Wake Forest shot the best team round of the tournament Wednesday to rally to finish fourth at the Amherst, Virginia, NCAA Regional and advance to the NCAA Championship.
Jakob Melin shot 65, Kyle Haas posted 66, Marshall Meisel and Tom Haberer carded 67 and Scotty Kennon added 68 for Wake, which shot 15-under-par 265 for the third round. Wake finished at 1-under 839, behind Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and Tennessee.
The Demon Deacons shot four strokes better than first-place Oklahoma in the final round and at least 12 better than the other 11 teams. Wake will play in the NCAA Championship May 23-28 in Carlsbad, California.
David Ford, the nation’s top-ranked college golfer, did not advance and neither did his North Carolina teammates.
Ford shot a solid 69 Wednesday to finish at 4-under-par 209 in a tie for 11th place at the Urbana, Illinois, Regional. But the individual berth into the championship went to medalist Hunter Thomson of Michigan, who finished at 203.
The Tar Heels finished sixth as a team at 7-over 859, eight shots behind fifth-place Texas Tech for the final qualifying slot. Illinois, Oklahoma State, UNLV and Troy took the top four berths. N.C. State also failed to qualify at Urbana. Duke finished seven strokes behind the cut line at Reno, Nevada.
South Surry’s Sawyer Slate shot even-par 72 Tuesday at Longleaf Golf Club in Southern Pines then won a playoff to capture medalist honors in the Class 1A State Championship.
Mt. Airy won the team title at 32-over-par 320, beating Christ the King by two strokes. Brandon Bowman shot 76 to lead the Granite Bears. Bishop McGuinness finished fourth at 328.
The tournament was reduced to 18 holes due to a storm that canceled Monday’s round.
1. Bryan Park Champions. 2. The Cardinal. 3. Tanglewood Championship. 4. Forest Oaks. 5. Grandover East. 6. Grandover West. 7. Deep Springs. 8. Pinewood. 9. Bryan Park Players. 10. Mill Creek. 11. Oak Valley. 12. Greensboro National. 13. Holly Ridge. 14. Tot Hill Farm. 15. Cross Creek. 16. Meadowlands. 17. Cedarbrook. 18. Salem Glen. 19. Jamestown Park. 20. Stoney Creek.
Park’s Championship Course hosted the 1974 PGA Championship won by Lee Trevino.
Forest Oaks Country Club was the site of PGA Tour Greater Greensboro Opens for three decades, producing 14 different winners who also won major championships.
But the best public-access course in the Triad, according to a Triad Golf panel, is Bryan Park’s Champions Course, host of the 2010 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.
The above trio provides only a glimpse of the Triad’s outstanding, 18-hole, public-access courses, which include designs from Robert Trent Jones, Pete Dye, Ellis Maples, Joe Lee, Rees Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin and David Graham.
More than 50 of the Triad’s 60-something golf courses are open to the public — at least on a limited basis.
Guilford and Forsyth counties can thank generous benefactors for Bryan Park and Tanglewood Park, amazingly affordable 36-hole facilities with outstanding practice areas.
Grandover Resort offers a premier golf resort with two David Graham and Gary Panks collaborations, known for generous practice facilities and pristine playing conditions.
Several of the region’s best courses are former private clubs that still have sizeable memberships.
Within the last decade, McConnell Golf opened tee times to the public at The Cardinal, a tough Pete Dye design that was once merged into Sedgefield.
Architect Pete Dye called No. 12 at The Cardinal the hardest par-3 he ever designed.
Other clubs with significant memberships include Forest Oaks, Cross Creek, Meadowlands, Deep Springs, Pinewood Mill Creek, Salem Glen, Stoney Creek and Greensboro National.
Holly Ridge, a rarity in not offering memberships, is at the forefront in providing modern amenities including four simulator bays and robot food and drink servers as well as tee times offering discounts for foursomes.
Jamestown Park was the top vote-getter of an outstanding group of municipal courses, including Lexington, Reynolds Park, Oak Hollow and The Valley, sure to make golfers in most other markets envious.
1. Old Town Club. 2. Old North State Club. 3. Sedgefield. 4. Greensboro CC Farm Course. 5. Alamance CC. 6. Forsyth CC. 7. Bryan Park Champions Course. 8. Bermuda Run CC East. 9. High Point CC Willow Creek Course. 10. The Cardinal by Pete Dye. 11. Tanglewood Park Championship Course. 12. Starmount Forest CC. 13. Forest Oaks CC. 14. Grandover Resort East Course. 15. Colonial CC. 16. Grandover Resort West. 17. Deep Springs CC. 18. Pinewood CC. 19. Bryan Park Players Course. 20. Mill Creek GC. 21. Maple Chase CC. 22. Greensboro CC Irving Park. 23. Oak Valley GC. 24. Greensboro National GC. 25. Holly Ridge GL.
The Piedmont Triad offers a wide assortment of outstanding golf courses.
So, how do they rank?
There’s nothing that grabs golfers’ attention more than course rankings. Best in the world, best in the nation, best in the state … best public, best private, best resort … best new course, best classic course, best value … best golf communities, best retirement golf, best golf resorts … The lists churned out by golf media outlets go on and on.
But Triad Golf Magazine couldn’t find any significant list of rankings specifically targeting courses in the Triad region.
So, we put together a panel of 18 respected golfers with knowledge of the entire region to vote on the Triad’s top courses. As a result, we provide lists of the top overall and top public-access courses in the 12-county region commonly defined as the Triad.
A supreme effort was made to recruit a diverse, knowledgeable and respected panel. The local group includes top amateurs in regional and national competition, college coaches and players, golf professionals and a longtime golf administrator.
We gave panel members a list of the more than 60 (we didn’t include any with fewer than 18 holes) or so courses in the region. Most of the panel members had played almost every course. If a panelist did not play a course, that course was not penalized.
No criteria for voting were given. Just rank the courses based on your perception. Why let a formula decide the voting? Then, the formula can be a cause of debate. Who’s to say what aspects of a golf course are most important?
Regardless, I think we’ve got a great list that should be a starting point for debate.
Let’s start with our No. 1 choice. Our panelists largely agreed on the best of the best, especially the top four, though not necessarily in the same order.
Old Town Club came out on top, followed by Old North State Club, Sedgefield Country Club and Greensboro Country Club Farm Course.
Old Town received a plurality of first-place votes with Old North State a strong second. That tight 1-2 finish at the top exemplifies the subjectiveness of rankings.
How can you compare the classic Maxwell design and the history at Old Town to the beautiful Fazio design at Old North State, including a finish on the banks of Badin Lake? But panelists did, and it was razor close.
The 18th hole at Old North State Club wraps around the shoreline of Badin Lake.
Likewise, it was close for No. 3 between Sedgefield, the Ross design home to the PGA Tour Wyndham Championship, and Greensboro Farm, from Maples, and later Steel, whose work includes Primland as well as several top courses in Britain and Ireland.
Next, came Alamance Country Club and Forsyth Country Club, prestigious clubs with classic Ross designs. Bryan Park Champions, the top-ranked public-access course, followed by Bermuda Run East, High Point Willow Creek and The Cardinal rounded out the top 10.
Old Town’s spot at the top should come as no surprise. Adjacent to Wake Forest University and home to the Demon Deacons golf teams, Old Town is ranked among the nation’s top 100 courses by Golf Digest and Golf Magazine.
Old North State, Sedgefield and Greensboro Farm have made several other statewide lists and served as host for major events.
Old North State was the longtime home of the ACC Men’s Championship. Sedgefield is host of the PGA Tour’s annual Wyndham Championship. Greensboro Farm played host to the 2023 Carolinas Open.
Other area courses have hosted major national and international tournaments. Tanglewood Championship played host to the 1974 PGA Championship won by Lee Trevino. Forest Oaks was the longtime site of the PGA Tour’s Greater Greensboro Open. Bryan Park Championship was host of the 2010 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.
Though private clubs fill eight of the top spots in the top 10, public-access courses occupy 13 of the final 15 of the top 25. Maples designed three of the top six courses. Maples courses had five in the top 25.
East Surry’s Pennson Badgett finished second in Class 3A played at Pinehurst No. 6 in state high school tournaments played Monday and Tuesday in the Sandhills area.
Badgett, the 2023 medalist, shot even-par 142 for 36 holes to finish six shots behind Slater Meade of West Wilkes in the Class 2A High School Championship.
East Surry finished fifth in the team standings at 647, only two strokes ahead of sixth-place North Surry. Salisbury won the team title at 59-over-par 627, one shot better than Mooresville Pine Lake Prep.
Lincoln Newton and Tyler Lambert each finished at 1-under 143 to tie for ninth on the individual leaderboard and push Oak Grove to a third-place showing at the Class 3A championship at Gates Four Country Club in Fayetteville.
Oak Grove shot 12-over 588 for 36 holes, only four strokes behind Stuart Cramer and Terry Sanford. Cramer won a playoff to claim the title. Warren Stiglitz of East Lincoln won medalist honors at 6-under 138.
Pinecrest shot 12-under-par 416 as a team in rounds at Pinehurst No. 2 and No. 8 to win the Class 4A title for the third straight year Tuesday, beating second-place Broughton by 14 strokes. Will Houghton of Charlotte Catholic was medalist at 7-under 107 for 27 holes — poor weather limited the first round at No. 2 to nine holes.
The first days of the men’s NCAA Regionals were disappointing for most in-state teams.
Wake Forest, N.C. State and North Carolina each struggled and have significant ground to make up in order to finish in the top five and advance to the NCAA Championship.
In late results, Duke was tied for fifth with Brigham Young and Texas in Reno, Nevada, only two strokes behind leaders Mississippi State and University of San Diego.
Marshall Meisel provided a bright spot for Wake with a 4-under-par 66 Tuesday, leaving him at even-par after 36 holes. But Meisel could be as much as seven strokes behind in the race for the one individual spot to advance from the Amherst, Virginia, regional.
Wake has four teams to catch and nine strokes to make up to advance as a team. Meisel is tied for 12th, six shots behind individual leader Jackson Van Paris, a Pinehurst native playing for Vanderbilt. Tom Haberer is at 3-over, Jakob Melin and Scotty Kennon are at 7-over and Kyle Haas is 11-over. Colin Dutton of UNC Greensboro, playing as an individual, is 10-over.
Tennesseee, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Arizona are in the top four places. Florida Gulf Coast has a one-stroke lead over Arkansas for the fifth slot.
N.C. State is eight shots from the cut line and UNC is nine out after one round at the Urbana, Illinois, regional. Mebane native Nick Mathews, who finished in the top 15 at last year’s national championship, shot even-par 71 to stay in contention to advance as an individual. Michael Vick led the Wolfpack with 69.
UNC’s David Ford, ranked No. 1 in the nation for much of the season, shot 73 for the Tar Heels, who were led by Keaton Vo’s 71. Illinois, Texas Tech, UNLV and Troy top the team standings with Marquette and Long Beach State tied for fifth. Jackson Buchanan of Illinois shot 63 to take a four-shot lead.
Former Wake Forest golfer Cameron Young tied for seventh Sunday at the $20-million Truist Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club after shooting 66 to finish at 10-under-par 270, six strokes behind winner Sepp Straka. Will Zalatoris, another Wake product, tied for 54th at 280.
The PGA Tour event was moved this year from normal host Quail Hollow in Charlotte, which will be the site of this week’s PGA Championship.
At the PGA Tour’s $4-million Myrtle Beach Classic, New Zealander Ryan Fox won a three-way playoff over Harry Higgs and Mackenzie Hughes at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club with a chip-in birdie on No. 18, the first playoff hole, after they tied at 15-under 269.
Fox came from behind after Higgs and Hughes both bogeyed the par-5 13th, the infamous “Waterloo” par-5 that bends right around Lake Singleton, and struggled down the stretch.
A tough hole requiring three solid shots for average golfers, No. 13 is typically considered a birdie opportunity for pros. Going for the green, Hughes hit his second shot into the lake and Hughes hit a poor approach and three-putted.
Bill Haas, the former Wake player who won the 2011 FedExCup, shot his second straight 74 Sunday to finish 66th at 287.
Bill Haas cooled off after a hot start in Myrtle Beach, but fellow Wake Forest alumnus Cameron Young moved up on the leaderboard Saturday at the Truist Championship at Philadelphia Cricket Club.
Young shot 68 to pull into a 10-way tie for 16th that includes Hickory native J.T. Poston at 6-under-par 204, eight strokes behind leaders Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka entering Sunday’s final round. Will Zalatoris, another former Wake player in the field at the $20-million signature event, fired 68 and is 13 strokes off the pace.
Haas, who made his first cut in five starts this year, shot 74 Saturday at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club, to fall to even-par for the $4-million tournament, 13 shots behind leader Carson Young.
Former Wake Forest star and 2011 FedExCup winner Bill Haas made his first PGA Tour cut of the year Friday at the Myrtle Beach Classic, a $-4 million event played opposite of the Truist Championship signature event.
Haas posted even-par 71 in the second round for a 3-under 139 total, making the cut by a single stroke. The son of Jay Haas and nephew of Wake coach Jerry Haas, failed to make the cut in his four previous tournaments.
Haas rallied from a 2-over 37 on the front nine with three birdies before finishing with a bogey at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club. The field is filled with players not eligible for the $20-million Truist.
Tied for 45th, Haas is seven shots behind leaders Mackenzie Hughes and Christobal Del Solar. Blades Brown, a 17-year-old from Nashville, Tennessee, is five shots off the pace.
Jackson Byrd, the amateur son of five-time PGA Tour winner Jonathan Byrd, outshined his father. The 18-year-old Jackson shot 69 and 70 to join the group with Haas. Jonathan missed the cut by one stroke.
A former Wake Forest golfer with strong ties to the Triad got off to a great start Thursday at the Myrtle Beach Classic, the PGA Tour’s secondary event this weekend.
Bill Haas, a former Wake star and the nephew of coach Jerry Haas, was 4-under-par through his first 10 holes in the first round at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club, and near the top of the leaderboard.
But the 2011 FedExCup winner, who has struggled in the past decade while suffering injuries and surviving a car crash that killed one person involved, finished with seven pars and his sole bogey of the round at the Dunes Club’s par-3 ninth for 68 and a tie for 32nd.
Haas, only 42, has missed the cut in his four previous PGA Tour starts this year.
Brandt Snedeker, who shot 59 on his way to the 2018 Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club and is a favorite at the Greensboro tournament, shot 73.
Like Haas, Snedeker has struggled in recent years, playing the previous two seasons on medical exemptions. Snedeker has made seven cuts in nine starts in 2025.
Webb Simpson, another struggling player with strong Wyndham and N.C. ties, withdrew from the field before the round.
Mackenzie Hughes shot 63 to take the 18-hole lead.
