The 2019 NCAA championship-winning Stanford men’s golf team will continue their defense of the title at The Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational this weekend from Oct. 18 to 20. The lineup will consist of six golfers: seniors David Snyder and Henry Shimp, juniors Nate Menon and Ashwin Arasu and sophomores Ethan Ng and Daulet Tuleubayev.
This is only the team’s second full-field event this season. Stanford’s first was the Nike Collegiate Invitational in Portland, Oregon late last month. Snyder paced the Cardinal there and finished tied for fifth overall at the event, shooting 4-under 67 on the final day. The team as a whole consistently improved each day of the event, but ultimately finished in ninth place out of 15 at the event’s conclusion.
Despite the recent setback, Knowles Family Director of Men’s Golf Conrad Ray remains optimistic about the season. “The team is looking good,” said Ray. “There were a lot of positives in a strong field at the Nike.”
Most recently, the Cardinal men’s and women’s golf teams faced off in the Big Match against UC Berkeley on October 9. One member of each of the two Stanford teams competed together against Berkeley’s duos in six matches. Berkeley edged out the Cardinal in a 3.5-2.5 win. Ray’s confidence in the team remains steady after the loss. “Match play mixed format against Cal isn’t a perfect indicator to how our team is currently playing,” said Ray.
The field at The Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational is stacked with quality teams. Ten of the top 30 teams in the country will be in attendance, including No. 1 Georgia Tech, No. 2 Wake Forest and No’s. 6-8 Pepperdine, North Carolina and Duke. This is not a deterrent for the Cardinal. “We are here to win and control the things that we can and not sweat the things that we cannot, like how other teams play,” said Ray. Stanford is currently ranked 36.
An added difficulty will be the course the teams are competing on. “The Golf Club of Georgia is a challenging course, so eliminating big numbers and three-putts will be a key to our success,” said Ray. “We remain consistent in our approach.”
This event will continue the defense of Stanford’s title from last year. Led by a strong senior core of Snyder and Shimp, the Cardinal will look to compete this weekend and rise up the rankings. “We’ve had a few good weeks of practice and are excited for our second full-field event of the year,” Ray said.
Tee off is Friday from Alpharetta, Georgia.
Contact Jeremy Rubin at jjmrubin ‘at’ stanford.edu.