Sparked by leader Michael Brennan, Wake Forest moved up to sixth place Tuesday in the NCAA Austin Regional at the University of Texas Golf Club.

Brennan shot 3-under-par 68 to grab the individual lead at 7-under 135 as the Demon Deacons pulled within two strokes of Utah for the fifth and final qualifying spot for the NCAA Championship. UNC Greensboro remains in contention, four strokes behind Wake in the 13-team competition.

Wake shot 3-under 281 as a team, an improvement of eight strokes from the first round. Texas holds a 10-stroke lead at 22-under 546 over Tennessee. Notre Dame and Brigham Young round out the top four entering Wednesday’s final round.

Brennan could advance as an individual if he earns medalist honors and Wake does not qualify as a team. Brennan has a one-shot lead over a trio of Texas players. Collin Adams, who shot 70 Tuesday, and Scotty Kennon, who shot 71, are tied for 25th at 143. Marshall Meisel shot 72 after an opening-round 77.

UNCG freshman Kelvin Hernandez is tied for 10th after rounds of 67 and 72. Randall Hudson has posted rounds of 72 and 71. Noah Connor of Reidsville shot 69 for 144, Symon Balbin is at 147 after rounds of 74 and 73.

The third round of the NCAA Regional at Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill was suspended by rain on Tuesday with the leading teams playing five holes or less.

Host North Carolina did manage to pull within four shots of leader East Tennessee with a 6-under-par start. The Tar Heels are 19-under for the 54-hole tournament. Clemson is in second, one shot ahead of UNC. The teams played almost two full rounds Monday in anticipation of Tuesday’s foul weather.

N.C. State’s Nick Mathews of Mebane, playing as an individual, did not start. Mathews would have a one-stroke lead on the single individual qualifying spot for the NCAA Championship If Georgia Tech and Baylor hold on to the other two team slots. Long Beach and Alabama are within four shots of Baylor.

Mathews did complete the last few holes of his second-round 66 for 7-under 133 early Tuesday morning.

Rachel Kuehn tied for medalist honors at 12-under-par 204 to lead Wake Forest to a third-place finish behind Ole Miss and Texas on Wednesday at the women’s NCAA Regional at Bermuda Run’s East Course.

Kuehn shot 69 in the final round, but was caught by Ole Miss’ Caitlyn Macnab, who closed with 67 in the same group, including a bogey-free run of six birdies on the final 13 holes. Texas played the final four holes in 1-under.

Powered by Macnab, Ole Miss finished at 21-under 843 in the 54-hole regional, one ahead of Texas and three ahead of Wake, which led most of the day. Wake’s five-player lineup played the last four holes in 6-over. Ole Miss shot 3-under and Texas was 1-under over the same stretch.

Macy Pate, a Winston-Salem resident, shot a steady 71 tied for seventh at 6-under. The freshman was the only Wake player to match par over the final four holes. Pate’s highlight was an eagle on the 378-yard par-4 11th hole. Kuehn eagled the 538-yard sixth.

Mississippi State finished fourth. Oregon State was fifth. The top five teams qualified for the NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa Resort on May 17-22.

Emily Mathews of Virginia Tech, a Mebane resident, fell just short of qualifying for the upcoming NCAA women’s championship Wednesday at the Cle Elum, Washington, regional.

Mathews shot 76 to finish the 54-hole tournament at 5-over-par 221 in a tie for 14th place. Though Tech did not advance as a team, Mathews was in position to change for the regional’s one individual qualifying spot for a player not on a qualifying team.

Mathews bogeyed her 16th and 17th holes to fall three strokes from entering a playoff. Teammate Morgan Ketchum of Winston-Salem shot 73 for a 225 total, second-best for the Hokies. Stanford won by 18 strokes, followed by Duke and Virginia.

Stanford players finished first, second, third and fifth on the way to a 17-under score. Emma McMyler of Duke was sixth at 215.

At 21-over, North Carolina placed third at the Auburn Regional to advance. UNC finished 11 behind Auburn and seven from Oregon. Kayla Smith of UNC tied for fifth at 215. Megan Streicher shot 217.

Rachel Kuehn and Macy Pate remained high on the individual leaderboard for first-place Wake Forest after two rounds of the NCAA women’s golf regional at Bermuda Run East.

Meanwhile, Mebane native Emily Mathews is tied for 12th after rounds of 72 and 73 3at the regional at Tumble Creek Club in Cle Elum, Washington, despite a disappointing finish to her second round. Morgan Ketchum, who played with Pate at Reagan High, shot rounds .     The Hokies are in ,      from the fourth qualifying spot.

Wake’s 558, 18-under-par total at Bermuda Run leads Texas and Ole Miss by six strokes. Mississippi State is fourth, 13 behind. Kuehn has shot rounds of 67 and 68 and trails Bailey Davis, who shot an opening-round 64, by one stroke. Pate shot rounds of 69 and 70, and is tied for fifth.

Stanford has a commanding 12-stroke lead over Duke in Washington, with Virginia and Arizona State for the other qualifying spots. Tennessee trails MSU by one stroke and North Texas by three with one round left.

The top four teams after Wednesday’s final rounds of the six regionals advance to the NCAA Championship. Tennessee trails MSU by one stroke and North Texas by three in the race to grab the final qualifying slot.

North Carolina is in third at the competitive Auburn, Alabama, regional, behind Auburn and Houston. Only seven strokes separates second place from seventh at Auburn University Club entering the final day.

Though a pro golf career remains a dream for Preston Howe, the Forsyth Country Day School junior made academics the priority when deciding to play college golf in the Ivy League.

In March, Howe committed to Yale University, one of the nation’s most prestigious academic institutions, known more for producing U.S. presidents than PGA Tour players.

Why Yale? Howe doesn’t have friends or family near New Haven, Connecticut, nor any family ties to the Ivy League School.

“Academics kind of drew me there,” said Howe, the top-ranked player in the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association Division II rankings. “I had some other schools with bigger golf programs interested in me. I decided I’d rather have my future set up with a Yale degree.”

By choosing Yale, Howe will have to battle cold weather practicing in Connecticut much of the fall and spring seasons. But the Yale Golf Course, currently undergoing some renovations, is not only one of the most historic college courses, but is widely considered one of the best.

Designed in 1926 by Charles Blair Mcdonald and Seth Rayner, the course was ranked No. 83 in the world by Golf Magazine and rated the nation’s best college course by Golfweek.

“By the time I get there, it should be finished,” the 17-year-old Howe said. “It’s going to be nice.”

Plus, Yale travels to warmer climates for most of their tournaments. This past season, the Bulldogs played in tournaments in Mexico, Houston and San Diego during the late fall and winter.

“I get to go on a lot of cool trips there,” he said.

An outstanding student whose favorite subject is math, Howe said he also considered Stanford and Wake Forest, where friend and former FCS teammate Kyle Haas joined father Jerry Haas’ team this year. The Howe family are members at Old Town Club, Wake’s home course.

“Computer science and engineering have always been interesting to me,” said Howe, who joked that his experience this year in calculus may lead to a change of heart.

Stanford, an elite institution where the likes of Tiger Woods and Tom Watson have played, was Howe’s top choice. But the Palo Alto, California, school didn’t offer him a golf scholarship. As an Ivy League school, Yale doesn’t offer athletic scholarships, but offers significant financial assistance to most students.

“I really wanted to go to Stanford,” Howe admitted. “Stanford would have been the best combo.”

Knowing how competitive Ivy League admission is, Howe said he initially contacted Yale, coached by Keith Tyburski, a former Western Carolina University golfer. Tyburski offered Howe a spot in December.

Howe already has one friend of the Yale roster. Blake Brantley, a former standout at R.J. Reynolds High, will be a senior next year.

Howe works with instructor Chase Duncan, whose client Ashkay Bhatia won the PGA Tour event prior to the Masters, at N.C. State’s Lonnie Poole Golf Course every 4-6 weeks.

Howe, who has three top 10 finishes in nine American Junior Golf Association events in the past 12 months, tied for eighth in March at the Will Lowery Junior Championship, his only AJGA start so far in 2024, at Carolina Trace in Sanford.

Duncan said Howe’s retention of his lessons quickly caught his attention, noting at age 12 Howe’s written summaries of lessons requested by Duncan, were amazingly comprehensive and thorough.

Howe had an exciting week in early March, shooting 4-under-par 32 for FCDS in a 9-hole match at Greensboro National Golf Club, then winning the North State Boys’ Challenge the next day with a bogey-free (his first in competition), 4-under 67 at Country Club of Salisbury, after announcing his commitment to attend Yale.

Duncan said the public commitment to Yale may rid him of some self-inflicted pressure, helping him complete the bogey-free round, a failure that had caused frustration.

“I think that’s (the bogey-free round) a testament to putting the decision behind him,” Duncan said. “I told him the decision (to play lower-profile college golf) might ‘free you up to play better golf.’”

As the high school season winds down, FCDS was No. 2 in the Division II team rankings, behind Cape Fear. Greensboro Country Day School, which beat FCDS by one stroke to win a state title last year, is ranked No. 3.

Though Howe carries only 145 pounds on a thin 6-foot frame, he still manages to carry the ball 290 off the tee, and uses his 3-wood as one of his top weapons.

While Yale should ensure a successful financial future with various options, Howe said he hasn’t ruled out trying to play professional golf.

“It’s still on the table,” he said. “I’m going to pursue it as long as I can.”

Duncan said Howe has no major weaknesses in his game with potential to play at a high professional level.

“I think he just needs to keep building confidence and prove it to himself,” Duncan said

Despite her trim, 5-3 stature, Mebane native Emily Mathews generates prodigious power with her golf swing, driving the ball at least 275 yards, according to her coach.

Chase Duncan, the longtime instructor at Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh whose pupils include PGA Tour winner Ashkay Bhatia, jokes that the petite Mathews, a standout freshman at Virginia Tech, swings a golf club like a man and shows remarkable toughness. Duncan says she generates more clubhead speed than the average LPGA Tour player.

“She’s 5-3, 115 pounds and swings it like a grown ass man,” said Duncan, who has worked with Mathews for about six years. “She swings it beautifully. She rotates really well. She gets a lot of strength from her lower body.”

Megan native Emily Mathews of Virginia Tech generates big-game power from her petite frame.

Maybe Mathews developed her power-generating swing by watching her brother, Nick, a redshirt junior on the N.C. State golf team. They grew up playing at Mill Creek Golf Club.

Mathews said the surprising power is the result of setting up in a “squat” position and generating power by pushing off the ground while not sacrificing accuracy.

“With my legs, I get a lot of speed through impact,” she said.

Mathews quick success at Tech — her 73.17 stroke average was No. 2 on the team behind Winston-Salem native Morgan Ketchum entering the ACC Tournament in late April at Porter’s Neck in Wilmington — is no surprise.

Matthews was one of the nation’s top juniors. She won the N.C. Class 3A state title for Eastern Alamance High in 2020, 2021 and 2022, earned invitations to several elite American Junior Golf Association events and qualified for two U.S. Junior Girls’ Amateurs, advancing the match play in 2022. Her success led to an equipment deal with Mizuno.

She had many offers, including full-ride options at UNC and N.C. State, but felt most wanted at Tech, which also gave her the opportunity to live outside the Raleigh area.

“They (Hokies coaches) treated me like I was their No. 1 priority,” Mathews said. “They felt that I had the potential to be a great player.”

Majoring in sports media analytics, Mathews applies those skills in her golf game. She closely watches top players, especially those she’s paired with. After each round, she sits down and writes “reflections.” Her game also reflects her other focus of studies at Tech — organizational leadership,

Those could include anything from shot preparation to set-up, shot selection and execution.

“I’m super-attentive,” Mathews said. “I watch (other players) and try to pick their brains. In 18 holes, I try to learn at least one thing. I learn one thing from one person and learn one thing from another. “I’m probably the only one on the team who does that. I think in the end, it will benefit you.”

Though she’s played well from the start at Tech, Mathews first semester was a struggle as she batted the effects of bronchitis.

“I was pretty much sick the whole semester,” Mathews said. “But I had endless support. I kept working, and I was in a good place with my swing. I’m not exactly sure how I did it.”

Mathews finished in the top 20 in the Wolfpack’s four fall tournaments, shooting 67 in rounds at Oklahoma’s Schooner Classic and the Landfall Tradition near Wilmington, where she finished 13th.

For the year, she leads the Hokies with a 72.75 stroke average in the final round of the team’s eight stroke-play tourneys.

Mathews got off to a slow start this spring. But her best finish, a tie for 38th at the Clemson Invitational, came in Tech’s last stroke-play event prior to the ACC Tournament. In April, she beat Wake Forest’s No. 1 player Carolina Chacarra, who carried a sub-70 stroke average and was in the top 15 in the national rankings.

The 1-up victory over Chacarra helped the Hokies finish second in the Wolfpack Match Play at Lonnie Poole.

Like most top college women’s players, Mathews aspires to play on the LPGA Tour.

“That’s my childhood dream,” she said. “I’m trying to do everything to put myself in that position.”

Regardless, she plans to find a career involving the sport.

“Hopefully, it will be something related to golf,” Mathews said. “I’m in love with he sport and would live to use my degree in that way.”