Two fall titles lift Bray to top of UNC win list

 By STEVE WILLIAMS

 The first nine months of Dustin Bray’s 2003 golf campaign were nothing he would write home to Asheboro about, but he returned to his old form with some sizzling play in October.

It wasn’t that he played that bad. It’s just that he had set some rather high standards in 2002. He won the ACC individual championship and earned All-America honors while playing for the University of North Carolina. In the summer of 2002, he made it all the way to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur and also captured the Cardinal Amateur.

He slipped to ninth in the ACC Tourney last spring and had a lackluster summer tournament tour.

Bray began the fall half of his senior season for the Tar Heels with a tie for 55th in the Ridges Tournament and Tennessee and tied for 20th in the Golfweek/Ping Fall Preview.

But two October victories have left Bray in some rather lofty territory. He now has seven collegiate victories, the most ever by a Carolina men’s golfer. The previous record of six was held by Davis Love III.

Bray’s superb play led the Tar Heels to two team victories as well.

In their own Franklin Street Partners Invitational at Finley Golf Club, Carolina posted rounds of 288-296-289 for a four-shot win over Georgia Southern, 875-879, in the nine-team event.

Bray’s 70-74-69 was good enough for co-medalist honors with Alabama’s Lars Brovold. The final round enabled Bray to rally from a seven-shot deficit that had him in fifth place.

"When you're seven shots down, you don't really think about trying to win," said Bray. "I was just trying to come out here and have a solid round and to help my team by shooting a low number so we could pull this team championship out."

In the Duke Golf Classic Oct. 19-20, Bray shot 71-65-71 and came away with a five-shot victory.

It was closer for the team, but the Tar Heels emerged with a one-stroke margin (868-869) over Illinois in the 15-team event. Duke was third, three shots off the pace.

Bray has been selected to compete in this year's prestigious Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic. Twenty-nine of the nation's elite college golfers will play in the 29th annual tournament Nov. 24-25 at the El Paso Country Club in El Paso, Texas. Bray is one of nine golfers making a return visit to the All-America Golf Classic. Bray played in last year's event where he tied for sixth place.

Duke closed its fall schedule with first place in The Nelson at Stanford, Calif. The Blue Devils were led by sophomore Ryan Blaum, who was co-medalist with Brad Heaven of Toledo. Blaum shot 66-69-66 on the par-71 Stanford course.

Duke, in winning its first title of the fall, shot 278-281-275 to finish three shots better than Washington.

North Carolina and Duke are among five ACC teams ranked in the top 20 of the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index through Nov. 9. Clemson tops the list at No. 2, trailing only Florida. Georgia Teach is fifth, Carolina 10th, Duke 15th and Wake Forest 16th. 

Senior Bill Haas of Wake is the nation’s number one ranked individual player. He posted his all-time best score while winning the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate Oct. 12-14 at Birmingham, Ala.

He fired 63-66-66 and won by five shots. It his second win of the fall and his seventh career title.

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Elon University played in five fall events and posted top-10 finishes in all five, capped by the championship of the WCU-Sapphire Valley Intercollegiate Nov. 10-11.

A four-under-par 68 in the second round by J.D. McNeil sparked the Phoenix to the victory as they posted a 575 total and won by five shots in the eight-team event. McNeil finished fourth individually at 142, Ralph Alfieri was sixth at 144 and Bennett Smith tied for 10th at 146.

Elon also placed second in the Pirate Fall Intercollegiate and tied for third in the Sea Trail Intercollegiate.

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Davidson recorded its fourth consecutive top five finish with a third-place showing at the Charleston Southern Fall Invitational at Coosaw Creek Country Club Nov. 3-4. The Wildcats shot a 585 (292-293) on the par-71 course, just three strokes out of second place.

Sophomore Tim Dillon of Greensboro led the Wildcats with a sixth-place tie, shooting 71-72. It was Dillon’s fourth consecutive top-15 finish of the fall.

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East Carolina picked up its only victory of the fall campaign by winning its own Pirate Fall Intercollegiate by two shots (882-884) over Elon.

Freshman Ryan Leveque led the Pirates by taking the individual medal at 213 (68-72-73). Sophomore Philip Reale tied for third at 218 (71-71-76) and senior Jason Harris was eighth at 219 (74-70-75).

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High Point University freshman Chase Wilson, who played at High Point Central High School, won Big South Golfer of the Week honors on consecutive weeks in October.

Wilson’s best mark came in the Mission Inn Collegiate Classic in Florida as he shot 74-71-71 to take fifth place. He added another strong finish in the Pirate Fall Collegiate, shooting 73-72-76 to tie for 13th.

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Trey Deal, a junior from Martinsville, notched a third-place tie in the Pirate Fall Intercollegiate Oct. 20-21.

Deal shot 71-73-74 and finished five shots off the pace of ECU’s Leveque.

Deal also had a tie for 20th (72-69-73) in the Tennessee-Chattanooga/Sonic Intercollegiate.