Stanford signs two top high school seniors to letters of intent

The Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf, Conrad Ray, has announced the signing of two talented high school seniors, Cameron Wilson and Shane Lebow. The two will join the Cardinal on the links for the 2010-2011 season as part of the Stanford Class of 2014.


Wilson, from Rowayton, CT and St. Lukes School in New Canann, CT is currently ranked 7th in the high school class of 2010 by Golfweek / Sagarin. He has recently been named the Metropolitan Golf Association Jerry Courville Sr. Player of the Year for 2009. He is the youngest winner in the history of the award. In 2009 he was also named an American Junior Golf Association All-American as well as a picked as a member of the U.S. Challenge Cup and AJGA Canon Cup Teams. Wilson made it to the round of 8 in the 2009 USGA Junior Amateur at Trump National Golf Club, finished 1st in the 2009 MGA Met Amateur, 1st in the 2009 AJGA Nationwide Open at the Ohio State Scarlet Course, and first in the 2009 Carter Cup at Baltusrol Golf Club. He was also made it to the round of 32 in the USGA Men’s Amateur. Here's an insider profile from the AJGA of Cameron.

Lebow, from Santa Barbara, CA and Santa Barbara High School is currently ranked 27th in the high school class of 2010 by Golfweek / Sagarin. In 2009 Lebow finished 8th in the AJGA Emerson Junior Golf Classic, 9th in the Callaway Junior Worlds, 4th in the AJGA Heather Farr Classic and had multiple other top-25’s on the AJGA Tour. Lebow was also named to the 2009 AJGA HP Scholastic Junior All-America Team. Here's a brief write-up in ESPN's Rise magazine about Scott and another AJGA Insider profile on Scott.

“Cameron and Shane are two very talented and hard working kids. They will both be great additions to our squad and will really fit well with our program and the Stanford family. I really expect them both to make a major impact on our team the minute they step on campus.”

Wilson and Lebow will start with the team next fall as the Cardinal Golfers look to win the 9th National Championship.

Cardinal wins the Gifford Collegiate at CordeValle in San Martin, CA

The Cardinal wins the Gifford Collegiate by three strokes played at CordeValle in San Martin, CA with a solid final two days of play in the final tournament of the fall season. Playing against a strong field including #1 ranked Oklahoma State (which finished second), Stanford was led by junior All-American Sihwan Kim (see photo) who finished 2nd individually firing rounds of 68-68-71 for a 9-under 207 total. He was followed by sophomore David Chung who finished strong to tie for 3rd individually at 208 total with rounds of 73-68-67. David's final round was marked by a total of 7 birdies.

Freshman Andrew Yun tied for 18th at 2-under 214 with consistent play resulting in rounds of 71-71-72. Junior All-American Steve Ziegler was tied for 23rd at 1-under after rounds of 71-72-72, followed by freshman Andrew DeDecker's 3-over par tourney to tie for 41st after rounds of 71-71-77. Yet another freshman, Steven Kearney had a solid 2-under final round 70 to tie for 76th after rounds of 78-79-70.

Playing as an individual, junior Graham Brockington tied for 50th with rounds of 79-71-72.

PRE-TOURNAMENT SUMMARY
STANFORD, Calif. - The second-ranked Stanford men's golf team will close out its fall schedule at the Gifford Collegiate Championship, which is being played Nov 9-11 at CordeValle in San Martin, Calif.

The 14-team, 54-hole event continues through Wednesday at CordeValle.

The Cardinal, ranked second in the latest poll released by GolfStat, will look forward to a showdown with top-ranked Oklahoma State along with USC and host UCLA. Augusta State, Duke, Lamar, Long Beach State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Colorado, UNC Charlotte and Oklahoma round out the field.

Stanford head coach Conrad Ray is expected to start a lineup consisting of Sihwan Kim, Steve Ziegler, David Chung and 3 freshmen, Andrew Yun, Steve Kearney and Andre De Decker. Graham Brockington will be playing as an individual.

Kim is coming off a strong showing at the Isleworth Intercollegiate in Windemere, Fla., where he finished second in one of the strongest fields assembled on the fall schedule.

The fifth annual CordeValle Collegiate Golf Championship has been re-named the Gifford Collegiate Championship at CordeValle, to honor its long time sponsor and Bay Area philanthropist Jack Gifford. Gifford who passed away unexpectedly in January and his wife Rhodine have been long time supporters of collegiate sports and have been major contributors to UCLA's athletic programs.

Mrs. Rhodine Gifford will continue to support the Gifford Collegiate Golf Championship that her husband Jack founded. Stanford Golf Coach Conrad Ray, whose team won the 2006 event, noted "The Gifford Collegiate Championship is a great way to recognize an amazing man, Jack Gifford. Jack was a builder of young men. His interest in collegiate athletics was a true example of this. CordeValle is one of the best venues in the country, the field is as strong, and we here at Stanford are eager to compete. Jack would be proud and his legacy will live on through this amazing event."

CordeValle was recently named California's #1 golf destination by CondeNast Traveler's June 2007 Readers' Poll and was ranked the #13 golf resort in North America, the Caribbean and Atlantic, Ireland and Scotland. CordeValle was also ranked in the top three in the 2007 - 2008 issue of Zagat Guide's America's Top Golf Courses.

Stanford is ranked either 2nd or 3rd in three national polls

GolfWeek has Stanford ranked 2nd behind Oklahoma State in their latest national poll of men's college golf teams.

GolfStat, the official source for college golf scores and statistics also has the Cardinal ranked 2nd behind Oklahoma State -- GolfStat head to head standings.

Stanford is picked as preseason #1 by Golf World/Nike Golf men's coaches' poll has Stanford in 3rd position behind Oklahoma State and Washington.

Cardinal finishes 3rd in Isleworth Collegiate at Tiger's home course in Windermere, FL

Stanford finished 3rd, 7 shots behind Oklahoma State and 2 behind Florida at the challenging Isleworth CC, home to a number of top professionals including Tiger Woods. Sihwan Kim led the way with rounds of 70-74-68, finishing 2nd individually, 1 shot behind the Bud Cauley -- Sihwan's finish was highlighted by his tournament low final round 68 in tough conditions. Sihwan's final round included 6 birdies and only 2 bogies.

The Stanford Daily reported: “It came down to the final round,” said coach Conrad Ray. “We hung in there on the back nine and it ended up being closer than we expected. The guys were a little disappointed that they didn’t place higher, but overall it was a good week.”

Junior Sihwan Kim was runner up by just one stroke on the individual ladder. Kim entered the final round tied for fifth place but drained six birdies to threaten the tournament individual winner, Bud Cauley of Alabama.

“Sihwan has really been doing great for us,” Ray said. “He has been handling his emotions well and has matured a lot. As a result, he has been playing better and is more confident on the green. He putted really well to make up for both good and bad shots this tournament.”

“Hopefully all of this will continue for Sihwan,” Ray continued. “I am seeing more and more of the Sihwan that we all know and love coming back.” Here is the complete Stanford Daily article.

Steve Ziegler finished 19th with rounds of 68-74-81, David Chung finished tied for 29th shooting 82-77-68, Andrew Yun tied for 33rd after rounds of 71-75-82 and Jordan Cox was 72nd with rounds of 80-81-85. ASU finished 12th 24 shots behind Stanford and Washington was 13th 25 shots behind the Cardinal.

Located in Windermere, Florida, the tournament invited many of the nation's top teams.

Complete scoring live can be found at golfstatresults.com.

Here you can view a terrific collection of practice round photos of the Stanford team.

Here you'll find the main tournament website - http://www.isleworthcollegiate.com/.

Cardinal finishes 2nd in the Prestige at PGA West at La Quinta, CA

Stanford finished in 2nd place, 16 shots behind TCU which was led by a sparkling 12-under par tournament by Daniel Jennevret who finished 6 shots ahead of the 2nd place finisher. Washington, UCLA and Southern Cal finished 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively. The tournament was held at the famed Pete Dye-designed Stadium course at PGA West in La Quinta, CA.

The Cardinal was led by sophomore David Chung who tied for 3rd individually with 3-under par rounds of 71-71-70. Sihwan Kim tied for 8th after firing rounds of 68-72-75. Senior Jordan Cox had a solid showing tying for 18th after rounds of 72-74-73 in his first tourney of the year, freshman Andrew Yun tied for 34th with rounds of 73-79-71 while returning All-American Steve Ziegler shot 71-79-74 to tie for 37th.

Four individuals participated as well led by Graham Brockington and frosh Steven Kearney who both were 14-over par at 230 to tie for 57th, frosh Andre DeDecker tied for 66th with a 232 total and sophomore Wilson Bowen finished 78th with a 244 total.

Next up for Stanford will be the Isleworth Collegiate in Windermere, Florida, Oct 23-25 played on Tiger Woods' home course against a field including most of the nation's top teams.

Complete scoring can be found at http:/www.golfstatresults.com.

Stanford brings a full team to the year's 2nd event -- the 5 players whose scores counted for the team competition were Jordan Cox, Sihwan Kim, Steve Ziegler, David Chung and Andrew Yun. Also playing were Graham Brockington, Wilson Bowen and freshmen Steven Kearney and Andre DeDecker. Missing is injured senior captain Joseph Bramlett.

The following press release was issued by UC Davis media relations hosting the event:
The Prestige at PGA WEST
La Quinta, Calif.
Oct. 11-13, 2009

Tournament Dates
Sunday, (Oct. 11), Monday, (Oct. 12), Tuesday, (Oct. 13)

Starting Times
1 p.m., Sunday (shotgun start)
1 p.m., Monday (shotgun start)
8 a.m. Tuesday (shotgun start)

Course
Stadium Course at PGA WEST (La Quinta, Calif.)

Par/Yardage
par 72; 7,026 yards

Tournament Field (16 teams) - Current Golfweek rankings in parentheses
Central Florida (61), Hawai'i (213), Long Beach State (na), Pepperdine (46), Notre Dame (55), Univ. of San Diego (110), Stanford (60), TCU (20) UC Davis (73), UCLA (na), USC (10), Washington (5), Vanderbilt (48).

Format
18 holes each day
Five players per team with lowest four scores counting toward team score

Tournament Website
http://www.prestige-pgawest.com/

Live Scoring
Available at http://www.golfstatresults.com.

Sunday Pairiings
Group 1- UC Davis, Stanford, Central Florida, Vanderbilt
Group 2 - Washington, UCLA, TCU, Notre Dame
Group 3 - USC, San Diego, Long Beach State, Pepperdine
Group 4 - Hawai'i, Stanford B, Individuals (mixed)

Results
Tournament results will be emailed in PDF format to each participating school's media relations contact upon completion of each round. Results will also be available through www.ucdavisaggies.com

Media Relations Contact
Mike Robles, Assistant Athletics Director, Media Relations - UC Davis
(530) 752-3680 - office
merobles@ucdavis.edu - email
(NOTE: There will not be an SID on site this year, however, feel free to contact me if you have any questions).

Past Team Champions and Medalists
2008 - TCU (-3); Johan de Beer, TCU (-6); Nate Pistacchio, UC Davis (-6)
2007 - Charlotte (-10); Clayton Rask, Minnesota (-8); Dan Woltman, Wisconsin (-8)
2006 - Stanford (-15); Zack Miller, Stanford (-9)
2005 - UCLA (-4); Tim Cha, UC Irvine (-3); Danny Zimmerman, Illinois (-3)
2004 - UCLA (+40); Erik Hill, UC Davis (+1)
2003 - UCLA (-5); Colby Beckstrom, TCU (-10)
2002 - TCU (-11); Chris Marshall, Kansas (-9)
2001 - Washington (-20); Dustin Bray, North Carolina (-13); Brock Mackenzie, Washington (-13)
2000 - Northwestern (+15); James Lee, Stanford (E); Michael Beard, Pepperdine (E) - Lee won in playoff

Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields is underway

The 2009-10 tournament season began at Olympia Fields Country Club outside Chicago. Olympia Fields hosted the 2003 US Open and the event features a strong field led by the Cardinal who have been picked at pre-season #1 by GolfWeek.

Stanford's team included 3 All-Americans including junior Steve Ziegler (2nd team in 2009), junior Sihwan Kim (1st team in 2008), sophomore David Chung (all regional team), super frosh Andrew Yun (picked as a preseason 3rd team) and junior Graham Brockington. Unable to make the trip due to injury was 2006 All-American Joseph Bramlett.

Stanford finished 4th, 6 shots behind ASU, in this opening event. Returning All-American Steve Ziegler led the way with rounds of 72-71-71 to finish tied for 6th individually (3 back of the lead), David Chung finished tied for 14th with rounds of 71-71-76, Sihwan Kim tied for 28th firing 75-72-75, Andrew Yun tied for 33rd shooting 77-74-72 in his first collegiate tourney while Graham Brockington was 56th after rounds of 80-76-75.

Complete scoring can be found at golfstat.com at the tournament website: http://www.golfstatresults.com//public/leaderboards/team/static/team_players_1594.html

Top-ranked Stanford opens 2009-10 season with dual match win

Reported on gostanford.com -- photo of junior Sihwan Kim
Sept. 16, 2009

SOUTHHAMPTON, NY - The top-ranked Stanford men's golf team got its season off on a positive note on Tuesday, defeating Princeton, 3 ½ to 1 ½ in a dual match played at the famed Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, NY.

The match was contested over 36 holes on at Shinnecock, site of four U.S. Opens.

Steve Ziegler, fresh off a quarterfinal appearance at the United State Amateur, havled his match with Greg Stamas while junior Sihwan Kim posted a 3&2 victory over Patrick Wasserman. Sophomore David Chung, playing in the three spot, was defeated by Eric Salazar, 1 up while freshman sensation Andrew Yun posted a 3&2 victory over Chase Woodsum. Junior Graham Brockington scored a 2-up victory over Juan Pablo Candela.

The dual match served as a tune-up for the Fighting Illini Invitational, which will be held next week at Olympia Fields Golf Club outside of Chicago.