By STEVE WILLIAMS

Wake Forest didn’t win a tournament during its fall campaign, but that didn’t stop the Deacons from claiming a number one national ranking.

After finishing eighth in the season-opening Ridges Intercollegiate, the Deacs got rolling with a second in he Golfweek Preview, a third in the Carpet Capital Collegiate and a second at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate.

The rating is based on the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, in which teams are ranked on their won-loss records in head-to-head competition with other teams.

WFU junior Brent Wanner has the lone individual title and it was an important one. It came at in the Golfweek Preview at Ohio State University's Scarlet Course, site of next spring's NCAA Championships.

Despite that win, Wanner is the just the fourth ranked player on the Coach Jerry Haas’ team that returns everybody after finishing 10th at last year's NCAA Championships.

In the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings for individuals, WFU sophomore Bill Haas ranks second nationally. Haas has finished second or third in three events this fall, while placing 11th in a fourth tournament. His current stroke average is 70.2. Four members of the Deacon lineup are currently ranked among the nation's top 75 golfers as senior Jay Morgan is 23rd, junior Chad Wilfong is 54th and Wanner checks in at No. 62.

Seven other ACC teams are in the top 50: Georgia Tech (No. 5), Clemson (No. 6), Virginia (No. 31), N.C. State (No. 36), Maryland (No. 39), North Carolina (No. 47) and Duke (No. 49).

N.C. State, led by Jason Moon (ranked 34th) and Garth Mulroy (No. 57) has had a decent fall, highlighted by a fourth place finish in the Mason Rudolph tourney and a tie for sixth in the Gary Koch Intercollegiate.

North Carolina has gotten superb play from sophomore Dustin Bray of Asheboro. He’s ranked 31st in the nation and is averaging 71.8 per round. He’s had three top-10 finishes, including a tie for third at the Mason Rudolph.

A rebuilding Duke team has gotten off to a relatively slow start but still has three top-10 efforts. Senior Matt Krauss has the best individual finish, a 10th at the Duke Golf Classic.

Derek Brown gets 2^nd win

UNC-Wilmington’s Derek Brown, a sophomore from Walnut Cove, scored his second collegiate win Oct. 2, shooting 209 (68-70-71) at Big Tree GC in Millington, Tenn., to win the Hillman Robbins Memorial.

Brown finished three shots ahead of the field in the 15-team event. As a team, the Seahawks finished sixth.

Brown’s first win came in February in a tournament in Pensacola, Fla.

UNC-W scored a team victory on the fall schedule, taking the title of the Carolina First Intercollegiate at the Country Club of South Carolina at Florence. Marc-Andre Roy tied for fourth and Brown tied for 10th in that event.

Campbell, ECU hot

Campbell University had finished sixth and 11th in their first two fall events so it was especially stunning what the Camels did in the Rio Pinar Intercollegiate at Orlando, Fla. Oct. 21-23.

Led by a 1-2 finish by sophomores Simon Dunn and Braxton Wynns, Campbell outdistanced the 15-team field.

Campbell made up a 16-stroke deficit following the first round by firing school-record, 14-under-par 274 in the second round, then went eight strokes below par in the final 18 holes to finish at 848 (another school mark), three strokes better than second-place Furman (851).

Dunn set the 54-hole school record by shooting 70-64-67 and Wynns was right behind with 72-68-68.

East Carolina was also posting some low numbers in the fall with a young line-up.

The Pirates had a tie for sixth and twice finished 11th before getting untracked on home turf at Bradford Creek in the Pirate Fall Intercollegiate.

Posting the lowest 54-hole score in school history with a 20-under-par 844, ECU finished second, seven shots off the pace of Eastern Kentucky.

A second place finish by sophomore Tim Ash (67-66-68), a third by senior Frank Adams (71-68-68) led the Pirates. Soph Jason Harris (72-68-73) and junior Jonathan Hill (68-72-73) tied for 11th.

Division III Shuffle

The ongoing give-and-take between Averett, Greensboro, Guilford and Methodist picked right up where it left off this fall.

In last spring’s Division III national championship, Guilford was second, Methodist third, Greensboro fifth and Averett ninth.

There were three meetings of the foursome on the fall schedule – producing no clear-cut winner.

In the Tom O’Briant Memorial at The Cardinal Oct. 2, Guilford was third, Methodist fifth, Greensboro sixth and Averett seventh.

A week later in the Greensboro College Invitational at Pine Knolls, Averett was first, Methodist second, Greensboro tied for third and Guilford seventh.

The third meeting came in the Gordin Classic at Surfside Beach’s Deer Track course and Methodist claimed first place, Guilford was third, Greensboro fifth and Averett 11th.

Averett’s fantastic Fins – Janne Mommo and Tony Karjalainen – have turned in some superb efforts. They shared first place in one tourney and finished 1-2 in another.

Other top individual performances have been posted by Guilford’s Savio Nazareth, who won the Johnny Walker Tournament, and by Methodist sophomore James Stewart, who took second in the Gordin Classic.

Greensboro’s hottest player has been Adam Holowczak, who has a third and fourth on his results sheet.

Greensboro also had a strong showing in the ECU tourney, finishing third. Brandon White’s tie for sixth led the Pride.

Other Men’s Notes

Western Carolina won the 12-team WCU-Laurel Ridge Tournament led by Greg Lewis (tie for 5th). High Point’s Gordon Hughes was medalist, leading the Panthers to third place. High Point added a sixth at Sea Trail, led by third-place finisher Andrew Smith.

Division II power Pfeiffer has won two tournaments with veterans Ben Case, Ben St. John and Andrew McArthur joining with freshman Jordan Stelmach leading the Falcons.

Elon has posted two thirds and a fifth in fall action, all in tournaments with at least 18 teams. The Phoenix have done it with depth as no individual has finished higher than eighth. J.D. McNeill, Andrew Koenig and Ryan Loucks have taken turns leading Elon.

Belmont Abbey’s best mark to date was a second in the Billy Joe Patton tourney with Scott McRainey’s fourth-place finish leading the Crusaders.

UNC-Greensboro’s best marks of the fall have been ninth and 10th. Senior Jason Martin has a pair of top-20 finishes and is averaging 72.4 per round.

A tie for fourth individually by Sam McFall and Mike Shamp in the Carolina First Intercollegiate has been the highlight of the fall for UNC-Charlotte, which has struggled in its first three tournaments.

Women’s Teams

Duke’s fall season began with a disappointing 11th place showing in the rain-shortened Preview, but the Blue Devils have shown they will be a factor for the national crown again in their following performances.

They claimed their first title of the year, winning the Tar Heel Invitational at Finley Golf Course for the fifth straight year. Kristina Engstrom topped the individual race by three shots.

The following week, Leigh Ann Hardin’s second and Virada Nirapathpongporn’s sixth led Duke to a third-place finish in the Mercedes-Benz Invitational at Knoxville. Those performances boosted Duke to a ranking of fourth in the nation by Golfweek.

Individually, Hardin is currently ranked 22nd and Nirapathpongorn is listed 30th.

Carolina, getting solid play from Ashley Prange (ranked 43rd), Shelley McKevitt, Abby Spector and Beth Lever, has moved into Golfweek’s top 20 at No. 20.

The Tar Heels placed second in their own invitational and have also posted fifth- and sixth-place marks.

Wake Forest’s best effort of the fall was a third in the ACC/SEC Shootout but the Deacons also played well in the Tar Heel Invite, placing fourth. Nuria Clau, ranked No. 35 by Golfweek, was third at Chapel Hill.

Wake is ranked 21st in the nation.

Five other state teams have cracked Golfweek’s top 100: UNC-Wilmington (No. 54), East Carolina (No. 62), N.C. State (No. 72), UNC-Greensboro (No. 75) and Elon (No. 95).

Wilmington opened the fall campaign with a victory in the Bay Tree Invitational and followed with a fourth in he Nittany Lion Invitational and a 10th in the Tar Heel Invitational. Courtney Pomeranz, a sophomore from Sanford, has been the Seahawks’ top player in all three events, highlighted by a tie for sixth at Bay Tree.

East Carolina was right behind Wilmington in the Bay Tree event, led by sophomore Mai Sugiyami’s third-place showing.

The Pirates added a fourth at Memphis and then returned home and won the Lady Pirate Fall Intercollegiate. Freshman Adrienne Millican of Fuquay-Varina shot 75-71-73 in the three-day event to claim her first collegiate victory.

N.C. State tied for fourth in the Hatter Fall Classic, marking the Wolfpack’s best finish in a tournament since the program was reinstated last fall. Freshman Sarah Bonner tied for eighth individually to lead NCSU.

UNC-G has placed third, eighth and 11th in fall outings and Spartan junior Jenny Gleason has a pair of top-ten finishes.

The biggest surprise of the fall has been turned by Elon. In four tournaments, the Phoenix women have won twice and finished second once. Of note are two wins over Big South rival Charleston Southern, conference champs the last three years.

A tie for second by Sammy Sue Wilson and a tie for fourth by Laura Orlen led Elon to the Sea Trail Intercollegiate title.

In the 24-team Great Smokes tourney at Waynesville, the Phoenix used a balanced performance to come out on top. Katie Knoepffler and freshman Becky Poindexter were the top individuals, sharing 12th place.

Elon also finished second in the Lady Pirate tourney with Orlen taking fourth individually.