Over the weekend, the men’s golf team made the short trip to Greensboro to compete in the annual Bryan National Collegiate tournament, in which they won convincingly.
In their first official tournament of the 2025 campaign, the Demon Deacons proved why they have the potential to be one of the best collegiate teams in the nation — the collective group of eight golfers combined for a score of 24-under over three rounds.
Despite the round two suspension caused by inclement weather, perhaps a golfer’s worst nightmare when hitting the links on the weekend, the Deacons turned in an explosive performance on a Sunday. This required two rounds of 18 holes to be completed before sunset.
Even after entering the day leading by two strokes, Wake shied away from any sort of complacency by shooting a one-under 287 in round two and a 14-under 274 in round three, good enough to take home the victory by a whopping 25 strokes.
“This was a really nice way to start the fall season,” Coach Jerry Hass said following play on Sunday. “It’s great to have Wake Forest on the Jim Melvin Trophy.”
For most teams, the start of any season may prompt overwhelming emotions and nervousness, but with a newly added crop of talented freshmen prospects to pair with several veteran pieces, confidence was sky-high.
After putting up an underwhelming five-bogey 73 on Saturday, senior Jakob Melin had a career performance in round two by shooting seven-under 65 that included seven birdies and an eagle.
Melin, a native of Sweden and one of the top players in college golf, cemented himself as a strong performer last season with six top-25 finishes in the 13 events he competed in. As the Deacons head into 2025, Melin will be one of the key factors in their push to Carlsbad this coming spring.
Along with Melin, other standout performances from the weekend include transfer Nick Prieto and junior Tom Haberer, both of whom finished in the top 10 in the tournament. Prieto in particular put together a fantastic outing, as the Miami native shot a combined 203 to capture a first-place finish.
“Congrats to our newcomer Nick Prieto,” Hass said. “He transferred in from Arizona State and picked up his second collegiate win today with an impressive 13-under for three rounds.”
While one tournament will never dictate the outcome of a full season, it cannot be overstated how dominant this squad was at the Bryan National Collegiate. If this showing was any indication of what is yet to come, Wake Forest golf might be eyeing the beginning of something special.
The Demon Deacons will head to Chicago next week, on September 15th and 16th, to compete in the Highlands Invitational as they look to build on this impressive first showing.
