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'Pumped': Deac excited about Walker Cup matches
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Published: August 31, 2009
A golfer with a hockey mentality has become quite a combination for Wake Forest.
Brendan Gielow, a senior for the Deacons, will play in the biggest golf tournament of his career later this month as a member of the U.S. Walker Cup team. He made the team after an outstanding summer that included a win in the Porter Cup and top-10 finishes in the Sunnehanna, Northeast and Southern amateur tournaments.
"I'm pumped for the matches," said Gielow, who grew up in Muskegon, Mich., not exactly a hot bed for producing top college golfers. "I'm excited about what goes into it with the practice sessions and everything else, so it's going to be a lot of fun."
The team, which includes High Point's Drew Weaver, has already had three days of practice at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa., where the matches will be played Sept. 12-13.
In one practice session, Weaver, a recent Virginia Tech graduate, and Gielow teamed up for a victory against two teammates.
"I've played a lot with Drew, and we obviously know each other from the ACC," Gielow said. "Who knows, we might be paired together during the matches."
Gielow might be the least known among the Walker Cup selections, mainly because he hasn't had that much success at Wake Forest. He has excelled in summer tournaments, but has flown under the radar among the college set.
"I'd say he's the hardest-working kid I've had in the 12 years I've been here," Coach Jerry Haas of Wake Forest said. "More people would probably know him more if he played better in college, but he hasn't done that and maybe that's because he has a 3.8 grade-point average and is working hard in the classroom, so it's a tough balance."
Gielow, who is majoring in religion with a minor in math, has a 3.67 GPA and says he takes his studies seriously. Even though he wants to play pro golf, he says that getting his degree is important.
The hockey mentality that Gielow brings to his golf game is more about competitiveness. He contracted mononucleosis as a high-school freshman and had to miss most of the hockey season. He decided then to focus on golf and gave up hockey for good.
Despite the harsh winters in Michigan, Gielow excelled at golf. And he admits that he misses hockey from time to time.
"I actually have a high-school teammate of mine, Justin Abedelkader, who plays for the Detroit Red Wings," Gielow said. "I'm a big-time Red Wings fan, so that's never changed."
Gielow is also proud to report that he has all of his teeth, and he says that the movie Happy Gilmore -- about a hockey player who makes it big on the PGA Tour -- is one of his favorites.
Haas said he is expecting Gielow to be a leader this season.
"Ever since I played hockey, I guess I've been a good leader within the framework of the team either at Wake Forest or in high school," Gielow said. "I know golf is an individual sport, but there is teamwork involved, and that's why I'm really looking forward to the Walker Cup."
Gielow is the fourth Wake Forest golfer in the last four years to make the Walker Cup team, following Bill Haas, Kyle Reifers and Webb Simpson.
"That's the coolest thing for me," Gielow said. "Seeing those guys made it to the Walker Cup and what they've done at the pro level, that's pretty good company I'm keeping. Webb's kind of been my model, and he was pushing me to try and make the Walker Cup team."
Jerry Haas, who played on the Walker Cup team in 1985, says that Gielow's confidence level will help the Deacons this fall.
"My brother, Jay, said one time after watching Brendan play, he does a good job of getting the bat on the ball, so to speak," Haas said. "And I give Coach Chris Yoder (the Deacons' former assistant) a lot of credit because he knew Brendan was going to be a pretty good player.
"I think he's going to be our leader and he's going to have to bring guys together and he can do that."
Sheets sets course record
Zach Sheets put together the round of his life recently, shooting a course-record 62 at Maple Leaf Golf Course. Sheets, 24, had nine birdies and shot 29 on the front and 33 on the back to finish at 9 under.
Sheets, who works for UPS and works some afternoons at Maple Leaf, said he had to coax in a 20-footer on No. 18 that had two feet of break.
"I knew that 63 was the record," he said. "The putt rolled up right to the edge of the hole, and then kind of stayed there before dropping."
Sheets, who played golf at Glenn, said he won a little money while shooting 62, but not enough to retire. He said that the course was playing about 6,100 yards and is a par-71.
"If I could shoot 62 every day, I could retire," he said.
Around the green
Lee Trevino, Hal Sutton and Gil Morgan have committed to play at the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn next month. The Champions Tour tournament will be Sept. 18-20. Trevino, who doesn't play much on tour these days, has been a regular in the Greater Hickory Classic. For ticket information, call 1-866-762-5227 or go to www.greaterhickoryclassic.com. ...
A captain's-choice tournament to raise money for children with autism is scheduled for Sept. 19 at Pudding Ridge. There will be shotgun starts at 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. For more information call 608-9418 or e-mail Wendi Cartner at wendi@piedmont
facilities.com. ...
Jon Land, a Winston-Salem native who lives in Charlotte, finished seventh in the RE/MAX Eastern Regional Long Drive contest. The top six advanced to the World finals, and Land is listed as an alternate. During one round, he had four straight drives of 392, 389, 397 and 415 yards. ...
Dustin Groves, who graduated from Wake Forest in the spring, won the Valentine Invitational at Hermitage Country Club in Richmond, Va., shooting 73-68-69 for a two-shot win over Keith Decker, one of the top amateurs in Virginia. Groves will remain an amateur for another month or so, then turn pro and play on minitours before giving PGA Tour Qualifying School a shot next fall. ...
Courses around the country will hold Patriot Golf Day fundraisers over Labor Day weekend, with proceeds going to help families of soldiers killed during service for their country. Reynolds Park is participating and is asking golfers to donate $1 each on top of their cart and greens fees. Harold Kincaid, a head pro at Reynolds Park, said that last year's Carolinas PGA Section raised the most money of any section in the country.
■ John Dell can be reached at 727-4801 or jdell@wsjournal.com.
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