Men’s Golf – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Fri, 20 Oct 2023 06:28:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-DailyIcon-CardinalRed.png?w=32 Men’s Golf – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Cardinal finish third and sixth at Stephens Cup https://stanforddaily.com/2023/10/13/cardinal-finish-third-and-sixth-at-stephens-cup/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/10/13/cardinal-finish-third-and-sixth-at-stephens-cup/#respond Fri, 13 Oct 2023 09:04:11 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1233424 Stanford men's and women's golf continued their seasons at the Jackson Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas from Oct. 9 to Oct. 11. Despite strong individual performances, the Cardinal women failed to defend their title.

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Coming off a close 3-4 loss at Big Match, No. 1 Stanford women’s golf and Stanford men’s golf continued their fall season at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup hosted at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas. While there were strong individual showings for the women, Stanford was unable to defend its title, finishing third. The men had strong performances in rounds one and three but struggled in round two, which ultimately led to a sixth-place finish.

Playing for the Cardinal on the women’s side were senior Sadie Englemann, junior Caroline Sturdza, sophomores Megha Ganne and Kelly Xu and freshman Paula Martín Sampedro. Notably missing from the lineup were senior Rachel Heck and fifth-year Brooke Seay, two stalwarts of the team. In the lineup for the men were fifth-year Barclay Brown, seniors Karl Vilips and Jake Beber-Frankel and freshmen Ethan Gao and Kush Arora. Missing from the lineup was senior standout Michael Thorbjorsen, who announced in August that he was recovering from a stress fracture in his back. 

In the first round, Xu set the pace for the women with five birdies on her front nine. She cooled off on her back nine with three bogeys but finished the day tied for fifth. Martín Sampedro, who placed second at her collegiate debut last month, found her stride on the back half, finishing the day tied with Xu for fifth. Also off a strong finish, Sturdza finished the day one under. Englemann was even on the round, and Ganne was one over. Stanford finished the round in third, just four strokes behind the leader, South Carolina.

On the men’s side, the freshmen led the way for the Cardinal. Gao and Arora both had seven birdies in their rounds. Gao finished the day tied for second at six under; Arora, who found a little more trouble, finished three under. Vilips was also rock-solid throughout the day, finishing one behind Gao and tied for seventh. Brown shot a one-under 71 and Beber-Frankel carded a one-over 73. Like the women, the Cardinal men also finished the round in third, just four strokes back of the leader, LSU.

Determined to make up ground, the women came out of the gates swinging in round two. Ganne and Xu set the pace for Stanford with three birdies each in the first five holes. Martín Sampedro continued her momentum from round one, looking unphased by the transition to collegiate golf. The round was suspended due to darkness, but in the morning, Ganne, Martín Sampedro and Xu all finished three under. Engelmann finished one-over and Sturdza shot 77. The Cardinal were able to pass Wake Forest and South Carolina, but a red-hot Texas jumped to the top of the leaderboard, leaving Stanford three strokes behind in second place.

On the other hand, the men failed to carry their strong start into round two. Gao gave back all of his strokes on the round, going seven over on the back with tough back-to-back doubles. Vilips also struggled on the back with three bogies, finishing with a 75. Arora continued his birdie barrage, with another seven in his round: he finished three under. Following an eagle on hole two, Beber-Frankel found his stride and finished two under on his round. Brown carded an even 72. The Cardinal finished two under on the day, the worst round of the field, leaving them in sixth place and eighteen strokes behind the leader, Florida State.

On the final day, the women just needed to maintain their second-place position in order to make the championship match. At the start, it looked like they might even win stroke play. Everyone finished even or under par on the front nine. Martín Sampedro led the charge with five birdies and took the lead in the tournament. Starting the day with three consecutive birdies, Englemann also had her best stretch of the tournament. 

At the turn, defending national champions Wake Forest mounted a comeback with twelve birdies on the back and players finishing two under, three under and even five under on the day. Meanwhile, the Cardinal slowed down: with only two birdies on the back combined, the Cardinal could not stave off Wake Forest, and they finished stroke play in third. Instead of defending their title, the Cardinal were in the third-place match against South Carolina. 

Individually, the Cardinal placed well in stroke play. Martín Sampedro tied for fourth, continuing her strong collegiate debut — her second top-four finish of the season. Xu placed sixth, her best finish of the season. Englemann tied for tenth, which was also her best finish of the season. Ganne was tied for 12th and Sturdza was tied for 31st.

In the men’s final round, Stanford regained its energy, but it was not enough for the Cardinal to make up the nine strokes they needed to make match play. Beber-Frankel led Stanford with a collegiate-best six under. Gao shook off his rough finish from round two with an eagle on the first hole. He carried that momentum to a five under on the round. After an early double, Vilips fought back for a strong 70 and Brown continued his consistent play with another 72. Arora slowed down a bit and carded a 73. 

With a combined 12 under, the Cardinal were unable to make up any ground, ultimately finishing in sixth. Beber-Frankel’s career-best six under for the tournament gave him a T-17 finish. The freshman duo of Gao and Arora tied for nineteenth. Vilips finished tied for 24th and Brown finished tied for 31st.

Not making the championship match, the women were determined to finish the tournament with a win. Looking for redemption, Sturdza set the tone for the Cardinal. She won the opening hole and never looked back, winning her match 2&1. Xu followed suit: after winning the seventh hole, she never gave up her lead, winning her match 4&3. Stanford needed just one more point to secure its victory. In the middle match, Englemann fell one down after the third hole and was unable to recover. Never winning a hole, she lost the match 6&4. 

Still looking for the final point, it came down to Ganne and Martín Sampedro. While they both had strong momentum starting the back nine, South Carolina would not go down without a fight. South Carolina’s Maylis Lamoure tied her match with Ganne on the fourteenth hole and Sandtorv Lussand fought back to just one back of Martín Sampedro on hole 15. Needing to win just one match, the Cardinal were able to score both points thanks to victories on the 16th and 17th holes by Ganne and Martín Sampedro respectively. Stanford defeated South Carolina 4-1 to place third in the tournament.

In the championship match, Wake Forest defeated Texas 3-2 to win the Stephens Cup.

Both Stanford teams continue their fall season this month. The women return to the course at their home tournament, the Stanford Intercollegiate. The first round begins Friday, October 20th at the Stanford Golf Course. The men continue their fall season a week later with the Cypress Point Classic in Pebble Beach, Calif. Their first round begins Monday, Oct. 30.

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Golf captain talks Tiger Woods and holes-in-one https://stanforddaily.com/2023/05/25/golf-captain-talks-tiger-woods-and-holes-in-one/ https://stanforddaily.com/2023/05/25/golf-captain-talks-tiger-woods-and-holes-in-one/#respond Fri, 26 May 2023 02:56:35 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1228956 Heading into this week's NCAA Championships, the captain of Stanford men's golf sat with The Daily to reflect on his time at Stanford. Captain Ethan Ng is known for his toothy grin and laid-back attitude.

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This article is part of a running series The Daily sports staff will be publishing on seniors.

As a current Stanford men’s golf team captain originally hailing from New York City, Ethan Lawrence Ng believes that this week’s NCAA championships could be the team’s year to take the dub, which the Cardinal last won Ng’s freshman year in 2019. With a scoring average of 72.68, Ng recently posted his career-best at Regionals, securing a fourth-place finish with an 18-under 198. He led the team to its school best of 57-under, breaking the 2006 record of 42-under. Ng also excels in the classroom and made the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll in 2020, 2021 and 2022. By his friends, Ng is known for his constant toothy grin, loose-clothed style and laid-back attitude. The Daily’s Annie Reller sat down with Ng to reflect on his time at Stanford.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): Ethan, thank you so much for this interview. My first question is pretty simple: How many hole-in-ones have you had in your life?

Ethan Ng (EN): Three hole-in-ones, but most notably, I had a hole-in-one the same day Tiger Woods won the 2019 Masters. Tiger Woods is my golf hero, I admire his golf achievements. I also had a hole-in-one this year; it’s on the Stanford golf Instagram.

TSD: At what age did you realize that you were actually good?

EN: I’ve never realized (laughs). Probably when I was around six or seven. The story allegedly goes, when I was around three or four, my dad took me out one weekend when my mom couldn’t take care of me, to the golf course to hang with him and his boys. And I just fell in love with the game. And I would ask him  every weekend if I could go with him, and he’d begrudgingly say okay. I’d just get out there and whack balls. And I really liked it, and then he bought me my own set of clubs and it snowballed from there.

TSD: How old were you when you hit a zero handicap?

EN: I don’t know when I became a scratch golfer, probably eight or nine. But there’s a notable story there; my dad used to play golf all the time. And then when I was literally eight or nine years old, I still have the scorecard, I beat him straight up. And he had played the best round he’s ever played in his life. And then he quit and started coaching me from there.

TSD: So why did you trust a coach who is worse than you?

EN: That is a great question. Oh, he’s my dad. So of course I’m going to trust him.

TSD: As a kid, how much was golf in your life?

EN: Not a lot of D1 golfers come out from New York. I can only think of one other kid, in a really good school, who comes from New York City. Most kids were golfing every day. I grew up just playing on the weekends, they call that a weekend warrior. And then over the summers I tried to golf every day with my dad. But on weekdays, I was the varsity captain of the swim team. Although golf was a big part of my life, it only took up a little bit of time.

 TSD: And how old were you when you started getting recruited?

EN: That’s a good question. I got my first offer, a full scholarship, from Wisconsin when I was 12 years old. I was in sixth grade.

TSD: Who are your biggest supporters?

EN: My family, and my girlfriend, Nicole. My dad especially has been my biggest supporter. Everything comes around to my dad. For the record, I credit everything to my dad. He got me into the game of golf. He’s paid for every set of my clubs. He’s driven me across the country to tournaments. He flies across the country to come watch me play. He’s my number one supporter.

TSD: So why did you pick Stanford?

EN: Stanford was always the dream school, obviously. My dad used to play this Tiger Woods documentary when I was really young, and Tiger went to Stanford. And I always was like, wow, I want to go to that school because he went there, and he’s the best golfer of all time. Also, I wanted to go to Stanford because I knew it was a really good school. And that’s my mom, academics. The importance of academics comes from my mom.

TSD: What does it feel like to represent Stanford? Do you identify as a representative?

EN: Every time we leave campus, I feel that. It is the biggest honor. I would say these past four, four and a half years, have been the biggest honor of my life. And I’m very proud to wear the “S” on my shirt whenever we go out and compete. It’s always been my dream to come here and it’s exceeded every expectation I could have had to play for the school and be here.

TSD: How do your friendships at Stanford vary with non-athletes versus athletes?

EN: Coming into Stanford, I was very anxious about making friends and whatnot. But being on a team here, you have a built-in friend group. Everyone on the golf team are my best friends, my brothers. But outside of golf, a lot from my freshman dorm, those are some of my friends that I’ve had forever. My girlfriend, all her friends are my friends now. But yeah, it’s hard to balance social time and golf. It’s just all about time management. It’s something that I’m still working on.

TSD: What was it like being captain of the men’s golf team this year?

EN: It’s easy when you have such a good group of guys. It’s really easy to make sure everyone’s in line and it doesn’t feel like an obligation at all. We’re out there really enjoying being ourselves with each other and just being friends, so it doesn’t feel like there’s a huge hierarchy of leadership. It just feels organic, which is nice.

TSD: Is the team competitive within itself? Are you trying to beat the other people on your team?

EN: Yeah, absolutely. College golf is interesting, because golf obviously is very individualized. But there’s a team component and obviously the team matters more. In qualifying for every tournament, we have three or four qualifying rounds to determine what the lineup is for the actual tournament, and it gets really competitive. Since everyone is of high caliber and can play really well, scores get really low. Obviously there are heated moments when coaches make decisions to take a player over a different player. But all in all, we always know we’re playing for the team. So although it’s competitive, and we want to beat each other, there’s never any animosity.

TSD: Do you have any tournament rituals or superstitions?

EN: Before every round, I try to do a few minutes of meditation, visualize my first hole. I get very nervous before so I just try to calm myself down. I also don’t take articles of clothing off, even if it’s hot. I’ll keep it on, because taking off a layer will make my swing feel different. If I’m playing well with a certain ball, I won’t change balls. I’ll always have my ball marker the same side up if I’m putting well, facing the same direction.

TSD: Do you talk smack to other players on the course? Is there that type of competition, or because it’s a respectful sport, is there less of that?

EN: Well, with college golf, you grew up playing against everyone else in Junior Golf. It’s a pretty small community. All my teammates, I’ve known them for a while. Especially if you’re going to a power five school, those are big names.

TSD: Who are interesting people that you’ve gotten to meet through the sport?

EN: There are a lot of cool people that practice at our facility, so we rub shoulders and we get to pick their brain every once in a while. We were invited to the White House in 2020 after we won the 2019 championship and got to meet Dianne Feinstein and Trump. There was a lot of controversy around that, but I wasn’t gonna pass up an opportunity to go to the White House. I’m not the biggest fan of Donald Trump. So when I met him, I tickled his wrist in a small act of rebellion. 

TSD: What does it feel like to be a person of color in a predominantly white sport? 

EN: Oh, that’s an interesting question. Although golf is a very white sport, there are so many Asians that play golf, that I almost don’t feel like a minority. But I think the bigger issue I have with golf is the culture surrounding golf, it’s very dominated by white people, the rich and elite. There’s a lot of entitlement that comes with golf culture, and that bugs me, but also, I’ve made some of my best friends through golf. And I think golf has brought me to places that I’d never thought were imaginable. So I would never give it up.

TSD: Okay, so what is next for you? And how do you feel about graduating?

EN: I’m really, really sad to be leaving the golf team as a player. It has been the biggest honor and privilege of my life. I couldn’t imagine a better experience. But I am excited to come back as potentially the graduate assistant coach and finish my Master’s and be able to spend one more year on campus.

TSD: You have a big thing ahead of you soon. How do you feel about the upcoming tournament, NCAA Nationals?

EN: We feel really good. I personally am coming off my career best finish at regionals, I shot 18-under, fourth place. But the team is feeling really good. We got a lot of confidence going in and we really feel we can win this year.

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Michael Thorbjornsen and Rose Zhang sweep Pac-12 monthly golf awards https://stanforddaily.com/2022/11/05/michael-thorbjornsen-and-rose-zhang-sweep-pac-12-monthly-golf-awards/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/11/05/michael-thorbjornsen-and-rose-zhang-sweep-pac-12-monthly-golf-awards/#respond Sat, 05 Nov 2022 19:33:08 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1212885 The two golfers have been instrumental in the team victories this month.

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Cardinal golfers wrapped up their fall season with the men’s team winning the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate last week and the women’s side coming home with the trophy at the Pac-12 Preview on Wednesday. But, that doesn’t mean the awards have stopped just yet. For the second consecutive month, junior Michael Thorbjornsen and sophomore Rose Zhang swept the Pac-12 monthly golf awards.

Michael Thorbjornsen

Thorbjornsen was recognized as the Pac-12 Men’s Golfer of the Month after also being awarded in September. He placed eighth both at the Ben Hogan Collegiate and Georgia Collegiate at the beginning of the month. During the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate, he led Stanford with top-10 finishes and tied for third with an 11-under-par 205.

Rose Zhang

After being recognized in Oct. 2021 and last month, Zhang was acknowledged for the third time as the Pac-12 Women’s Golfer of the Month. At the Stanford Intercollegiate, she was the only player with three rounds in the 60s. After a disappointing play at the Stephens Cup, she came back with a 3&2 victory at Wake Forest, which helped the team secure a championship victory 4-1.

Men’s and women’s golf will take time off until January. Tournament games will resume in February with the men competing at the Amer Ari Intercollegiate and the women competing in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge.

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Barclay Brown contends at 2022 British Open https://stanforddaily.com/2022/07/15/barclay-brown-makes-cut-at-2022-british-open-after-round-2/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/07/15/barclay-brown-makes-cut-at-2022-british-open-after-round-2/#respond Sat, 16 Jul 2022 04:47:11 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1206211 Senior golfer Barclay Brown is making waves at the 2022 British Open. Despite being an amateur-status player, Brown finished six-under par and made the cut after Round 2.

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Stanford senior Barclay Brown is riding up the front page of the British Open leaderboard — in a Stanford bucket hat, of course. The Stanford standout made the weekend cut at St. Andrews with ease, holding a score of six-under-par and sitting at a tie for 11th place in the tournament. 

Brown is one of just two amateur golfers to under par in the tournament through two rounds, riding a scorching hot four-under-par opening round. The senior’s round one score of 68 strokes was just three off of the course’s amateur record of 65. He followed that up with a two-under-par performance on his second go-around.

Brown’s path to six-under did not come without adversity, though. After recording a bogey on the 14th hole in Round 2, the Stanford-product looked to be in danger of dropping down the leaderboard on a day when the tournament leaders were going low. But in a stretch of resilience, Brown birdied three out of his final four holes to finish the second round with a 2-under 70, seven strokes off of the lead held by Cameron Smith.

Competing in one of golf’s four major tournaments hasn’t fazed the Sheffield, England native, who looks right at home on a traditional links layout. His standout performance is the latest in a run of strong professional performances from current Stanford golfers. Just weeks ago, Stanford junior Michael Thorbjornsen made headlines with a fourth-place finish at the Traveler’s Championship, a PGA tour event.

Brown admitted that he was anxious at first, playing at the event he grew up dreaming about. “I was unbelievably nervous at the start. Once I got through the first couple of holes, it was nice to calm down a little bit and hit some good shots,” said Brown.

While his success on golf’s biggest stage is remarkable for an amateur-status player, it shouldn’t come as a surprise when considering his strong play at the collegiate level. As a member of the Stanford golf team, Brown has a number of accolades under his belt, including a second place finish at the 2022 Pac-12 Golf Championships. He’s also earned first-team and second-team All-Pac-12 status in consecutive years. Still, his performance at The Open thus far is likely the most impressive performance of his young career.

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‘The job starts here’: Stanford men’s golf punches ticket to national championship https://stanforddaily.com/2022/05/19/the-job-starts-here-stanford-mens-golf-punches-ticket-to-national-championship/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/05/19/the-job-starts-here-stanford-mens-golf-punches-ticket-to-national-championship/#respond Fri, 20 May 2022 03:49:39 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1203712 The Cardinal churned out a second-place finish over the three-day tournament at The Reserve at Spanos Park to qualify for the NCAA Championship.

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One year after failing to qualify for the national championship for the first time since 2013, Stanford men’s golf punched its ticket to Scottsdale, Ariz., with a statement performance at the West Regional Championship. Needing a top-five score in the 14-team pool, the Cardinal churned out a second-place finish in the three-day tournament at The Reserve at Spanos Park with a final score of 28-under-par.

Unlike last year, when COVID-19 infections forced several key Stanford golfers to sit out of regional play, the Cardinal were at full strength this week. The lineup — junior Barclay Brown, senior Ethan Ng, sixth-year Henry Shimp, sophomore Michael Thorbjornsen and sophomore Karl Vilips — did not drop below fifth place in the team standings at any moment during the tournament.

“It’s been frustrating for our team the last two years,” Brown said. “I think we’re probably feeling more relief at the moment than joy. We’ll save the joy for after the national championship.”

Brown, who had a blistering run to end the season, led the Cardinal charge on day one amid windy conditions. After an opening bogey, Brown put any nerves to rest with a polished performance over the next 17 holes, recording five birdies and no bogeys to vault him into a tie for the lead with Shimp and Arizona State freshman Jose Luis Ballaster.

A South Yorkshire native who built his game in the blustery conditions of English links golf, Brown felt that he had an edge over the field this week.

“I have a little more confidence in the wind because I know I’m more prepared for it than most other people,” Brown said. “People are going to get annoyed when there are bad conditions, so if I just manage my emotions, then I’ll already be ahead of most of the competition from the start.”

After capturing the day-one lead with a team score of 10-under-par, the team turned its attention to consistency. But first-round success has not always been a harbinger of wins for this Cardinal team, which gave up a seven-stroke final-round lead at home in The Goodwin. This time, though, Stanford recorded one of its steadiest weeks all season.

On Tuesday, Stanford put together another dominant performance, with each of its top-four golfers shooting under par. The day was a display of resilience by the Cardinal, who got off to a slow start and quickly lost their first-round advantage before finding their groove again. There was a buzz of determination across the course — after his tee shot sailed into the water, Brown got up and down for a crucial par on the second hole. On the par-four 17th hole, Ng’s drive found the lake, but after taking a drop, the senior stuck his approach from the rough to four feet and drained his par putt. Stanford would finish the day at 19-under-par, one stroke behind Arizona State.

Day two was not only a show of Stanford’s talent, but also of its team unity. On Tuesday, senior Daulet Tuleubayev, one of only two golfers from the Cardinal’s 2019 national championship–winning lineup who remains a Stanford player, made the early morning drive from Palo Alto to Stockton along with fifth-year Nate Menon and sophomore Jake Beber-Frankel to show their support. As Stanford looks to make a run at the national title, the team will look to its veterans for guidance and the younger players for firepower.

“Our team is in a fortunate position in that we have a team of players who are very experienced in competitive golf, so everyone has plenty of confidence going into the event,” Brown said. “We’ve all been in similar situations before, so we know what we’re doing.”

If a team was going to come from behind and bump the Cardinal out of the national championship, their opportunity came mid-round on Wednesday. Faltering early, Stanford briefly fell into fifth place with only four strokes between the Cardinal and the nearest challenger. Much like Tuesday, however, Stanford swiftly put those worries to rest, recording a scorching finish to the round behind Thorbjornsen’s eagle. Stanford’s 28-under-par finish still fell well short of Arizona State, which rolled to a 10-stroke victory on the week.

The week was also another heartbreaking finish for Brown, who came up one stroke short of the individual title for the second time in two weeks, despite a final round 69.

“Over the last couple of weeks, I have not finished well, and that’s something that is very frustrating and that I will continue to work on,” Brown said. “I know that second place is a good finish but obviously a bit sore at the moment to have two of those back to back.”

Still, the team’s full attention is trained on Scottsdale, where Stanford will look to win its 10th national championship.

“This means everything to us,” Ng said. “I mean, this is why we come to school. This is why we play golf here: to make it to the national championship. The job starts here. Especially for me, in my four years here, I have not been able to partake in a National Championship team, so I am very much looking forward to being able to go to Arizona and play with this team. It’s a dream come true.”

The next stop on Stanford’s road to the title will come on May 27 in the stroke-play portion of the national championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, a course that Ng said sets up well for the Cardinal.

“There’s an emphasis on hitting the fairways and hitting greens, especially since it is a long course,” Ng said. “It’s definitely a ball striker’s course, and we have a ball striking team.”

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Men’s golf concludes regular season at Western Intercollegiate https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/14/mens-golf-concludes-regular-season-at-western-intercollegiate/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/04/14/mens-golf-concludes-regular-season-at-western-intercollegiate/#respond Thu, 14 Apr 2022 07:02:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1200318 In its final event of the regular season, No. 14 Stanford men's golf finished in a tie for 12th place at the Western Intercollegiate. "I firmly believe that our best golf is ahead of us," said head coach Conrad Ray.

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No. 14 Stanford men’s golf closed its regular season play on Wednesday at the Western Intercollegiate in Santa Cruz, Calif. After three rounds at Pasatiempo Golf Club, Stanford ended in a tie for 12th out of 14 teams — the Cardinal’s lowest finish this season.

“It was obviously disappointing for us to finish toward the bottom of the field,” said head coach Conrad Ray on Wednesday. 

In last year’s edition of the Western Intercollegiate, Stanford contended for the team title. Then-freshman Karl Vilips played in the final group, leading the Cardinal to a second-place finish behind eventual NCAA champions Pepperdine.

This time around, Pasatiempo looked completely different. The Alister MacKenzie-designed course, which is famous for its fast and undulating putting surfaces, is always a challenge. But as wind and rain swept through Santa Cruz during the opening round, the par-70 course presented a much sterner test than usual.

Not a single player broke par in the first round on Monday, and the field scoring average was more than seven strokes over-par (77.39). 

The Cardinal golfers in the starting lineup, who teed off in the afternoon, got the worst of the draw, facing higher winds and lower temperatures than those who teed off in the morning. 

As a result, the Cardinal struggled to post low scores in the opening round, recording a 45-over-par 395. Sixth year Henry Shimp, who competed in the tournament as an individual, led the team with a first-round 76.

The Cardinal improved on their first-round score by 12 shots on Tuesday, shooting a 33-over-par 383.

Vilips bounced back from a first-round 83 to shoot 73. Shimp matched Vilips’ score for his second consecutive low round for the Cardinal. Heading into the final round, Stanford sat in 13th place at 83-over-par.

With a team title far out of reach, the Cardinal had one goal in mind for the final round: improve on their scores from the first two days of play.

And that’s exactly what they did. In clearer skies and better weather, Stanford posted a seven-over-par 357 in the final round, its best score of the tournament by 26 strokes.

Out of the eight Stanford golfers competing in the tournament, seven recorded their best score in the final round Wednesday. Sophomore Michael Thorbjornsen led the way with a team-best, three-under-par 67. Junior Barclay Brown shot 71, while Vilips and senior Ethan Ng fired matching 73s.

Shimp ended the tournament with the highest individual finish for the Cardinal, a tie for 17th. With his final round 69, the sixth year completed a stellar career at the Western Intercollegiate. Shimp made four starts at Pasatiempo in total and finished in the top 20 three times. Last year, he placed in a tie for sixth after a thrilling four-under-par stretch on the final round’s back nine.

While the Cardinal ultimately only beat one team in the tournament, Ray has a positive outlook heading into the Pac-12 Championships.

“We had our best round the final day and hopefully learned a lot of lessons on a very demanding golf course that we can carry with us as we move into the postseason,” Ray said. “I firmly believe that our best golf is ahead of us, and sometimes tough results get everyone’s attention. I expect good things at Pac-12s.”

The conference championships will take place on April 25-27 at Aldarra Golf Club in Sammamish, Wash.

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Men’s golf takes third at The Goodwin https://stanforddaily.com/2022/03/27/mens-golf-takes-third-at-the-goodwin/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/03/27/mens-golf-takes-third-at-the-goodwin/#respond Mon, 28 Mar 2022 02:10:35 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1197889 No. 14 Stanford men's golf could not hold onto a seven-stroke lead in the final round of The Goodwin at the Stanford Golf Course. The Cardinal ultimately finished in third place behind No. 9 Washington and Nevada.

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No. 14 Stanford men’s golf played host to 27 teams in The Goodwin at the Stanford Golf Course this week. The Cardinal led for the majority of the tournament but ultimately finished in third place behind No. 9 Washington and Nevada after a three-over-par final round.

In this year’s edition of The Goodwin, the Stanford golf family remembered legendary head coach Wally Goodwin, who led the Cardinal from 1987-2000. To honor his contribution to the program, Stanford renamed its annual tournament, which was formerly called the United States Intercollegiate, after him in 2014. This week’s tournament was the first held after Goodwin passed away last July.

With the extra motivation of honoring coach Goodwin and playing at their home course, the Cardinal excelled in the opening round of the tournament on Thursday. The team combined for a 12-under-par total to take first place out of 28 programs.

Leading the way in round one was junior Barclay Brown. The South Yorkshire native eagled his opening hole and never looked back, posting a bogey-free 64. He finished the day tied for first place overall with San José State’s Kristopher Stiles.

Sophomore Karl Vilips made six birdies on his opening nine en route to a five-under-par 65, while fellow sophomore Michael Thorbjornsen shot a two-under-par 68. Senior Ethan Ng recovered from a triple bogey on the seventh hole to post 71.

While the Cardinal were focused on the team competition, four of their players were playing in the tournament as individuals, and on Thursday, three of them recorded their best rounds of the season to date.

In his first year at The Goodwin, freshman Alex Yang shot the lowest round of his collegiate career: a three-under-par 67. Fifth year Nate Menon and senior Daulet Tuleubayev fired matching 68s for their lowest rounds of the season.

In the second round on Friday, Stanford extended its team lead to seven shots over second place SMU. 

Vilips emerged as the player to beat in the second round. Teeing off the back nine, he birdied two of his first three holes and made the turn in 32 strokes. He would finish the day with a four-under-par 66 and in a tie for first place on the individual leaderboard.

Thorbjornsen also continued his strong play into the second round, tying for the best score in the field on Friday with a five-under-par 65. Sixth year Henry Shimp and Brown completed Stanford’s scoring with rounds of 70 and 71, respectively.

In The Goodwin’s 52-year history, Stanford had previously won the event 16 times, most recently in 2019. On the individual side, past Stanford champions include Tom Watson ’71, Joel Kribel ’99, Patrick Rodgers ’15 and Maverick McNealy ’17.

On Saturday, Stanford — with a seven-shot team lead — had a golden opportunity to put its name back on the list of champions. Vilips, playing in the final group, had a chance to join the illustrious list of past medalists.

But unfortunately for the Cardinal, as the afternoon wave of players teed off at the Stanford Golf Course, the tides began to turn.

The Cardinal got off to a decent start in the final round with three players — Shimp, Thorbjornsen and Vilips — making birdie on the opening hole, but following that, no Stanford golfer in the starting lineup would make another birdie until the seventh.

Meanwhile, several teams in the field were surging, including close-by Washington and Nevada. By the time the Stanford players had made the turn, the seven-shot lead was erased.

Throughout the back nine, Stanford, Washington and Nevada traded blows. 

The Cardinal got a boost when three of their four counting players made birdie on the par-five 16th hole. However, at the tough 18th, the Cardinal dropped four shots.

In the end, the Huskies, who shot a tournament-best 10-under-par in the final round, prevailed. Nevada shot six-under-par on Saturday to sneak into second place, two strokes ahead of Stanford.

In the individual competition, Vilips contended on the front nine. He birdied the first hole to reach 10-under-par for the tournament. Even after he made bogeys on the third and fifth holes, Vilips still had a realistic shot at medalist honors.

But disaster struck on the difficult sixth hole for Vilips, where he lost two drives and made a quintuple bogey. 

After such a poor hole, many golfers would lose focus, and their errors would compound. However, Vilips, ever the competitor, responded with an eagle on his very next hole. He played the rest of his round in even par to shoot 74.

For the tournament, Vilips finished at five-under-par in a tie for 15th. Thorbjornsen recorded Stanford’s best individual finish, a tie for eighth place.

Although Stanford was unable to hold onto its final-round lead at The Goodwin, the team appears to be in prime position to contend this postseason. Eight Stanford golfers currently boast sub-73 scoring averages, and the team has collected five top-five finishes on the year.

The Cardinal will have a final regular seasonal tune-up at the Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club before they head to Sammamish, Wash. for the Pac-12 Championships. The first round of the Western Intercollegiate is scheduled for April 11.

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Men’s golf finishes 7th at The Prestige https://stanforddaily.com/2022/02/23/mens-golf-finishes-seventh-at-the-prestige/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/02/23/mens-golf-finishes-seventh-at-the-prestige/#respond Thu, 24 Feb 2022 07:43:30 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1195677 No. 8 Stanford men’s golf competed in the desert this week at The Prestige in La Quinta, Calif. After a slow start in the first two rounds, the Cardinal posted the second-lowest team score on Wednesday, a two-under-par 282, to finish in seventh place out of 24 teams.

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No. 8 Stanford men’s golf competed in the desert this week at The Prestige in La Quinta, Calif. After a slow start in the first two rounds, the Cardinal posted the second-lowest team score on Wednesday, a two-under-par 282, to finish in seventh place out of 24 teams.

Throughout the tournament, the Cardinal not only faced off against some of the top programs in the country — No. 5 Pepperdine, No. 6 Texas Tech, No. 13 Kansas and No. 21 Vanderbilt — but they also battled the elements. High winds persisted throughout all three rounds and kept the players on edge.

“The course conditions definitely played a factor,” said head coach Conrad Ray. “With the wind and a few spots that had not grown in with winter over seed, it was very challenging.”

During round one on Monday, Stanford began its campaign on the front nine of PGA West’s Greg Norman course. In the blustery conditions, no Cardinal golfer shot par or better.

Fresh off a 64 in his final round of the Amer Ari Invitational, sophomore Michael Thorbjornsen led Stanford with a one-over-par 72. Close behind was junior Barclay Brown, who recorded a three-over-par 74. Sixth year Henry Shimp and fifth year Nate Menon rounded out the Cardinal’s scoring with rounds of 78.

After the first day of play, the Cardinal sat in a tie for 18th place, 15 shots behind leaders Oregon and Vanderbilt.

In the second round of The Prestige, the winds worsened, eventually culminating in play being suspended. The Cardinal, however, teed off in the morning and were able to complete their round before officials blew the horn.

The Cardinal’s morning tee time put them at a distinct disadvantage. While teams with the afternoon tee times were able to avoid the worst of the wind, teams with morning tee times had to face it head-on. 

Stanford recorded a 23-over-par team total in brutal conditions of the second round. Shimp shot the lowest score for the Cardinal, a four-over-par 75.

Entering the final round on Wednesday, Stanford stood in 19th place at 41-over-par. The Cardinal were no longer in contention for the team title, but they still wanted to finish strong in the final round and rise up the leaderboard.

And that’s exactly what they did. With a two-under-par final round, Stanford surpassed 12 teams and finished in seventh place.

Sophomore Karl Vilips led the charge in the final round. Vilips, who struggled by his standards for the first two days, found his groove on Wednesday. He recorded seven birdies to go against just two bogeys and shot the lowest score of the tournament, a five-under-par 66.

“We know that Karl Vilips will be a main factor in our success this spring,” Ray said. “He has the ability to go low and be our lead dog most days. Excited to see how he builds on this momentum.”

Menon also broke par for Stanford, posting a score of 70. Thorbjornsen registered his second 72 of the tournament, while Brown and Shimp each shot 74.

Individually, Thorbjornsen recorded the best finish for the Cardinal, a tie for 16th place. He has now finished in the top-20 in four of his last six events.

Sophomore Jake Beber-Frankel and senior Daulet Tuleubayev competed in a separate individual tournament held at Coral Mountain Golf Club. Beber-Frankel shot rounds of 77, 78 and 79 to finish in 48th place out of 62 players. Tuleubayev finished in a tie for 56th.

Overall, Ray was pleased with his team’s performance, particularly on Wednesday.

“I thought our team hung in there with a difficult draw and tough weather conditions. We played a great final round so I’m happy for that and I think it’s a good momentum boost for our trip next week,” Ray said.

Next up for Stanford is the Cabo Collegiate at the Cabo del Sol Ocean Course in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The three-day tournament will begin Saturday, Feb. 27.

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Men’s golf takes on Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate https://stanforddaily.com/2021/10/23/mens-golf-preps-for-golf-club-of-georgia-collegiate/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/10/23/mens-golf-preps-for-golf-club-of-georgia-collegiate/#respond Sat, 23 Oct 2021 18:55:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1186633 No. 4 Stanford men’s golf competes in Georgia this week for its penultimate event of the fall season, the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate, on the Lakeside Course. With a stacked field of 15 teams, the tournament will be a great test for the surging Cardinal.

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No. 4 Stanford men’s golf competes in Georgia this week for its penultimate event of the fall season, the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate, on the Lakeside Course. With a stacked field of 15 teams, the tournament will be a great test for the surging Cardinal.

In its last event, the Colonial Collegiate Invitational, Stanford picked up its first team win since the 2019 NCAA Championship. In the final round, the Cardinal posted a scorching 11-under-par 269 to surpass seven top-25 teams.

Sophomore Michael Thorbjornsen led the charge for Stanford. He made six birdies to go against just two bogeys and shoot 66 in the final round. His five-under-par total for the tournament was good for a career-best, solo second finish.

Throbjornsen’s performance at the Colonial Collegiate was just another instance of his strong play that dates back to the summer. In July, he went on an amazing run in individual amateur tournaments, first winning the Massachusetts Amateur and then the Western Amateur. Given his game in the last few months, Thorbjornsen should be on everyone’s radar this week.

Just behind Thorbjornsen at Colonial was sixth year Henry Shimp. At three-under-par, he finished in a tie for third place to extend his top-12 streak to four events. He is also the only Cardinal golfer in the lineup who has prior experience at the Lakeside Course; in 2017, he shot rounds of 77, 69 and 70 to finish in 44th place at the same tournament.

Sophomore Karl Vilips was the third Stanford golfer to break 70 in the final round at Colonial. After a double bogey on the fourth hole, Vilips played the remainder of his round in four-under-par to shoot 68. When the dust settled, he picked up his second consecutive 20th place finish to start the season.

Completing the Stanford lineup for the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate is the duo of junior Barclay Brown and freshman Alex Yang. Brown, who was a member of the All-Pac-12 First Team last season, finished in a tie for 35th at the Fighting Illini Invitational. Yang made his debut at Colonial and finished in a tie for 34th.

The Cardinal face off against 14 other teams on the par-72, 7,092-yard Lakeside Course. The field includes strong programs such as No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 11 Pepperdine, No. 13 Wake Forest, No. 15 Georgia Tech, No. 16 Tennessee, No. 20 East Tennessee State and No. 22 Virginia.

Stanford men’s golf teed off at the three-day, 54-hole tournament Friday morning in Alpharetta, Ga. As of 5 p.m. PT Friday, the Cardinal were positioned eighth out of the 15-team field, with Vilips sitting in fourth following a five-under-par first-round mark of 67. The second round of play for the Cardinal will begin Saturday morning at 6:20 a.m. PT.

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Men’s golf finishes fourth at the Fighting Illini Invitational https://stanforddaily.com/2021/09/19/mens-golf-finishes-fourth/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/09/19/mens-golf-finishes-fourth/#respond Mon, 20 Sep 2021 02:55:02 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1185130 In its first tournament of the fall season, Stanford men's golf finished in fourth place at Olympia Fields Country Club.

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To open its fall season, Stanford men’s golf competed in the Fighting Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields Country Club. Led by sophomore Michael Thorbjornsen, the Cardinal took fourth place in a stacked 15-team field.

In the first round on Friday, Stanford started slowly. Olympia Fields proved to be a difficult test, and no Cardinal golfer shot par or better.

Thorbjornsen posted the lowest first-round score, a one-over-par 71 that featured three birdies. Sophomore Karl Vilips and junior Barclay Brown recorded rounds of 72 and 73, respectively. Sixth-year Henry Shimp shot 75 as the Cardinal finished the day in a tie for ninth place.

Stanford struggled to avoid big numbers in the opening round — every golfer in the starting lineup, with the exception of Vilips, made at least one double bogey or worse.

The Cardinal then improved by seven strokes as a team in the second round, shooting a four-over-par 284. Shimp became the first Cardinal golfer to shoot an under-par round this season. He started with back-to-back bogeys before making birdies on the third, 11th, 13th and 15th holes. He finished with a one-under-par 69 which catapulted him 24 spots up the individual leaderboard.

The sophomore duo of Thorbjornsen and Vilips continued their strong play in the second round, each improving on their first-round score by one stroke. Thorbjornsen’s one-over-par total through the first two rounds placed him in the top-10.

Entering the final round, the Cardinal found themselves in the middle of the pack. The team was in a tie for seventh place and 14 strokes behind tournament leader North Carolina. To post a strong tournament finish, the Cardinal would need to go low in the final round.

And that’s exactly what they did. On Sunday, Stanford shot the lowest team score, a one-under-par 279.

All four of Stanford’s counting golfers equaled or bettered their best round of the week. Shimp caught fire on the back nine, making five birdies en route to a score of 68. Thorbjornsen made four birdies of his own in his round of 69, while Brown and Vilips each shot 71.

Thorbjornsen’s consistency throughout all three rounds led to the first top-10 of his collegiate career, a tie for seventh place. Shimp finished just behind in a tie for 12th, while Vilips ended in a tie for 20th.

As a team, Stanford moved up three spots on Sunday and placed fourth overall. Only No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 3 Arizona State and the tournament champions, No. 4 North Carolina, finished ahead of the Cardinal. Stanford was able to defeat several strong programs, including No. 1 Pepperdine, No. 10 Illinois and No. 12 Florida State.

The team will look to carry its momentum from the final round of the Fighting Illini Invitational to its next tournament, the Colonial Collegiate Invitational, which begins Oct. 4.

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Men’s golf to make season debut at The Fighting Illini Invitational https://stanforddaily.com/2021/09/16/mens-golf-to-make-season-debut-at-the-fighting-illini-invitational/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/09/16/mens-golf-to-make-season-debut-at-the-fighting-illini-invitational/#respond Fri, 17 Sep 2021 00:00:09 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1185072 In its first tournament of the season, Stanford men's golf will compete against the top teams in the country at Olympia Fields Country Club.

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Stanford men’s golf will open its season on Friday, competing in The Fighting Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields Country Club. With the entirety of their starting lineup returning from last season, the Cardinal will look to make a statement in their first event.

Stanford’s five-man lineup will feature sixth year Henry Shimp, senior Ethan Ng, junior Barclay Brown and sophomores Michael Thorbjornsen and Karl Vilips.

Shimp, who returns for his sixth year due to an NCAA COVID-19 eligibility extension, will look to pick up where he left off last season. In his final round of the year, Shimp shot an eight-under-par 64 to force a playoff for the Pac-12 Championship. Although Shimp ultimately finished in second, his performance at the conference championship earned him a spot on the All-Pac-12 Second Team.

As a senior, Ng brings valuable experience to the table. Other than Shimp, he is the only Cardinal golfer in the lineup who was on the 2019 NCAA Championship team. Last season, he posted the second-best scoring average for the Cardinal (71.80) and collected three top-20 tournament finishes along the way.

Brown was, for large swaths of last season, the best golfer on the team. He posted a team-best scoring average of 71.10 and was the only Cardinal golfer to win a tournament, picking up medalist honors at the Cowboy Classic in April. His performance on the course earned him several honors, including spots on both the All-Pac-12 First Team and the Great Britain and Ireland Walker Cup team.

Rounding out the Cardinal lineup is the sophomore duo of Thorbjornsen and Vilips. The two were fixtures in the starting lineup as freshman last season, only missing one event between the two of them. Both golfers were named to the All-Pac-12 Newcomer Team and recorded scoring averages below 73. 

Thorbjornsen is the Stanford golfer to watch this week as he comes off an incredible run in individual tournaments over the summer. In July, he won both the Massachusetts Amateur and the Western Amateur. For this performance, Thorbjornsen received the Ben Hogan Award for golfer of the month. In August, he competed in the US Amateur, the most prestigious tournament in amateur golf. Thorbjornsen survived stroke play qualifying at the US Amateur before being eliminated in the round of 32 in match play.

The Fighting Illini Invitational’s 15-team field is stacked and features the top five teams in the country. At No. 15 in the preseason poll, Stanford is ranked behind seven teams competing in the tournament: No. 1 Pepperdine, No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 3 Arizona State, No. 4 North Carolina, No. 5 Texas, No. 10 Illinois and No. 12 Florida State.

In this week’s event, the Cardinal will not only be competing against the other teams in the tournament, but they will also be battling the golf course itself. Olympia Fields Country Club has hosted four professional majors in its history, including two US Open Championships. As such, the 7,200-yard course will be one of the toughest challenges the Cardinal face all season.

Stanford men’s golf will tee off at the three-day, 54-hole tournament on Friday morning in Olympia Fields, Ill.

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Shorthanded men’s golf misses NCAA Championship cut https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/19/shorthanded-mens-golf-misses-ncaa-championship-cut/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/19/shorthanded-mens-golf-misses-ncaa-championship-cut/#respond Thu, 20 May 2021 04:41:54 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1182721 Stanford men’s golf looked to qualify for its seventh consecutive NCAA Championship this week, competing in the NCAA Albuquerque Regional at the University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course. Needing a fifth place finish to advance, the Cardinal’s season came to an end as they finished in a tie for seventh.

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Stanford men’s golf looked to qualify for its seventh consecutive NCAA Championship this week, competing in the NCAA Albuquerque Regional at the University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course. The Cardinal needed a fifth place finish to advance, but their season came to an end as they finished in a tie for seventh.

Stanford was missing two of its top golfers this week: sophomore Barclay Brown and fifth year Henry Shimp. Brown had the lowest scoring average on the team (71.10) before the NCAA Regional and was named to the All Pac-12 First Team. Shimp, the only other Cardinal golfer to receive all-conference honors, recently finished second at the Pac-12 Championships.

Before the tournament, a Stanford Athletics representative told GolfChannel.com that Brown and Shimp were unable to compete “due to COVID-19 testing and contact tracing protocols.”

With Brown and Shimp unavailable, Coach Conrad Ray looked to senior Nate Menon and fifth year David Snyder to fill the starting lineup. Junior Daulet Tuleubayev also traveled to Albuquerque as a substitute.

In the first round of the NCAA Regional tournament, it was Snyder who led the way for the Cardinal. Snyder, after having finished in a tie for second place at the 2019 NCAA Regional, looked poised for another top finish in the opening round. He shot a two-under-par 70 to crack the top-10 on the individual leaderboard. Junior Ethan Ng and freshman Karl Vilips posted rounds of 72, while Menon shot a 73 to round out the Cardinal’s scoring.

At the conclusion of the first round, the Cardinal were in eighth place with a one-under-par total. However, Stanford was only six strokes behind the lead and two strokes behind fifth place.

In the second round, the Cardinal improved to four-under-par but remained in eighth place. Menon, Vilips and freshman Michael Thorbjornsen all shot two-under-par. Snyder followed his first-round 70 with a second-round 73.

Entering the final round, the Cardinal were four strokes behind the projected cut. To qualify for the NCAA Championship, Stanford would have to surpass some very talented teams including No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 14 Texas A&M.

On the front nine Wednesday, it looked like the Cardinal might do just that. The team came out firing and, through the first five holes, was in a tie for fifth place. Menon and Ng led the Cardinal with bogey-free scores of 34 on the front.

After a tough start to the back nine, the Cardinal made one final push to qualify for the NCAA Championship. Following bogeys on the 10th and 13th holes, Thorbjornsen birdied the 14th, 15th and 18th holes to shoot 71. Vilips played the back nine in one-under-par to finish at three-under-par for the tournament. Menon, who recorded a triple bogey on the 14th hole, rebounded and finished birdie-eagle.

Unfortunately, it was too little, too late for the Cardinal, who ended the tournament four strokes behind fifth-place San Diego.

Texas Tech won the tournament at 26-under-par, while Arizona State, Oregon State, Oklahoma and San Diego all punched their tickets to the NCAA Championship as well.

Although the Cardinal came up short, head coach Conrad Ray said he was pleased with how the team handled adversity.

“Our guys gave it their all this week,” he told GoStanford. “The guys battled and did their best. I’m proud of the progress we made as a team in a very challenging year.”

Overall, the Stanford men’s golf team had a successful season. With its entire fall schedule halted as result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stanford still managed to record four top-five tournament finishes, including a second place at the Western Intercollegiate and a third-place mark at the Pac-12 Championships. With Brown, Menon, Ng, Thorbjornsen, Tuleubayev and Vilips all returning, the Cardinal should be on everyone’s radar next season.

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Men’s golf readies for NCAA Regionals https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/16/mens-golf-readies-for-ncaa-regionals/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/16/mens-golf-readies-for-ncaa-regionals/#respond Mon, 17 May 2021 03:45:10 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1182520 The Cardinal will need to finish in the top five to punch their ticket to the NCAA Championship.

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Stanford men’s golf heads to Albuquerque, N.M. this week for the NCAA Regional tournament at the University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course. The Cardinal will need to finish in the top five to punch their ticket to the NCAA Championship.

Stanford’s starting lineup will consist of fifth year David Snyder, senior Nate Menon, junior Ethan Ng and freshmen Michael Thorbjornsen and Karl Vilips. Junior Daulet Tuleubayev will be available as a substitute.

Although the Cardinal did not earn an automatic spot in the NCAA Regional by winning the Pac-12 Championship, their regular-season results were strong enough to get the attention of the NCAA men’s golf committee. The committee picked Stanford as the sixth seed in the tournament behind Oklahoma, Arizona State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and New Mexico.

The tournament field consists of eight more teams, including Oregon State, Boise State and South Carolina. 

Out of the golfers in the starting lineup this week, Ng boasts the lowest scoring average (71.47). While he has not yet cracked the top 10 in an event this season, he has been the model of consistency for the Cardinal, constantly posting scores in the red. In his last four events, he has finished in the top 20 three times. Most recently, he posted a five-under-par performance at the Pac-12 Championships to finish in a tie for 17th place.

Vilips is the only Cardinal golfer to play in every event this season. The freshman has three top-15 finishes on the year, including at the Western Intercollegiate. In the second round of the Western, he shot the lowest score of the tournament, a five-under-par 65. Although Vilips did not come away with the win, he got valuable experience playing in the final group and contending for an individual title.

Like Vilips, Thorbjornsen has been a fixture in the starting lineup this season. His season scoring average is 72.15, and he has three top-15 finishes. Thorbjornsen is also coming off his lowest collegiate round to date, a seven-under par 65 in the final round of the Pac-12 Championships. In his round, Thorbjornsen made six birdies, an eagle and just one bogey. With his ability to go low, Thorbjornsen is definitely a player to watch this week.

Menon enters into the NCAA Regional with a scoring average of 72.71. His best tournament of the season was the Western Intercollegiate, where he competed as an individual. In this first round, he shot an even-par 70 to beat every Stanford golfer in the starting lineup. In the end, he finished in a tie for 13th place and earned himself a spot in the lineup going forward.

Snyder will be making his first appearance in the starting lineup since The Goodwin in March. The fifth year will bring valuable experience to the team this week. In 2019, Snyder was an integral part of the NCAA Championship run. In that year’s regional tournament, he finished in a tie for second place to help the Cardinal win and advance to the NCAA Championship.

The Cardinal will begin their title defense early Monday morning in New Mexico.

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Shimp leads men’s golf to third place at Pac-12 Championships https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/29/shimp-leads-mens-golf-to-third-place-at-pac-12-championships/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/29/shimp-leads-mens-golf-to-third-place-at-pac-12-championships/#respond Fri, 30 Apr 2021 04:43:14 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1181794 Stanford men’s golf competed for its second consecutive Pac-12 title this week at Mayacama Golf Club in Santa Rosa, but fell short of capturing the conference title. Entering the final round in fifth place, the Cardinal shot the second-lowest single round score in Pac-12 Championships history to finish in third.

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Stanford men’s golf competed for its second consecutive Pac-12 title this week at Mayacama Golf Club in Santa Rosa, but fell short of capturing the conference title. Entering the final round in fifth place, the Cardinal shot the second-lowest single-round score in Pac-12 Championships history to finish in third. 

Fifth-year Henry Shimp narrowly missed out on the individual title, falling to Arizona’s Brad Reeves in a playoff.

At just 6,785 yards and with several reachable par fives, Mayacama lent itself to low scoring this week. Throughout the 36 holes of play on Monday, the Cardinal took advantage of Mayacama’s easy holes, but a few big numbers kept them from advancing past fourth place. 

In the morning round, junior Ethan Ng played the par fives in four-under-par en route to a 68. Shimp and freshman Karl Vilips both shot rounds of 71, while senior Nate Menon and sophomore Barclay Brown each posted 74.

In the afternoon, Ng birdied three holes on the front nine to reach a seven-under-par total for the tournament. Unfortunately, a triple bogey on the 10th hole and a double bogey on the 12th hole dropped him down the leaderboard. Vilips also fell victim to the big number, recording a quintuple bogey on the short par four 16th hole.

The score of the afternoon belonged to Shimp, who made seven birdies in his round of 69. He finished the round in a tie for eighth place at four-under-par.

As a team, the Cardinal recorded a five-under-par total for the 36 holes on Monday. Stanford trailed Oregon by 10 strokes, Arizona by 19 and Arizona State by 20 at the end of the day.

In the third round, the Cardinal improved to 11-under-par for the tournament but fell behind Oregon State.

Shimp continued his rise up the leaderboard. He made eight birdies to go against four bogeys and shoot 68. Freshman Michael Thorbjornsen made eight birdies as well, but a pair of costly double bogeys prevented him from breaking 70. Vilips also posted 70, highlighted by an eagle on the par four seventh hole.

At the conclusion of the third round, Stanford stood in fifth place — 18 strokes behind Arizona’s lead. The Cardinal led the field in birdies for the first three rounds, but struggled with par three scoring and overall consistency. To contend for the conference championship, the Cardinal needed to post an extremely low final round score.

And that’s exactly what they did. In the last round, the Cardinal shot a sizzling 24-under-par 336. Stanford’s final round was the lowest of the tournament by eight strokes and the second lowest in Pac-12 Championships history. 

Teeing off first, Brown paced the Cardinal with a smooth 67 that included eight birdies. Vilips and Menon followed Brown with rounds of 71, while Ng shot a solid 69.

Thorbjornsen blitzed the front nine, making five birdies and no bogeys. An eagle on the par five 15th hole brought his score to seven-under-par. After his only bogey of the day on the 16th, Thorbjornsen finished with a birdie on the 18th to shoot 65. When Thorbjornsen signed his scorecard, his 65 was tied for the lowest round of the week.

Shimp started the final round in a tie for fifth place, four shots behind Arizona’s Brad Reeves, Oregon’s Yuki Moriyama and Arizona State’s Ryggs Johnston. Slowly but surely, he chipped away at the lead. He made birdies on the second, fourth, eighth and ninth holes to shoot 32 on the front nine and get within striking distance.

With two holes to play, Shimp was at 13-under-par for the tournament and three strokes behind Reeves. Since 18 was a reachable par five, a birdie-eagle finish was not out of the question, but Shimp would have to play flawless golf to do it and force a likely playoff.

On the long par three 17th, he striped a long iron to within 10 feet of the hole. He lined up his birdie putt and stroked it in the center of the cup to get to 14-under-par.

At the par five 18th, Shimp faced a long second shot over a water hazard. With his back against the wall, he hit another brilliant approach, expertly using the slope behind the pin to feed his ball close. He was left with just four feet for the eagle. 

With the championship on the line, Shimp rolled in the short eagle putt to get to 16-under-par. The eagle was the finishing touch on a course record-tying, eight-under-par 64.

Reeves had a chance to win the tournament outright with an eagle of his own on the 18th, but his putt slipped just past the hole. Shimp and Reeves would then enter a sudden death playoff, alternating between the first and 18th holes until a winner was crowned.

After tying the first playoff hole, Shimp and Reeves returned to the 18th. Both players found the fairway with their drives, leaving long iron shots in for their approaches. 

Shimp played first. To no one’s surprise, his approach shot cleared the water and headed right at the pin. In regulation play, Shimp had used the backstop behind the pin to make eagle. This time around, the ball did not bounce. It barely hung up on the back fringe, leaving Shimp an exceedingly difficult putt for his third. Reeves played next. His approach shot landed next to the pin and rolled off the slope to within eight feet of the hole.

These bounces decided the tournament. From Shimp’s position, he could not stop the ball near the hole due to the severe downslope. In the end, Reeves had an easy two-putt for the victory.

The final playoff hole was a bitter end to an exceptional round for Shimp and Stanford. The Cardinal beat every team in the field by at least 12 strokes in the final round, leading them to a third place finish behind Arizona and Arizona State.

Since Stanford did not win the conference championship, the team’s postseason future is uncertain. Given that the Cardinal have now finished in the top three in three of their last four tournaments, they may earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Regionals. The team will know for sure on May 5 at 11 a.m. PT, when the selections will be made on the GOLF Channel.

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Men’s golf heads to Pac-12 Championships https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/25/mens-golf-heads-to-pac-12-championships/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/25/mens-golf-heads-to-pac-12-championships/#respond Mon, 26 Apr 2021 03:56:40 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1181570 Stanford men’s golf travels north this week to compete in the Pac-12 Championships, held Monday through Wednesday at Mayacama Golf Club in Santa Rosa. The Cardinal have improved steadily over the course of the season and are in prime position to vie for a conference title.

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Stanford men’s golf travels north this week to compete in the Pac-12 Championships, held Monday through Wednesday at Mayacama Golf Club in Santa Rosa. The Cardinal have improved steadily over the course of the season and are in prime position to vie for a conference title.

Stanford’s starting lineup will feature six golfers: fifth year Henry Shimp, senior Nate Menon, junior Ethan Ng, sophomore Barclay Brown and freshmen Karl Vilips and Michael Thorbjornsen.

Brown has been the Cardinal’s number-one golfer this season. After a small hiccup in his first tournament of the year, he has been on a prolonged hot streak. Brown finished in the top 11 in each of the last four events, including at the Cowboy Classic, where he shot a final-round 65 to pick up his first collegiate win. His exceptional play of late earned him an invitation to the Walker Cup, the most prestigious match in amateur golf. Brown will look to add to his stellar resume this week at Mayacama.

In the Cardinal’s last tournament, the Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club, Vilips stole the show. His putter caught fire in the second round, and he posted a five-under-par 65. In the final round, Vilips hung around the lead before a double bogey on the 17th hole dropped him into a tie for sixth place. Although he was unable to pick up the win, the freshman showed he can perform at an elite level on the collegiate stage.

A recent addition to the Cardinal’s starting lineup is Shimp. While Shimp has not started in all of the events this season, he is the most experienced player on the roster. In 2019, he was an integral part of the team that won both the Pac-12 and NCAA tournaments. Most recently, he finished in a tie for sixth at the Western Intercollegiate. In his final round, he played a stretch of three holes in a remarkable four-under-par to jump up the leaderboard. 

Menon earned a spot in the starting lineup this week with a career-best finish at the Western Intercollegiate. Competing as an individual, Menon posted rounds of 70, 75 and 68 to tie for 13th place. As a senior, he will also bring valuable experience to the team at Mayacama.

The Pac-12 field is strong, but Stanford has fared well against conference competition this season. At No. 32, Stanford is the third-ranked team in the Pac-12 behind No. 9 Arizona State and No. 21 Arizona.  Additionally, the Cardinal boast a 17-9 head-to-head record against Pac-12 teams in tournaments this season.

Like the Western Intercollegiate, the Pac-12 Championships features a play-six, count-five format. This scoring system puts a premium on consistency, as two bad scores can derail a team’s chances of winning. All six Cardinal golfers in the starting lineup have recorded a top-15 finish this season, so the team should benefit from this format.

The Cardinal are set to tee off early Monday morning in Santa Rosa.

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Men’s golf finishes second at Western Intercollegiate https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/14/mens-golf-finishes-runner-up-at-western-intercollegiate/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/14/mens-golf-finishes-runner-up-at-western-intercollegiate/#respond Thu, 15 Apr 2021 05:36:21 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1181168 To close its regular season, Stanford men’s golf competed in the 74th annual Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz. The Cardinal relied on its depth throughout the three-day event to beat all teams but one: No. 7 Pepperdine.

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To close its regular season, Stanford men’s golf competed in the 74th annual Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz. The Cardinal relied on its depth throughout the three-day event to beat all teams but one: No. 7 Pepperdine.

The Western Intercollegiate has a unique format, in that teams send out six golfers and count the five lowest scores. The consequence of this play-six, count-five format is that teams must put consistently low scores on the board to succeed.

In round one of the tournament, Stanford was the model of consistency. All six golfers in the starting lineup shot rounds between 71 and 73, and the Cardinal moved into fourth place out of the 13 teams. Junior Daulet Tuleubayev and freshman Michael Thorbjornsen led the way with rounds of one-over-par 71, while fifth year Henry Shimp, junior Ethan Ng and sophomore Barclay Brown all posted 72.

However, the lowest round of the day came from senior Nate Menon, who was competing in the tournament as an individual. Menon went bogey-free for his last 14 holes to shoot even par and tie for 12th.

The shot of the tournament came from freshman Jake Beber-Frankel in the first round. On the 15th hole, one of Pasatiempo’s signature par threes, Beber-Frankel spun a 52-degree wedge back into the cup for his first collegiate hole-in-one.

The second round belonged to freshman Karl Vilips. After a one-over-par start through three holes, Vilips caught fire with his putter and made a remarkable seven birdies. He dropped a shot on the difficult 18th hole but still recorded the lowest round of the tournament, a five-under-par 65. 

Brown made three birdies and just two bogeys to shoot 69 in the second round. Shimp and Thorbjornsen chipped in rounds of 71, while Tuleubayev and Ng both shot 76. After round two, the Cardinal was in third place behind Washington and Pepperdine.

In the final round, the Cardinal posted the second-best team score for the tournament: a three-under-par 347. However, this solid play was not enough to catch a very strong Pepperdine team.

Shimp drew on his past experience at Pasatiempo to shoot the best round of the day. After an even-par first 11 holes, he went birdie-birdie-eagle to reach four under par. Shimp didn’t let up and finished the round with a sizzling 66. His one-under-par total for the three rounds was good for a tie for sixth overall.

Vilips’ stellar play on Tuesday earned him a spot in the final group. Playing alongside Pepperdine junior Joe Highsmith and BYU junior Carson Lundell, Vilips made a run at the coveted Blue Jacket. An eagle at the sixth hole followed by birdies at the seventh and ninth brought him to within one shot of the lead. 

By the 17th hole, Vilips still had a chance at the title and was only two strokes behind Highsmith. Unfortunately, an untimely double bogey all but erased his chances at a victory.

Despite not winning, this was a very strong week for the Cardinal. Stanford beat several highly ranked teams, including No. 23 San Diego State and No. 43 Washington. Additionally, five Cardinal golfers placed in the top 15 (Vilips, Shimp, Brown, Thorbjornsen and Menon).

The Cardinal will look to bring this consistency to its next event, the Pac-12 Championships, which begin on April 26.

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Men’s golf to close regular season at Western Intercollegiate https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/11/mens-golf-to-close-regular-season/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/11/mens-golf-to-close-regular-season/#respond Mon, 12 Apr 2021 04:20:44 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1180974 After a strong showing in the Arizona desert, Stanford men’s golf returns to California to compete in the 74th annual Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz. The tournament marks the last regular-season event before the Pac-12 Championships and will be a great test for the Cardinal.

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After a strong showing in the Arizona desert, Stanford men’s golf returns to California to compete in the 74th annual Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz. The tournament marks the last regular-season event before the Pac-12 Championships and will be a great test for the Cardinal.

Stanford’s starting lineup will feature fifth year Henry Shimp, juniors Ethan Ng and Daulet Tuleubayev, sophomore Barclay Brown and freshmen fixtures Michael Thorbjornsen and Karl Vilips. The Cardinal will also send out five individuals — fifth years David Snyder and David Leede, seniors Nate Menon and Ashwin Arasu and freshman Jake Beber-Frankel — to play in the tournament.

Brown comes into the Western Intercollegiate as the man to beat. Earlier in the season, he posted strong finishes at both the Bandon Dunes Championship and The Goodwin. Last week, his hard work and perseverance paid off, as he earned his first ever collegiate win at the Cowboy Classic. In the final round, Brown’s putter caught fire, and he torched the course for a score of 65. Look out for Brown this week.

Behind Brown, Ng has the best scoring average on the team at 71.5. After recording a top-15 finish at The Goodwin, Ng fired two rounds of 69 at Cowboy Classic to hold eighth place heading into the final day. Although a round 73 dropped Ng into a tie for 14th place, his game seems to be in a great spot to contend in the Western Intercollegiate this week.

Two new additions to the Cardinal lineup are Shimp and Tuleubayev. Although the two golfers have not been consistent starters this season, both were instrumental in the 2019 NCAA Championship run and have valuable experience at Pasatiempo. In the 2019 Western Intercollegiate, Shimp shot back-to-back rounds of 68 to grab a tie for 11th place. Tuleubayev, who was just a freshman at the time, posted a four-over-par total for the three rounds to finish in 26th. Their scores helped Stanford cruise to a six-stroke team victory.

In this week’s competition, the Cardinal will not only be facing off against the other teams in the tournament, but will also be battling the golf course itself. At just 6,615 yards, Pasatiempo Golf Club may be the shortest test the Cardinal has faced all season, but it is far from the easiest. The Alister MacKenize-designed golf course is strategically laid out and has notoriously fast and difficult greens. The Cardinal will need to successfully negotiate these undulating putting surfaces if they want to make a run at a team title.

The Western Intercollegiate, hosted by San Jose State, is the oldest collegiate golf tournament west of the Mississippi River. The tournament has an illustrious history, with past winners including Ken Venturi, Johnny Miller, Mark O’Meara and Maverick McNealy ’17. The tournament receives national attention and will be broadcast live on the Golf Channel for all three days.

The tournament field consists of 14 teams, including Pac-12 foes Arizona, Cal, Oregon, USC and Washington. UCLA recently withdrew from the Western Intercollegiate “due to minimum players standards not being met.”

The Cardinal is set to tee off Monday morning in Santa Cruz.

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Brown claims individual title at Cowboy Classic https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/06/brown-claims-individual-title-at-cowboy-classic/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/06/brown-claims-individual-title-at-cowboy-classic/#respond Wed, 07 Apr 2021 04:07:10 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1180785 Stanford men’s golf spent two days in Chandler, Ariz. competing against 22 West Coast programs in the Cowboy Classic. After a strong 36-hole start on Monday, Cardinal sophomore Barclay Brown shot a sizzling 65 in the final round to win his first individual collegiate title.

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Stanford men’s golf spent two days in Chandler, Ariz. competing against 22 West Coast programs in the Cowboy Classic. After a strong 36-hole start on Monday, Cardinal sophomore Barclay Brown shot a sizzling 65 in the final round to win his first individual collegiate title.

Behind Brown’s dominant showing, the Cardinal placed fifth out of 23 teams.

The Cowboy Classic took place at Whirlwind Golf Club’s Cattail Course. At 7,334 yards, the par-72 Cattail Course was the longest yardage the Cardinal faced thus far this season, but the length did little to faze Stanford. In the dry desert heat, conditions were ripe for scoring.

After the front nine on Monday, it became clear that winning the Cowboy Classic would require a barrage of birdies.

Brown was up to the challenge. The sophomore came into the tournament fresh off strong finishes at the Bandon Dunes Championship and at the Cardinal’s home tournament, The Goodwin. Additionally, Brown was recently invited to compete in the most prestigious match in amateur golf, the Walker Cup, this May.

With sky high momentum and his golf swing in tune, Brown rolled to a two-under-par 70 in the morning round on Monday. He made six birdies and played the four par fives in a perfect four-under-par. Yet despite such a solid first round, Brown was five shots off the lead in a tie for 19th place. He would have to make a move in the afternoon round if he wanted to vie for an individual title.

And make a move he did. Starting on the back nine, Brown played his first seven holes in even par before catching fire. On the 17th hole — his eighth of the day — he made birdie, kicking off a stretch of seven holes that he played in five-under-par. In the end, he finished with a score of 67, which catapulted him up the leaderboard into a tie for fifth.

Before this week, Brown had never won a collegiate tournament. Last spring, as a freshman, he came excruciatingly close at the Cabo Collegiate. In that tournament, Texas A&M junior Walker Lee came from behind and closed with an eagle to clip Brown by a single shot. Even if he didn’t come away with the win that week, Brown gained invaluable final round experience.

This week, Brown would be the one to steal the tournament. In the final round, he played nearly flawless golf, riding a hot putter to the finish. 

After six birdies and no bogeys, Brown came into the final hole with a one-stroke lead. He striped his approach to within six feet. With his excited teammates watching and head coach Conrad Ray holding the pin, Brown rolled in the birdie putt for a two-stroke victory.

With his win, Brown became the first Cardinal golfer to pick up medalist honors since Isaiah Salinda ’19 won the 2019 NCAA Stanford Regional. 

Junior Ethan Ng posted five-under-par for the tournament to tie for 14th overall. Freshmen Michael Thorbjornsen and Karl Vilips shot at two and three-over-par, respectively, while senior Nate Menon finished at five-over-par.

Next up for Stanford is the Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, beginning on April 12. The last time the tournament was held, in 2019, the Cardinal won by six shots.

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Cowboy Classic on tap for men’s golf https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/04/cowboy-classic-on-tap-for-mens-golf/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/04/cowboy-classic-on-tap-for-mens-golf/#respond Mon, 05 Apr 2021 05:21:57 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1180680 Stanford men’s golf travels to the desert this week to compete in the Cowboy Classic at Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona. The Cardinal will take on 22 teams, including Colorado, Oregon and UCLA, in this two-day tournament.

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Stanford men’s golf travels to the desert this week to compete in the Cowboy Classic at Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Ariz. The Cardinal will take on 22 teams, including Colorado, Oregon and UCLA, in this two-day tournament.

The Cardinal’s five-man lineup will consist of senior Nate Menon, junior Ethan Ng, sophomore Barclay Brown and freshmen Michael Thorbjornsen and Karl Vilips.

Menon will be making his first team start since the Cabo Collegiate back in early March. However, he got the competitive juices flowing by playing in The Goodwin last week as an individual. Following a lackluster first-round 75, Menon rebounded with scores of 69 and 67 to finish in a tie for 21st. His four-under-par performance in the final two rounds was tied for the lowest on the team and earned him a spot in the starting lineup.

Brown comes into the tournament with the lowest scoring average on the team (71) and back-to-back strong tournament results. At the Bandon Dunes Championship, Brown successfully battled the Pacific Northwest elements for a top-five finish. At The Goodwin, Brown led the Cardinal with a two-under-par score and a tie for 11th.

Brown, originally from South Yorkshire, England, was also recently named as one of 10 players to represent Great Britain and Ireland in the Walker Cup in May. Brown’s confidence should be sky-high coming into the Cowboy Classic after earning the prestigious invitation.

The three remaining Cardinal golfers — Ng, Thorbjornsen and Vilips — all finished in a tie for 14th at The Goodwin last week. Thorbjornsen led the Cardinal with an opening round 67 before finishing at one-under-par for the tournament. Vilips posted par or better rounds each day to grab his second top-15 finish of the season and Ng improved his season scoring average to 71.5. All three golfers will look to build on their success with another strong performance in Arizona.

This week’s event could be pivotal for Stanford. The defending NCAA Champions are currently ranked outside of the top-25 in the country with two tournaments remaining before the Pac-12 Championships. In the Cardinal’s 2019 championship run, the team posted similar results early in the season before catching fire in the late spring. A top finish at the Cowboy Classic might be just the spark the Cardinal needs before postseason play commences.

The Cowboy Classic will take place at Whirlwind Golf Club’s 7,334-yard Cattail Course. Players will complete 36 holes on Monday and 18 holes Tuesday. With the forecast calling for temperatures above 90 degrees, Monday’s two rounds will be a test of the Cardinal’s endurance.

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Men’s golf takes second at The Goodwin https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/28/mens-golf-takes-second-at-the-goodwin/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/28/mens-golf-takes-second-at-the-goodwin/#respond Mon, 29 Mar 2021 05:11:30 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1180241 To close its Spring Break, Stanford men’s golf played host to 28 collegiate teams in the 51st edition of The Goodwin at the Stanford Golf Course. The Cardinal posted consistently low scores throughout the three-day event, beating all teams but one: Arizona State.

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To close its spring break, Stanford men’s golf played host to 28 collegiate teams in the 51st edition of The Goodwin at the Stanford Golf Course. The Cardinal posted consistently low scores throughout the three-day event, beating all teams but one: Arizona State.

In early season events, the Cardinal struggled in opening rounds. The team’s first round scoring average was over 11 shots worse than its average for the next two days. However, in the opening round of The Goodwin, Stanford reversed this trend.

On Friday, the Cardinal came out firing on its home course. Freshman Michael Thorbjornsen led the way for Stanford with a three-under-par 67. Thorbjornsen’s bogey-free back nine was punctuated by an eagle on the par five 16th hole. Junior Ethan Ng cruised to a two-under-par 68, while fifth year David Snyder and freshman Karl Vilips added rounds of 70. At the conclusion of day one, the Cardinal led the 28-team field with a score of five-under-par 275.

On Saturday, the Cardinal posted the third-best score in the field, but fell behind Arizona State by five shots. Sophomore Barclay Brown fired a two-under-par 68. Vilips made a remarkable seven birdies in his second round 69. Thorbjornsen shot 71, and Ng shot 73 to round out the Cardinal’s scoring.

In the final round of The Goodwin, the Cardinal made a run for the team title, but Arizona State ran away from the field on the back nine.

Brown continued his impressive play with his second consecutive round of 68. Ng birdied four of the last eight holes to also shoot 68. Thorbjornsen and Vilips posted rounds of 70 and 71, respectively, as the Cardinal shot a three-under-par 277 in the final round.

Consistency was key for the Cardinal this week. Brown finished at two-under-par for the tournament to grab a share of 11th place. Ng, Thorbjornsen and Vilips all shot one-under-par to tie for 14th. With four of five golfers in the starting lineup in the top 15, Stanford was nearly impossible to defeat. Indeed, with the exception of Arizona State, Stanford beat every team in the field by at least nine shots.

The Cardinal also sent out six golfers — fifth years Henry Shimp and David Leede, seniors Nate Menon and Ashwin Arasu, junior Daulet Tuleubayev and freshman Jake Beber-Frankel — to compete in the tournament as individuals.

Menon improved his score each round to grab the best finish out of the Cardinal individuals. His rounds of 69 and 67 on the weekend put him in a tie for 21st place overall. Shimp and Tuleubayev both finished at three-over-par to tie for 33rd, and Beber-Frankel placed in a tie for 43rd.

Overall, this was a very strong week for Stanford men’s golf. The Cardinal beat several top programs in the country — No. 12 Pepperdine and No. 19 SMU — as well as many in-conference rivals, including Cal, Colorado, Oregon, USC, UCLA, Washington and Washington State. Stanford will look to carry its momentum from The Goodwin to the Cowboy Classic, which begins April 5 in Mesa, Ariz.

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Men’s golf set to host The Goodwin https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/24/mens-golf-set-to-host-the-goodwin/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/24/mens-golf-set-to-host-the-goodwin/#respond Thu, 25 Mar 2021 04:53:37 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1180149 After two weeks off from competitive play, Stanford men’s golf will return to action Thursday, hosting The Goodwin at the par-70 Stanford Golf Course. With a stacked field of 28 teams including several Pac-12 rivals, The Goodwin will be a great test for this talented Cardinal team.

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After two weeks off from competitive play, Stanford men’s golf will return to action Thursday, hosting The Goodwin at the par-70 Stanford Golf Course.  With a stacked field of 28 teams including several Pac-12 rivals, The Goodwin will be a great test for this talented Cardinal team.

The Stanford starting lineup will include fifth-year David Snyder, junior Ethan Ng, sophomore Barclay Brown and freshmen Karl Vilips and Michael Thorbjornsen. Additionally, the Cardinal will send out a group of six individuals — fifth years Henry Shimp and David Leede, seniors Nate Menon and Ashwin Arasu, junior Daulet Tuleubayev and freshman Jake Beber-Frankel — to compete in the tournament.

The Cardinal will look to draw on its success from the last playing of The Goodwin in 2019. In that tournament, Stanford pulled away from the field in the final round, shooting a six-under-par 274 to win by 18 strokes.  

Snyder had his career best finish at the last Goodwin. Needing a birdie on the final hole of the tournament, Snyder drilled a 40-foot putt to force a sudden death playoff for the individual title. Although Snyder eventually lost the playoff to teammate Brandon Wu ’19, his four-under-par 206 propelled Stanford to a big team victory. 

Brown enters this week with the lowest scoring average on the team (71.83).  Brown is fresh off a top-five finish at his most recent tournament, the Bandon Dunes Championship. On the Bandon Trails course, Brown shot rounds of 69, 71 and 69 to post the lowest Cardinal score.

Stanford’s freshman trio of Vilips, Thorbjornsen and Beber-Frankel will also look to go low in their first career home event. Vilips is the only Cardinal golfer to play in every tournament so far this season. His consistent play was highlighted by a 12th place finish at The Prestige. Thorbjornsen sat out the Bandon Dunes Championship, but had strong performances in both The Prestige and the early season match against Santa Clara. Beber-Frankel made his collegiate debut at the Bandon Dunes Championship, improving his score each round to finish in 55th place.

In the early season, the Cardinal has struggled in opening rounds. The team’s scoring average in first rounds of tournaments is just above 16-over-par. While the Cardinal has battled back in the second and final rounds, poor first round performances have kept it from competing for team titles early this season. A key for the Cardinal this week will be to get off to a hot start on its home course.

The Cardinal is set to tee off in the three-day tournament Thursday morning.

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Men’s golf ties for sixth at Bandon Dunes Championship https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/09/mens-golf-ties-for-sixth-at-bandon-dunes-championship/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/09/mens-golf-ties-for-sixth-at-bandon-dunes-championship/#respond Wed, 10 Mar 2021 05:17:45 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1179469 Stanford men’s golf spent three days battling the elements in the Pacific Northwest at the Bandon Dunes Championship this week. Led by sophomore Barclay Brown, the Cardinal improved its position in the tournament each round, ultimately finishing in a tie for sixth.

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Stanford men’s golf spent three days battling the elements in the Pacific Northwest at the Bandon Dunes Championship this week. Led by sophomore Barclay Brown, the Cardinal improved its position in the tournament each round, ultimately finishing in a tie for sixth.

Brown opened the week on a strong note, posting a two-under-par 69 in his first round at Bandon Trails. Brown made a trio of birdies to go against just one bogey. Freshman Karl Vilips played a rollercoaster of a round on day one. He made a team-high six birdies, but also had five bogeys and a double bogey in his round of 72. Junior Ethan Ng and fifth year David Snyder chipped in rounds of 73 and 75, respectively, as the Cardinal finished the day in ninth place out of 14 teams.

In the second round, the Cardinal improved its team score by two shots and moved into eighth place. Ng went bogey-free in his last 12 holes to shoot a one-under-par 70. Brown continued his solid play with an even-par 71, while Snyder shot a one-over-par 72. Freshman Jake Beber-Frankel, making his collegiate debut, posted the last counting score for the Cardinal, a three-over-par 74. When the day ended, the Cardinal had shot a three-over-par 287 as a team.

In the third and final round, the Cardinal once again shot 287 and managed to move past two teams into a tie for sixth place. Brown put the finishing touches on a solid week of golf with his second 69 of the tournament. He ended in a tie for fifth place as an individual to be the lowest Cardinal finisher in the tournament. Snyder also broke 70 on Tuesday, shooting 69 to snag a tie for 16th place.

Stanford finished at 11-over-par for the three-day event, 27 shots off of the University of San Francisco’s pace. The Dons won the tournament by a remarkable 21 shots. Fresno State’s junior Tommy Stephenson took home the individual title with a score of eight-under-par for the three rounds.

The Cardinal will be off for the next two weeks before returning home to host The Goodwin at the Stanford Golf Course. The last time the tournament was held, in 2019, the Cardinal won by 18 shots. Stanford men’s golf will look to repeat at The Goodwin, which starts on March 25.

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Men’s golf to tee off at Bandon Dunes Championships https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/06/mens-golf-to-tee-off-at-bandon-dunes-championships/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/06/mens-golf-to-tee-off-at-bandon-dunes-championships/#respond Sun, 07 Mar 2021 04:34:10 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1179215 After a tough three days of play at the Cabo Collegiate in San Antonio, Stanford men’s golf will head to Oregon to compete in the Bandon Dunes Championship beginning Sunday.

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After a tough three days of play at the Cabo Collegiate in San Antonio, Stanford men’s golf will head to Oregon to compete in the Bandon Dunes Championship beginning Sunday.  

The Cardinal starting lineup will consist of fifth year David Snyder, junior Ethan Ng, sophomore Barclay Brown, freshman Karl Vilips and freshman Jake Beber-Frankel.

Last week, Snyder posted the best Cardinal finish in San Antonio.  In cold and windy conditions, he managed a score of 14-over-par for the three days to place in a tie for 65th.  Vilips, who got off to a slow start in San Antonio, rebounded with a strong final round performance.  His two-over-par 74 was the best Cardinal round on Wednesday.

Ng and Brown will play their first event since they teamed up to beat Santa Clara in a match on Feb. 22.  In that best-ball match, Ng and Brown shot a remarkable 5-under-par 30 on the front nine en route to a 3-and-2 victory.

Beber-Frankel will be making his collegiate debut at Bandon Dunes.  Beber-Frankel is part of the highly-regarded 2024 recruiting class and boasts a strong amateur record.  In high school, he was a two-time Rolex Junior All-American, and he set the tournament record at the Junior PGA Championship with a round of 60.

The Bandon Dunes Championship will take place on the par-71 Bandon Trails course.  Although no Cardinal golfer has previously competed in the Bandon Dunes Championship, some players already have experience on the course.  Snyder competed in the 2020 US Amateur at Bandon Dunes and Bandon Trails, while Vilips caddied for current teammate freshman Michael Thorbjornsen in the same tournament.

Last week’s tough conditions at the Cabo Collegiate should prepare the Cardinal for Bandon. The links course on the Oregon coast is famous for its inclement weather.  With the forecast currently calling for temperatures in the low 50s with high winds and possible rain, the Cardinal will need to successfully battle the elements if it wants to make a run at the title.

The tournament field consists of 14 teams, including Oregon, Oregon State, Utah and Washington State.  The Cardinal is set to tee off Sunday morning in Bandon.

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Men’s golf wins match play event against Santa Clara https://stanforddaily.com/2021/02/22/mens-golf-wins-against-santa-clara/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/02/22/mens-golf-wins-against-santa-clara/#respond Tue, 23 Feb 2021 07:07:04 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1178444 After posting an impressive final round at The Prestige, Stanford men’s golf returned home to host Santa Clara in an all-day match play event, capitalizing on consistent play in both the morning and afternoon sessions to take down the Broncos by an overall score of 8-5.

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After posting an impressive final round in the desert at The Prestige, Stanford men’s golf returned home to host Santa Clara in an all-day match play event at the Stanford Golf Course. The Cardinal capitalized on consistent play in both the morning and afternoon sessions to take down the Broncos by an overall score of 8-5.

The match, which was scheduled to get both teams some competitive reps following the COVID-19 delay, had an unusual format. In the morning, there were nine “medal matches,” designed as head-to-head matches decided by cumulative score instead of holes won, which were followed by four traditional fourball matches in the afternoon. 

The unique format allowed five Cardinal golfers to make their season debut: fifth years David Snyder and David Leede, senior Nate Menon and juniors Daulet Tuleubayev and Ethan Ng.

Snyder posted the best Stanford round in the morning session. He made four birdies and just three bogeys in his one-under-par 69 and five stroke victory over his opponent. Freshman Michael Thorbjornsen, who tied for 21st at The Prestige, continued his strong play with a one-over-par 71 and a 10-stroke victory. Three more wins from Menon, Leede and senior Ashwin Arasu gave the Cardinal a 5-4 advantage after the conclusion of the morning matches. 

The low round of the morning, though, belonged to Santa Clara senior Matt McCarty who shot a near-flawless 65 against freshman Karl Vilips.

The Cardinal played even better in the afternoon session, winning three of the four matches by significant margins. Vilips teamed up with Menon to shoot an exceptional seven-under-par best ball score through 13 holes. They did not get to put the finishing touches on their masterpiece of a round, however, because they won 6 and 5. Snyder built on his impressive play from the morning round, as he and Thorbjornsen shot a five-under-par 30 on the front nine en route to a 4 and 3 win. Sophomore Barclay Brown and Ng put the finishing touches on Stanford’s win over Santa Clara with a 3 and 2 triumph in the final afternoon match.

The season is still young for the men’s golf team, but strong performances in the final round of The Prestige and against Santa Clara might be a harbinger of big things to come. The Cardinal’s next stop is The Cabo Collegiate, a three-day tournament in San Antonio starting Mar. 1.

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Men’s golf finishes sixth at The Prestige https://stanforddaily.com/2021/02/17/mens-golf-finishes-sixth-at-the-prestige-2/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/02/17/mens-golf-finishes-sixth-at-the-prestige-2/#respond Thu, 18 Feb 2021 04:32:27 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1178162 In its first tournament action in nearly a year, the Stanford men’s golf team placed sixth at The Prestige at PGA West.

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In its first tournament action in nearly a year, the Stanford men’s golf team placed sixth at The Prestige at PGA West. After a lackluster first two rounds, the defending NCAA champions posted the lowest team score in the final round, a stellar eight-under-par 276.

The freshman duo of Karl Vilips and Michael Thorbjornsen led the Cardinal on day one. Vilips carded five birdies en route to a two-under-par 69 in his first collegiate round, while Thorbjornsen shot an even-par 71. Fifth year Henry Shimp and senior Ashwin Arasu added rounds of 76, as the Cardinal ended the day in 20th place out of 24 teams.

In the second round, Stanford climbed two spots to reach 18th place as a team despite posting its worst score of the tournament. Shimp recorded a one-over-par 72, and sophomore Barclay Brown shot 74. Thorbjornsen and Vilips rounded out the top four scores for the team with rounds of 75 and 76, respectively.

On the final day of the tournament the Cardinal found its form, and each of its top four scoring players broke par. Brown channeled his success from The Prestige tournament last year, and he birdied three of the last four holes to shoot 68. Arasu made just one bogey in his round of 69, while Thorbjornsen’s bogey-free back nine propelled him to a one-under-par 70. Vilips shot his second 69 of the tournament to grab the lowest individual finish for Stanford, a tie for 12th place.  

When the dust had settled in the final round, the Cardinal had jumped 12 spots to take sixth place. The team finished 17 shots off of the co-champions Arizona and North Carolina.

The Cardinal will look to carry its momentum from the final round of The Prestige to its match against Santa Clara on Feb. 22 at The Farm.

This article has been updated to reflect that the next men’s golf match will be against Santa Clara on Feb. 22, not at the Pac-12 Championships on Apr. 26. The Daily regrets this error. 

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Recruiting roundup: Four golf standouts to the Farm https://stanforddaily.com/2020/11/19/sports-golfrecruits/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/11/19/sports-golfrecruits/#respond Fri, 20 Nov 2020 03:55:24 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1175402 After Albane Valenzuela and Andrea Lee left the Farm early last year to turn pro, the three women's golf standouts will be a welcome addition to a team that already includes two All-Americans in Aline Krauter and Angelina Ye.

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Multiple Stanford sports teams signed their newest group of commits to National Letters of Intent last week, including both the men’s and women’s golf teams. While the defending National Champion men’s team only added one player, the women’s team signed three to compete for the Cardinal next season.

Women’s Golf

Rose Zhang, Caroline Sturdza and Yu Wen Lu are joining the Cardinal women’s golf team next year, head coach Anne Walker announced last Wednesday on National Letter of Intent Day. After Albane Valenzuela and Andrea Lee left the Farm early last year to turn pro, the three standouts will be a welcome addition to a team that already includes two All-Americans in Aline Krauter and Angelina Ye. 

Zhang, who hails from Irvine, California, is the top-ranked amateur in the world according to the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) and won the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur. She was also named the Rolex Junior Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020 as well as the Curtis Cup Player of the Year for Southern California each year from 2017 to 2020. Walker told GoStanford, “[Zhang] will arrive at Stanford next fall with her eyes on the team record books and the opportunity to etch her name into Stanford Golf history as an individual and also, as a team player” and said “it will be a special time for Stanford Women’s Golf” when Zhang competes for the Cardinal.

Sturdza, a native of Geneva, Switzerland like Valenzuela, is also ranked in the top-250 of the WAGR, most recently coming in at No. 239. She scored an eighth place finish at the 2020 European Ladies’ Amateur Championship, won the Swiss National Interclubs A1 twice and finished first in the 2018 Swiss National Junior Interclubs tournament. Walker said her personality is “upbeat, positive and bubbly” and noted that she will be a “terrific teammate and contributor” to the Cardinal.

The Shanghai, China native Lu is ranked No. 773 in the WAGR and has four Top-20 finishes in the 2020 season to complement seven total Top-10 finishes in her golf career so far. Walker called her an “extremely patient, committed, and hardworking student and golfer” with a “positive and never quit attitude.”

Men’s Golf

The Cardinal only added one athlete, Alex Yang, to the mix for next season. The Hong Kong native played golf for Laurel Spring School in Ojai, California and is currently ranked No. 283 in the men’s WAGR. Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings also has him coming in at No. 190 in their current rankings.

His 2018 season was highlighted by an AJGA Rolex First-Team All-American selection, after he earned co-medalist honors at the US Amateur Qualifier at Hacienda, two more top-three finishes at the Ping Invitational and the Junior PGA Championships, and a top-15 finish at the Dogwood Invitational.

In 2019, he earned an AJGA honorable mention All-American selection after three top-four finishes at the Gobbler Amateur, Polo Junior Golf Classic and the Northwest Open Invitational, where he finished with low amateur honors. He was also a member of the Team USA squad that won the Junior Presidents Cup and competed with the West Team at the Wyndham Cup.

In 2020, he participated in the 2020 Western Amateur and was a Sweet 16 participant after a seventh place finish in stroke play. He also tied for 13th at the Hong Kong Open on the 2020 Asian Tour and won the low amateur competition in that tournament.

Head coach Conrad Ray said Wang “brings a wealth of experience and success in both competitive junior and amateur golf around the globe…we believe he is only going to get better. He is a student of the game and a great fit for our program.”

Contact Sofia Scekic at sscekic ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford golf teams return from competitive tournaments https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/11/stanford-golf-teams-return-from-competitive-tournaments/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/02/11/stanford-golf-teams-return-from-competitive-tournaments/#respond Wed, 12 Feb 2020 07:47:00 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1163906 Both Stanford golf programs competed away from the Farm this weekend. The men’s team placed 15th at the annual Amer Ari Intercollegiate in Kona, Hawaii, on Saturday, while the women’s team remained in-state, finishing seventh against a competitive field at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge on Tuesday.

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Both Stanford golf programs competed away from the Farm this weekend. The men’s team placed 15th at the annual Amer Ari Intercollegiate in Kona, Hawaii, on Saturday, while the women’s team remained in-state, finishing seventh against a competitive field at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge on Tuesday.

On the men’s side, Stanford’s best scorer was Daulet Tuleubayev. The sophomore, who was a pivotal element of last year’s NCAA title-winning season, competed as Stanford’s only individual in the three-day tournament. His 4-under 212 performance tied him for 32nd overall. 

As a team, the Cardinal finished 4-over 868, led by sophomore Ethan Ng’s even score of 216. After tallying 2-over 76 on Thursday, Ng closed with back-to-back 1-under 71s over the final two days to finish as Stanford’s highest team scorer. Seniors Henry Shimp and David Snyder also produced 71s on Saturday.

The following day, the women’s team opened its spring season at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, California. Competing for the first time since November, the team looked much different than it did in the fall, with seniors Andrea Lee and Albane Valenzuela electing to turn professional and forgo the remainders of their NCAA eligibility. 

Despite these lineup changes, Stanford women’s golf seemed to pick up right where it left off in the fall. Facing several of the best teams in the country, the No. 7 Cardinal defeated a number of top-20 teams, including No. 3 Wake Forest, No. 5 Arizona and No. 9 Florida, to finish seventh overall.

“To finish seventh in the toughest field of the year is a huge boost of confidence for the players on this team,” said women’s golf head coach Anne Walker on Tuesday. 

Stanford’s highest finisher was senior Ziyi Wang, who registered a 2-under 69 performance on Tuesday to place a career-high seventh overall, her fifth career top-10 finish. Wang, the only senior on the team, concluded the tournament with a 2-under 211.

“The last two days were especially strong and showed that we have the players to continue to compete on the national stage,” Walker said. “We will keep working hard and I am sure we will see some more great finishes ahead.”

Stanford women’s golf will head to Mexico for its next tournament, the Guadalajara International Invitational, beginning on Sunday. Meanwhile, the men’s team is back in action on Monday for The Prestige at PGA West in Indian Wells, California.

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s golf produces pair of top-10 finishers at Southwestern Invite https://stanforddaily.com/2020/01/28/mens-golf-produces-pair-of-top-10-finishers-at-southwestern-invite/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/01/28/mens-golf-produces-pair-of-top-10-finishers-at-southwestern-invite/#respond Wed, 29 Jan 2020 05:25:18 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1163052 Led by top-10 finishes from sophomores Ethan Ng and Freddie Lee, the Cardinal placed fifth overall with a 12-over 876 to open the spring season.

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After a hiatus from the fall season, Stanford men’s golf was back in action this week with the Southwestern Invitational on Monday and Tuesday. Led by top-10 finishes from sophomores Ethan Ng and Freddie Lee, the Cardinal placed fifth overall with a 12-over 876 to open the spring season. 

Host Pepperdine claimed the tournament win with a 14-under 850 on the team’s home course of North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, CA.

Heading into the third and final round on Tuesday, the Cardinal sat in sixth with its leading two golfers — Ng and Lee — tied for 14th place. But a resounding 3-under 285 team performance moved the Cardinal ahead one spot into fifth place by the end of the final round.

“I thought our guys played a lot of solid golf throughout the week,” said head coach Conrad Ray. “We hurt ourselves with too many careless bogeys from easy positions and some three putts on the greens, but overall it was a good way to open up the New Year. Pepperdine on their home course is a tough equation, but it was good to see what they have and what we can expect from a bunch of good teams in the field.” 

Ng had a particularly strong tournament finish. After shooting 5-over 77 in the opening round, the sophomore followed up with back-to-back 3-under 69s to tie his career low for a round. His performance was highlighted by four birdies and an eagle on the final round. He also played par 5s at 7-under over the two-day event. Behind a total of 215 strokes, Ng placed a team-high sixth.

Lee followed one stroke behind Ng, tying for ninth place with 216 strokes. The Australian native sandwiched a second-round 4-over 76 performance with two 2-under 70s, which included four birdies. He finished in the top-10 of a tournament for the first time in his career.

The team was also represented by senior Henry Shimp, freshman Barclay Brown and sophomore Daulet Tuleubayev. Junior Ashwin Arasu competed individually.

Men’s golf will continue its spring season with a trip to Kona, Hawaii for the Amer Ari intercollegiate from Feb. 6-8.

Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s golf reaches top-10 finish in Georgia https://stanforddaily.com/2019/10/22/mens-golf-reaches-top-10-finish-in-georgia/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/10/22/mens-golf-reaches-top-10-finish-in-georgia/#respond Tue, 22 Oct 2019 07:40:19 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1159020 This past weekend, the Cardinal’s fall season title defense and championship continued with a ninth-place finish at The Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational.

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This past weekend, the Cardinal’s fall season title defense and championship continued with a ninth-place finish at The Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational. The three-day tournament provided its fair share of highs and lows as Stanford relied on its senior David Snyder to get an early jump ahead of the competition. Steady performances from sophomore Ethan Ng and junior Nate Menon helped guide the club to a top-ten finish in what some would consider to be some of the toughest golfing conditions to play under. 

Following this weekend’s play in Georgia, the Cardinal has moved up eight places in the national rankings, improving to No. 27 in the country. With a three-round total score of (+9, 283-303-287=873), the Cardinal was able to outperform three teams in the top fifteen, including the host of the tournament, #1 Georgia Tech. 

As Stanford looks towards the remainder of the season, one thing remains absolutely critical for the Knowles Family Director of Men’s Golf Conrad Ray. “Our consistency needs to be improved during the off-season,” Ray said. “We need to work on production throughout the lineup.” 

The performances at the Georgia Invitational speak to Coach Ray’s point, but are also promising. For instance, the strong start to the tournament bodes well for Stanford’s repeat title efforts. The favorable positioning the Cardinal enjoyed early in the tournament against the likes of Duke and Georgia Tech was due to the incredible play of Snyder, who shot a five-under 67 in the first round. After the first day, Stanford was in second place overall behind Snyder’s golfing which tied for first place. That advantage slightly slipped away as the play continued into the weekend.

Day two saw solid individual play by junior Ashwin Arasu. To be honest, solid play may be a bit of an understatement. If defending the title against the top teams in the country wasn’t enough, the Cardinal had to face driving rains and Georgia’s surprisingly cold temperatures on Saturday.

“Saturday was was one of the toughest college golf days I’ve had in my career, weather-wise,” Ray said. “So I was proud of our guys and the fact that we had a chance to contend.” And contend they did, led by Arasu shooting the Cardinal’s best round in spite of the tough weather conditions.

Nevertheless, the true breakout of The Georgia Collegiate Invitational for the Cardinal was the dynamic play of Ng and Menon. Both players cracked the top-25, shooting identical numbers in all three rounds: (+3, 73-76-70 = 219). In a noteworthy showing, Ng was tied for best in the field with a 2.92 scoring average on par-3’s during the weekend.

In addition to helping the Cardinal hold on to their sixth-place finish and move up in the national rankings, there was something special in seeing Ng and Menon earn top-25 finishes. “We definitely have some work to do,” Ray said. “But I like what I’m seeing from a very balanced group. It was great to see Nate Menon and Ethan Ng collect top-25 finishes this weekend.”

We can only expect that this momentum carries into Stanford’s next all-day match at The Cypress Point Classic in Cypress Point Golf Club in Pebble Beach, Calif. on Monday, Oct. 28.  

Contact Joseph Anderson at jodieous ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s golf heads to Georgia Invitational https://stanforddaily.com/2019/10/18/mens-golf-heads-to-georgia-invitational/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/10/18/mens-golf-heads-to-georgia-invitational/#respond Fri, 18 Oct 2019 07:01:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1158800 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 October 18 to October 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.

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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.

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Stanford golf narrowly falls to Cal in Big Match https://stanforddaily.com/2019/10/11/stanford-golf-narrowly-falls-to-cal-in-big-match/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/10/11/stanford-golf-narrowly-falls-to-cal-in-big-match/#respond Fri, 11 Oct 2019 07:02:21 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1158437 As expected, the “Big Match” between rivals Stanford and California proved to be as eventful as it was last year. In yet another down-to-the-wire golf thriller at Menlo Country Club this Wednesday, Cal found a way to pull off a narrow 3.5-2.5 victory over the Cardinal for the second time in two years.

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As expected, the Big Match between rivals Stanford and California proved to be as eventful as it was last year. In yet another down-to-the-wire golf thriller at Menlo Country Club this Wednesday, Cal found a way to pull off a narrow 3.5-2.5 victory over the Cardinal for the second time in two years. 

First up in the competition for Stanford was the duo of freshman Angelina Ye and sophomore Ethan Ng. The momentum from Ng’s breakout performance at the Nike Collegiate Invitational last week continued into the Big Match as well. Ye’s putt on the 18th hole secured a tie against Cal’s James Song and Tzu-Yi Chang.

The Golden Bears’ early lead came against Stanford’s two San Diego natives sophomore Calista Reyes and junior Ashwin Arasu via an impressive 32-foot chip for birdie on the 18th hole by Cal’s Connor Golembeski. 

Unsurprisingly, the Cardinal responded immediately in the next round of matchups. Sophomore Aline Krauter and junior Nate Menon earned Stanford its first full point of the contest over Cal’s Ryan Helgans and Maria Herraez.

In the spirit of battle royales that have come to characterize the Big Match, the competition came down to the final matchup of the evening. With the score tied up, juniors David Snyder and Ziyi Wang represented the Cardinal versus Cal’s Cooper Hunt and Sophia Lundell. Snyder’s highlight came during the 16th hole with a chip in to maintain a tie versus Cal. 

The back-and-forth play continued into the 18th with the score all even between the two clubs. During the 18th, Wang’s well-stroked approach shot was matched by Cal’s Lundell, who also hit a beauty onto the green. With both golfers on the green, the game would slightly sway in Cal’s favor as Wang’s third shot fell short by about eight feet. Lundell’s putt happened to coast within two feet of the cup; his next shot hit par. With the game on the line, Wang’s final putt of the evening fell short a heartbreaking couple of inches, resulting in a nail-biting victory for the Golden Bears. 

On Friday, Stanford women’s golf returns home for the Stanford Intercollegiate. The Cardinal will play host to 16 other participating teams including Arizona, California, Florida, Northwestern, Oregon State, UCLA and USC. The men will look to rally back on Oct. 18 in Alpharetta, Georgia, at The Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational.

Contact Joseph Anderson at jodieous ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford golf takes on Cal in second-annual Big Match https://stanforddaily.com/2019/10/08/stanford-golf-takes-on-cal-in-second-annual-big-match/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/10/08/stanford-golf-takes-on-cal-in-second-annual-big-match/#respond Wed, 09 Oct 2019 06:09:55 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1158305 Stanford men’s and women’s golf teams will merge their golfing prowess to tee off against the Cal Golden Bears in the much anticipated inaugural "Big Match” at the Menlo Country Club on Wednesday.

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Stanford men’s and women’s golf teams will merge their golfing prowess to tee off against the Cal Golden Bears in the much anticipated “Big Match” at the Menlo Country Club on Wednesday.

In what will surely be another chance to fuel the historic rivalry between Cal and Stanford, expect nothing short of a showdown as Stanford seeks revenge from last year’s down-to-the-wire loss. The battle wages on as each school will pair a man and a woman for a total of six teams to face off in a match-play tournament.

For the women’s head coach Anne Walker, “The Big Match” signifies a bit more than another chance to improve Stanford’s rankings.

“We are very excited to play the second edition of the Big Match,” said Walker. “It is a unique format in college golf, pairing men’s and women’s players together. The long-standing school rivalry between Cal and Stanford never fails to produce drama, which will make for an exciting afternoon.”  

Stanford women’s golf returns to the green following a decisive first-place victory at the Molly College Invitational on Oct. 1. Leading the Cardinal is senior Andrea Lee, the No. 1 amateur golfer in the world, whose last win set the Stanford record for career women’s golf titles.

Following second and third-place respective finishes at The Molly, reigning Pac-12 Golfer of the Year Albane Valenzuela ’20 and the promising freshman Angelina Ye provide the one-two-three punch necessary to remain the presumptive favorites in this matchup. As for the Bears, they will be looking to rebound from their second-to-last finish as a team at the same invitational.

With their sights set on yet another title run this year, the Cardinal men return to Menlo Country Club under the stewardship of head coach Conrad Ray. The tandem for the defending NCAA champions will certainly be in full force behind the swinging power of the returning senior David Snyder and sophomore Ethan Ng.

Snyder, who tied for fourth at The Nike Collegiate Invitational will look to make the case for Stanford’s continued dominance in the sport. Seeking to replicate the performance from his first-ever top-20 tourney finish, Ng will get a chance to go head-to-head in matchups against Cal rivals like James Song, who earned three top-20 finishes for Cal as a freshman last season.

There should be no shortage of swings for Wednesday’s Big Match. And in the event that the match does not come down to a nail-biting final put, we can enjoy a championship showcasing of the combined forces of Stanford’s men’s and women’s golf teams. Juniors Ziyi Wang and David Snyder begin the battle royale against Cal’s Cooper Hunt and Sophia Lundell at 11:45 am.

Contact Joseph Anderson at jodieous ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Women’s golf dominates amid historic performance, men’s team struggles https://stanforddaily.com/2019/10/03/womens-golf-dominates-amid-historic-performance-mens-team-struggles/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/10/03/womens-golf-dominates-amid-historic-performance-mens-team-struggles/#respond Thu, 03 Oct 2019 07:02:13 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1158012 Swinging into action for the first time this season, Stanford women’s golf dominated the links in Portland, Oregon and came away from the Molly Intercollegiate on Tuesday with the team title as well as individual title, courtesy of senior Andrea Lee. Meanwhile, men’s golf finished ninth at the Nike College Invitational.

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Swinging into action for the first time this season, Stanford women’s golf dominated the links in Portland, Ore. and came away from the Molly Intercollegiate on Tuesday with the team title as well as the individual title, courtesy of senior Andrea Lee. Meanwhile, men’s golf finished ninth at the Nike College Invitational.

Lee’s first-place finish was her ninth collegiate victory with the Cardinal, topping Mhairi McKay (1994-97) for the individual title school record.

“No words can describe Andrea’s impact on the Stanford Golf program,” head coach Anne Walker told Stanford Athletics. “She has broken almost every record in the book and it’s hard to ever imagine another player coming close to matching her feat anytime soon.”

Lee was equally enthused by the team victory, honored to become the record-holder but focused on the season ahead.

“This is such a special start to the season, clinching both the individual and team victories,” Lee told Stanford Athletics. “I can’t wait to see what’s in store for us the rest of the season.”

Through three rounds of competition, women’s golf lorded over its competition, posting the first, second and fourth-lowest team scores — 3-over 291, even 288, 7-under 281 from rounds one through three — of the tournament. 

Stanford’s steady improvement from round to round spelled doom for the remaining ten teams as by the end of play, the Cardinal sat at 4-under-par and owned a staggering 26-point lead over the next closest team, Oregon. 

Besides Lee, freshman Angelina Ye made an impressive debut, placing second with a final score of 4-under-par in her first career collegiate tournament. 

2019 Pac-12 Women’s Golfer of the Year Albane Valenzuela rounded out the top three for both the Cardinal and overall, recording the best individual round in the competition with a 5-under 67 and finishing 2-under. 

Several miles west, in North Plains, Ore., men’s golf struggled in its first competition since the key losses of seniors Isaiah Salinda and Brandon Wu last season. 

Stanford placed ninth in a 15-team field with only two of its five starters — senior David Snyder at 8-under for a fourth-place tie and sophomore Ethan Ng at 3-under for 18th — shooting under par. 

As a team, Stanford was miles off the pace set by tournament winner Oklahoma, who shot 32 strokes better than the Cardinal’s 3-over 855 over three rounds. It was a shaky start for a men’s team looking to defend its 2019 NCAA title. 

Up next, both the women’s and men’s teams will take on Cal for the Big Match on Wednesday

Contact Andrew Tan at tandrew ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s golf wins program’s first NCAA title since 2007 https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/29/mens-golf-wins-programs-first-ncaa-title-since-2007/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/29/mens-golf-wins-programs-first-ncaa-title-since-2007/#respond Wed, 29 May 2019 23:20:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1155633 Stanford men’s golf celebrated early Wednesday morning at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas with the program’s ninth national title and its first since 2007. After eking out wins over third-seeded Wake Forest and second-seeded Vanderbilt in the quarter- and semifinals on Tuesday, the Cardinal dispatched No. 5 Texas 3-2 with none of its match wins reaching the final hole.

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Stanford men’s golf celebrated early Wednesday morning at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas with the program’s ninth national title and its first since 2007. After eking out wins over third-seeded Wake Forest and second-seeded Vanderbilt in the quarter- and semifinals on Tuesday, the Cardinal dispatched No. 5 Texas 3-2 with none of its match wins reaching the final hole.

In doing so, the Cardinal golfers added to an already impressive list of Stanford national championship teams this season that includes women’s volleyball, women’s swimming, men’s gymnastics, women’s water polo and women’s tennis. With Wednesday’s men’s golf national title, Stanford athletics has collected a nation-leading 123 NCAA titles and ties its record for most NCAA titles in an academic year with six, previously achieved in 1996-97.

Though the Cardinal entered the NCAA Tournament as an underdog — the No. 10 nationally ranked team in a field that included five of the top six teams in the country — the squad looked to have a legitimate shot at top honors as it traveled to Fayetteville on a burner, having won its last four tournaments.

Stanford made it five straight with strong play throughout the tournament from Friday to Wednesday with contributions from every member of the five-man contingent.

“I’m just so proud of these guys,” said Knowles Family Director of Men’s Golf Conrad Ray. “We battled all week. It is the longest week in golf, and to play that fine Texas team and do what we did today, I can’t say enough about my guys.”

Of all the heroic performances from the Cardinal, the consistency from seniors Brandon Wu and Isaiah Salinda stood out and provided the perfect ending to the duo’s collegiate careers.

Stanford’s dynamic one-two punch made it three-for-three in match play on Wednesday as each player won his individual matchup four-up with three holes to go after both had taken their quarter- and semifinal matches the day before.

The strong showing from Stanford’s top two players was representative of the breakout seasons put together by Wu and Salinda to carry the Cardinal to the national title.

Before the year, neither player had won a tournament in his collegiate career. Wu would pick up his first victory at the Goodwin on March 30 and Salinda registered his first individual win at the Western Intercollegiate on April 17 before quickly picking up his second at the NCAA Stanford Regional on May 15.

Besides these wins, both players also consistently placed in the top-10 in the home stretch of the season and only continued this level of play in the NCAA Championship.

While Wu and Salinda proved instrumental in Stanford’s championship run by giving the Cardinal wins in every round of match play, the team required a third individual win to advance against each opponent. It was this third winner from Tuesday to Wednesday morning that demonstrated Stanford’s depth and well-roundedness, with each of the remaining three players taking a turn giving Stanford its match-sealing victory.

Junior David Snyder and freshman Daulet Tuleubayev each sunk clutch putts on the last holes of their matches in the quarterfinal and semifinal respectively to help Stanford advance to the final. Wednesday was junior Henry Shimp’s turn.

Shimp did not take his match down to the wire as his teammates had done the day before, besting his opponent two-up with one hole left to go.

The men’s golf team (2007, 2019) became just the third men’s program to win multiple NCAA titles in the last 15 years, joining men’s gymnastics (2009, 2011, 2019) and men’s soccer (2015, 2016, 2017).

Contact Andrew Tan at tandrew ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s golf continues on road to NCAA Championship with two victories https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/29/mens-golf-continues-on-road-to-ncaa-championship-with-two-victories/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/29/mens-golf-continues-on-road-to-ncaa-championship-with-two-victories/#respond Wed, 29 May 2019 07:03:41 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1155580 Clutch play from junior David Snyder and freshman Daulet Tuleubayev helped Stanford men’s golf punch its ticket to the NCAA Championship Final, which will be held on Tuesday at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The sixth-seeded Cardinal took down No. 3 Wake Forest and No. 2 Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. Stanford will match up against No. 5 Texas in the final looking for its ninth national title and first since 2007.

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Clutch play from junior David Snyder and freshman Daulet Tuleubayev helped Stanford men’s golf punch its ticket to the NCAA Championship Final, which will be held on Tuesday at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The sixth-seeded Cardinal took down No. 3 Wake Forest and No. 2 Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. Stanford will match up against No. 5 Texas in the final looking for its ninth national title and first since 2007.

Stanford qualified for match-play by putting together four strong rounds from Friday to Monday. The Cardinal burst out of the gates to start the tournament in second after the first round and maintained that position, either in sole possession or in a tie for second, for the next two days. After Sunday, the field was cut down to the top 15 teams, and it appeared likely that Stanford would qualify for match play.

A shaky start on the front nine on Monday, however, left the possibility of a collapse and crash out of the tournament, heading into the back nine of the fourth round. Nevertheless, Stanford would steady and take the sixth spot at the end of the day.

Match play began Tuesday morning with eight teams in contention for the final and Stanford facing seemingly long odds to reach Wednesday. The field included five of the top six nationally-ranked teams — No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 3 Wake Forest, No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Texas and No. 6 Oklahoma — while the Cardinal entered the tournament ranked 10th.

Despite contesting elite teams, Stanford kept its cool and continued to play solid team golf, receiving key contributions from up and down the five-man lineup.

Snyder sealed the quarterfinal victory for Stanford with a match-deciding eight-foot putt to push the Cardinal past Wake Forest and onto the afternoon semifinal. Though Snyder’s clutch shot was the story of the morning, Salinda and Wu’s contributions were equally important to Stanford’s 3-2 match play upset of the Demon Deacons.

The dynamic senior duo of Isaiah Salinda and Brandon Wu reminded Cardinal fans just how much the team will miss them next year as both seniors continued to anchor the Stanford squad.

Salinda left no doubt in his matchup, putting his opponent away with a win on 17 to push him to three up with one hole remaining and thus ending the match. Salinda’s play was particularly impressive because he was down four holes at one point before winning six consecutive holes to take a two-hole led.

Meanwhile, Wu made even quicker work of his counterpart, going four up with three holes to go to cut his match three holes short of 18.

After a quick turnaround from the quarterfinal match, Stanford began play against Vanderbilt in the late morning about a half hour before noon.

Again, Salinda and Wu did not allow their matches to go the full 18 holes, with Salinda up three with two holes remaining and Wu up four with three left. Still, the final moments of the showdown between the Cardinal and the Commodores came down to the last hole yet again.

Tuleubayev had a four-hole lead heading into the final five holes and needed only one more win to secure Stanford’s place in the final. Over the next four holes, he lost three and tied one, cutting his lead down to one with only the 18th hole remaining. Tuleubayev’s opponent, Harrison Ott, put the pressure on him on the last hole — sinking a birdie putt and forcing Tuleubayev to sink an 18-footer to tie the hole and avoid extra holes to decide the match.

Cool and collected, Tuleubayev guided the ball into the cup and the celebration was on for the Stanford.

The finals appearance is the program’s first since 2008 when Stanford finished runner-up to UCLA. The squad matches up against fifth-seeded Texas, who defeated Oklahoma and Oklahoma State en route to the final, tomorrow beginning at 4:45 a.m. PST.

Contact Andrew Tan at tandrew ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s golf competes for national title https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/24/mens-golf-competes-for-national-title/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/24/mens-golf-competes-for-national-title/#respond Fri, 24 May 2019 07:03:27 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1155422 No. 12 Stanford men’s golf will make its sixth straight appearance at the NCAA Championships on Friday — the first day of the six-day national tournament from May 24-29 at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Stanford is an eight-time national title winner but has not captured top honors since 2007.

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No. 12 Stanford men’s golf will make its sixth straight appearance at the NCAA Championships on Friday — the first day of the six-day national tournament from May 24-29 at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Stanford is an eight-time national title winner but has not captured top honors since 2007.

Seeded tenth out of 30 teams, the Cardinal enters as one of the hottest teams in the competition, having won its last four tournaments, including the NCAA Stanford Regional last week. Stanford will look to carry this momentum into Arkansas and qualify for match play after the first four days of play, which the team failed to do last year at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Oklahoma.

The top eight teams after four rounds of stroke play advance to the playoff round. Before the final round of match play, the 15 teams with the highest scores are cut from stroke play. The individual champion is decided on the final day of stroke play. Quarterfinal and semifinal matches are scheduled for May 28, while the final is slated for May 29.

Stanford enters the tournament with a lineup clicking at every level. Its top two golfers, seniors Isaiah Salinda and Brandon Wu, have been on a tear of late, including two victories in the past two months for the former and six top-10 finishes in the last eight competitions for the latter. The Cardinal has also received strong backend play from the likes of juniors David Snyder and Henry Shimp, as well as freshman Daulet Tuleubayev.

Though Stanford’s best play has come in the past two months, the team has been consistent throughout the year — finishing out of the top-10 only once despite playing one of the most difficult schedules in the country.

If nothing else, Stanford has already proven that it can compete against top teams in this latest win streak, most notably besting No. 2 Arizona State last week at the NCAA Stanford Regional.

Head Coach Conrad Ray will hope to have Stanford well-prepared and may seek advice from first-year assistant coach Matt Bortis, who was a standout player for the Arkansas collegiate team from 2004-06 and knows the course very well.

The Cardinal open the tournament at 11:27 a.m. PST on Friday on the first tee with Auburn and Cal.

Contact Andrew Tan at tandrew ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s golf dominates in regional tournament https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/16/mens-golf-dominates-in-regional-tournament/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/16/mens-golf-dominates-in-regional-tournament/#respond Thu, 16 May 2019 07:01:32 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1154967 On Wednesday morning, No. 12 Stanford men’s golf won its fourth consecutive tournament with a comfortable victory at the NCAA Stanford Regional on its home course.

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On Wednesday morning, No. 12 Stanford men’s golf won its fourth consecutive tournament with a comfortable victory at the NCAA Stanford Regional on its home course. Stanford finished the three-round 13-team competition with an overall score of 23-under 817, 12 strokes better than second-place Arizona State and North Carolina.

Senior Isaiah Salinda took home medalist honors behind an exemplary 10-under 200 from Monday to Wednesday. The victory was Salinda’s second career collegiate win, the first coming at the Western Intercollegiate.

Besides preserving the Cardinal win streak, which includes first place finishes at The Goodwin, Western Intercollegiate and Pac-12 Championships, Stanford’s triumph at the regional tournament secured the team a spot at the NCAA Championships at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas from May 24-29. The squad will look to continues its torrid run against much stiffer competition later in the month.

Through a combination of home-course advantage and stellar play from the Cardinal, Stanford led the tourney across all three rounds and only expanded its lead after the first round on Monday.

Stanford hit the links on Monday morning meaning business. The five-man team knew it held a significant edge over the field in knowledge of and playing time on the Stanford Golf Course and sought to take full advantage this disparity.

The Cardinal finished the first day at six-under 274 led by Salinda’s team-best four-under 66. Junior David Snyder and senior Brandon Wu pushed Stanford further under par with scores of three-under 67 and two-under 68, respectively.

Still, despite a strong performance out of the gates, North Carolina was hot on Stanford’s heel at five-under 275. An uncharacteristically poor first round from No. 2 Arizona State torpedoed the top-seeded squad’s chances at medalist honors as the Sun Devils’ top four combined for a mediocre three-over 283.

Tuesday was the home team’s chance to distance itself from the pack and put a comeback on the final day out of reach. The Cardinal achieved this goal with its best round of the tournament and the lowest single-day score of any team over the three days at 9-under 271. In doing so, Stanford virtually sunk its opponents’ hopes like it constantly sunk shot after shot and left the field scrambling for bids to that national tournament.

Considering the way that Stanford played over the first two rounds, Wednesday’s final round was little more than a formality. However, the Cardinal refused to treat the final day as anything other than an opportunity to completely suffocate other contending teams who it will see in two weeks at the NCAA Championship.

An eight-under 272 on the last day buried any miracle trailing teams might conjure and put an exclamation mark on the home careers of Salinda and Wu, who made their last starts on the course on Wednesday.

Now, this overachieving Stanford squad has a chance to do something that the program hasn’t since 2007: win the national championship. Stanford will have one more full week of practice before heading to Fayetteville to finish its season.

Contact Andrew Tan at tandrew ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s golf hosts the NCAA Stanford Regional https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/13/mens-golf-hosts-the-ncaa-stanford-regional/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/05/13/mens-golf-hosts-the-ncaa-stanford-regional/#respond Mon, 13 May 2019 07:01:18 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1154742 The No. 12 Stanford men’s golf team tees off on Monday for the three-day NCAA Stanford Regional on its home course, playing host to 12 other teams and ten individuals.

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The No. 12 Stanford men’s golf team tees off on Monday for the three-day NCAA Stanford Regional on its home course, playing host to 12 other teams and ten individuals.

The Cardinal are ranked second in the field and must place as the one of the top five teams over three rounds to qualify for the NCAA Championships from May 24-29 at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Stanford will look to take advantage of its home course, fielding the five-man team of senior Brandon Wu, senior Isaiah Salinda, junior David Snyder, junior Henry Shimp and freshman Daulet Tuleubayev. Sophomore Nate Menon will serve as the substitute.

Wu and Salinda, the No. 11 and No. 29 ranked golfers in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, respectively, give the Cardinal a potent one-two punch and hope to post scores in the low 60s to give their team an edge in the playoff. Both golfers were All-PAC-12 first teams selections.

Wu in particular has been on a tear as of late, finishing sixth, 30th, second, third, first, fourth, 11th and seventh in his last seven matches. In those seven contests, he has posted an average score of 69.77, good for a combined score of 30-under par across the matches. His victory came at The Goodwin and was the first of his career.

As good as Wu has been recently, Salinda has nearly equaled him on the last three. He has finished sixth, first and fifth in his last three starts with an average of 69.2, shooting a career best 6-under-par 64 at the Western Intercollegiate to seal his first collegiate win.

Snyder, Shimp and Tuleubayev have all rounded to the form in the back stretch of the season as well and will be key in ensuring a solid and consistent performance for the Cardinal on its home course starting Monday.

This year is the fourth year that Stanford has hosted an NCAA Regional, the last occurrence coming in 2017 when Stanford won the tournament. The Cardinal hope to replicate those results this season.

Three rounds of play will run from Monday through Wednesday on the first ten holes of the Stanford Golf Course. Teams will count their top four scorers for each round and sum the scores to determine team rankings.

Starting tee times range from 8:30 a.m. to 11:04 a.m.

Contact Andrew Tan at tandrew ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s golf wins third consecutive Pac-12 Championship https://stanforddaily.com/2019/04/25/mens-golf-wins-third-consecutive-pac-12-championship/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/04/25/mens-golf-wins-third-consecutive-pac-12-championship/#respond Thu, 25 Apr 2019 07:02:00 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1153537 On Wednesday, No. 17 Stanford men’s golf team won the Pac-12 Championship for the 11th time in school history, making it the team’s third straight tournament victory.

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On Wednesday, No. 17 Stanford men’s golf team won the Pac-12 Championship for the 11th time in school history, making it the team’s third-straight tournament victory. The Cardinal entered the fourth and final round four strokes behind leader No. 12 California but made up the difference on the front nine of Eugene Country Club in Oregon before taking the lead and never looking back.

Senior Isaiah Salinda was Stanford’s leading scorer, placing fifth overall individually at 3-under 281. Salinda shot the best round out of any Cardinal player in the second round with a 5-under 66.

Overall, Stanford recorded a score of 7-under 1,413 over four rounds of play with Salinda, senior Brandon Wu, freshman Daulet Tuleubayev, junior David Snyder and sophomore Nate Menon as the team’s top five scorers. The conference title ended a two-year drought for Stanford since the Cardinal won three in a row from 2014 to 2016.

The victory at Eugene also marked the third-straight first-place finish for the golfers from the Farm, who took home top honors at The Goodwin and the Western Intercollegiate prior to this tournament from Sunday to Wednesday. Last time Stanford won these three tournaments consecutively in 2014, they went on to win the NCAA Regionals in the next round of playoff golf.

How the Cardinal fare on the national stage is yet to be seen, but history could repeat itself in May with another strong showing from Stanford at the NCAA Regionals. Regional tournament fields have yet to be announced; the tournaments will take place from May 13-15 at Stanford.

Home course advantage could play a large role in the team’s effort to vie for a NCAA Championship bid later in May.

For now, Stanford returns to the Farm to get a few final weeks of practice in before play resumes in mid-May. Stanford’s competition for the NCAA Regional Tournament should be announced within the coming week.

Contact Andrew Tan at tandrew ‘at’ stanford .edu.

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Men’s golf finishes sixth at The Prestige https://stanforddaily.com/2019/02/21/mens-golf-finishes-sixth-at-the-prestige/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/02/21/mens-golf-finishes-sixth-at-the-prestige/#respond Thu, 21 Feb 2019 08:20:54 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1150044 Senior Brandon Wu shot seven-under-par with a total score of 206 at The Prestige at PGA West in La Quinta, CA, to place second overall individually and to lead Stanford men’s golf to a tie for sixth place after three rounds from Monday to Wednesday.

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Senior Brandon Wu shot seven-under-par with a total score of 206 at The Prestige at PGA West in La Quinta, CA, to place second overall individually and to lead Stanford men’s golf to a tie for sixth place after three rounds from Monday to Wednesday. Wu matched his career-best finish in the tournament, just a stroke off the winner, No. 2 collegiate golfer Viktor Hovland from No. 1 Oklahoma State.

Wu’s best performance of the competition came in the opening round, in which he shot a six-under-par 65, tied for the best round over three days of play. During his strong Monday showing, Wu tallied five birdies and an eagle, shooting five-under on the back nine and taking a three-shot lead into the second round. Throughout the first day, all of Wu’s strokes were determined to find the hole, as if the ball was Inigo Montoya and dropping into the cup was avenging his father.

The Cardinal ended the first round with a score of seven-over 291 tied for sixth. Senior Isaiah Salinda, sophomore Nate Menon and freshman Freddie Lee put in solid rounds with two-over 73s, but overall Stanford’s players were not able to replicate Wu’s stellar performance. Wu was Freddie Mercury, and the rest of the team was all the other band members of Queen.

The next day, Wu followed up his best impression of Justin Rose with another quality round, shooting one-under 70. He finished the day seven-under 135 tied with UC Davis’ Thomas Hutchinson for the lead. Salinda and junior David Snyder took 17th after two rounds, with the former shooting an even-par 71 and the latter one-under 70. Stanford took seventh by the end of Tuesday shooting 17-over 585 while Wu looked to emerge victorious on the final day of play.

Though Wu still recorded a solid even-par 71 in the final round, Hovland was on fire in closing play, adding a five-under 66 to his final score to steal a top finish right from underneath the nose of Wu. Snyder also took home a top-20 finish at five-over 215, and Stanford shared sixth in the field of 16 by tournament’s end.

Stanford now gets an extended break before resuming play in the Southern Highlands Intercollegiate March 3-5 in Las Vegas.

 

Contact Andrew Tan at tandrew ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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