Wake Forest repeats at Rod Myers Invitational
Wake Forest after Rod Myers Invitational victory
(Wake Forest Athletics Photo)
DURHAM, NC (September 11, 2016) -- With a record setting performance No. 14 Wake Forest successfully defended their Rod Myers Invitational title. The Demon Deacons finished 23-under at the Duke University Golf Club and obliterated the old scoring record of 11-under set by Iowa in 2010.
They also were able to out distance themselves from second place Liberty, 12-under, by 11-strokes.
Wake Forest was paced by junior Wall Zalatoris. Coming off his banner summer that saw him win the Trans-Mississippi and the Pacific Coast Amateur, Zalatoris tallied rounds of 65-72-70 to post 9-under and tie for second.
During his bogey-free final round 2-under 70 Zalatoris carded birdies on the 7th and 9th holes. The first round 7-under 65 was also of the bogey-free variety and it was the round of the tournament. An Honorable Mention All-American a year ago, Zalatoris birdied seven holes throughout the round.
Wake Forest also receiving strong play from junior Paul McBride (-6, 4th), freshman Eric Bae (-5, 5th) and sophomore Cameron Young (-1, T10).
The win for the Demon Deacons marked the first time that they had repeated as tournament champions since 2008-2009 when they won the General Hacker Championship in back-to-back years.
Medalist honors went to Kieran Vincent of Liberty in runaway fashion. Vincent, a freshman from Zimbabwe, finished 15-under and six-strokes in front of Zalatoris and Florida State's Cristobal Del Solar, both whom finished tied for second.
Vincent fired three consecutive rounds of 5-under 67 to create his separation. In Saturday's first round Vincent flew to the front page of the leaderboard with five straight birdies from Nos. 5-9, a stretch that came on his back nine. Overall for the week Vincent played holes 5-9 in 11-under.
On Sunday Vincent began his day with a birdie, the first of his four to go along with an eagle on the par-5 7th and three bogeys.
Behind Wake Forest and Liberty in the team standings were No. 18 Florida State (-10) in third, North Carolina (-6) in fourth and No. 23 Duke (+2) in fifth