 77th at seven-over par.

Live Stats

Scoring for the Valspar Collegiate Invitational will be available via Scoreboard powered by Clippd

Final Round Tee Times 

Teams will play the final round on Tuesday, March 24, with a shotgun start beginning at 8:30 a.m. The Deacs will be paired with players from Oklahoma, Southern California and Pepperdine.

From Coach Haas:

“Proud of how the guys hung in there today. In a star-studded field, to post the second-lowest round of the afternoon and climb into a tie for 11th says a lot about this group. They made a great move late in the day, showed real grit and determination through a long round, and those late birdies have us set up nicely heading into tomorrow. Go Deacs!” 

Day One Scores

Team