Sports > October 16, 2008

By Joe Maugeri | Staff writer

Led by freshman Daniel Meggs, the men’s golf team shot a three day score of 883 en route to a 10th place finish at the Brickyard Collegiate Championship at The Brickyard at Riverside Oct. 11-13.

The Deacons got off to a slow start at the Brickyard. After the first 12 holes of play, the men’s golf team found itself at 13 strokes over par and in last place, but the Deacons would rally behind five birdies on the last six holes of the day to finish the first day tied for sixth place.

Meggs led the Deacons on the first day of play by shooting a season best score of 70, which included three birdies.

Junior Brendan Gielow, who won the VCU Shootout on Sept. 30, started the Brickyard by posting a 4-over par score of 74.

Junior Travis Wadkins shot a first round score of 76. After making the turn at 2-over par, Wadkins shot four straight bogies and later added a birdie to close his first round at the Brickyard.

Senior Dustin Groves got off to a rough start by shooting a 41 on the front nine. Groves rebounded on the back nine holes by shooting a 36 and carding a first round score of 77.

Freshman Lee Bedford added a score of 78 to close out the first day of the Brickyard, which saw the Deacons shoot a team score of 297. On day two of the Brickyard, the Deacons posted a second consecutive team score of 297 to finish the day positioned in 10th place.

Like the first round of the Brickyard, the Deacons got off to a rocky start on the front nine, but the play of Gielow and Bedford was able to hold the round together for the men’s golf team.

Gielow shot an even-par 70, which included two birdies, two bogies and 14 pars.

Bedford’s second round of the outing saw him shoot four birdies on his way to carding a score of 75.

Meggs, who led the Deacons on the first day of play, met some trouble in the second round when he shot four bogies and two double bogies to finish the day with a score of 76.

Wadkins shot a 77 and Groves added a 76 to close out the second day of the Brickyard for the Deacons.

The third day of play saw the Deacons post a team score of 289, which was their best showing at the Brickyard.

Meggs was able to rebound after a rough day two to shoot another even-par 70, which led the men’s golf team. Meggs set the tone on the first nine holes by shooting a 1-under par 34 and he would round out his score by adding a 36 on the back nine holes. Meggs finished the event tied for ninth place.

Gielow added to the Deacons’ best showing at the Brickyard by shooting a third day score of 73. He would finish the Brickyard tied for 13th place.

Wadkins, Bedford and Groves all shot their best scores of the event on the last day of play. Groves and Bedford each posted scores of 74, while Wadkins finished his trip to the Brickyard by shooting a score 72. Wadkins finished tied for 46th place and Bedford and Groves each finished tied for 54th place.

The Brickyard at Riverside caused trouble for all of the teams playing in the event. No team was able to post a sub-par round and only 12 players in the 81 player field were able to card sub-70 rounds. No individual broke par for the tournament.

Georgia won the team title at the Brickyard by posting a final day score of 282 to edge out Georgia Tech.

Cameron Tringale of Georgia Tech took individual medalist honors at 1-over par. Virginia Tech’s Drew Weaver finished at 2-over.

The Deacons will be in action again on Oct. 24-26 as they close out the fall portion of their schedule at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate in Johnson City, Tenn.