Stanford finishes 2nd in the Gifford Collegiate at CordeValle

CordeValle GC in San Martin, CA

The Gifford Collegiate background can be found below as the most recent results will be posted first after each round.  CordeValle, the PGA Tour caliber host course, is located about 45 miles from the Stanford campus.

ROUND THREE SUMMARY - Stanford couldn't hold off surging UCLA over the final 6 holes finishing 2nd in the tournament despite leading by 11 strokes going into the final round.  UCLA ended up picking up 24 shots on the Cardinal in round 3 to win the event by 13 strokes.

The story was told over the final 6 holes with Stanford leading by 5 shots.  Over the last 6 holes the Cardinal was 16-over par collectively while UCLA was 2-under par, a difference of 18 shots.  Of special note was the final stretch by UCLA's Figueriedo finishing with 5 birdies and one bogie over the last 6 holes leading to his 66.

The Cardinal was led in the 3rd round by a solid 2-under 69 from frosh Cameron Wilson who finished with another top ten (77-70-69) in his excellent season thus far.  Next best on the day was Andrew Yun's 73 on  his way to a 15th place finish (74-71-73).  Sihwan Kim had a solid tournament finishing 6th overall after rounds of 71-68-74.  David Chung, in his first tourney of the year, finished tied for 9th despite a disappointing final day (69-68-79).  Steve Ziegler finished tied for 30th (77-71-76) as he was on his way to a fine 3rd round but finished 6-over on his final 6 holes.  Freshman Shane Lebow ended in 74th with rounds of 82-78-83.

Complete final round scoring can be found below.

3rd round scorecards - click to enlarge

Complete event scoring can be found here.  Now it's time off as the fall season has ended - the next event will be in early February on the island of Hawaii at the Mauna Lani Resort North course.  My guess is that this disappointing ending to the fall season will find the Cardinal that much hungrier to excel in the all important spring championship season.  Everyone will know exactly what they need to do to improve individually and as a team.  Watch out UCLA and the rest of the collegiate golfing world.

ROUND TWO SUMMARY - Stanford charged into the 2nd round lead by 12 shots over #1 ranked UCLA improving its scoring 20 strokes from round 1.  Leading the way with a pair of 3-under 68s were David Chung (69-68 2nd place individually) and Sihwan Kim (71-68 3rd place).  David and Sihwan each had 4 birdies and one bogie on the day.

Strong 2nd round play by Cameron Wilson (77-70 T19), Andrew Yun (74-71 T11) and Steve Ziegler (77-71 T24) completed the 5 players whose scores counted towards team play.  Freshman Shane Lebow also improved in round 2 (82-78 75th).

High fives all around after Andrew Yun's eagle on 18

David Chung finishes with birdie to cap off a great 68

It was a day of contrasts from round one as the team was 7-under (lowest of the day) vs. 13-over on day one,  recorded 19 birdies vs 10 in round 1, had 5 players even or under par vs. 2 on round 1, and the team played the par 5 3rd hole 3-under vs. 9-over on round 1.  Playing together, Andrew Yun eagled the 18th while David Chung birdied the par 5 finishing hole.

The 2nd day scorecards are found below --- click to enlarge the image.

Click to enlarge round 2 scorecards

ROUND ONE SUMMARY - The Cardinal is in 2nd place after the first round, one stroke behind #1 ranked UCLA.  Stanford was led by junior David Chung's 2-under 69, a round that has him in 2nd place individually, as his play was highlighted by a dramatic eagle 3 on the 18th hole.  Senior Sihwan Kim, a previous winner of this event in 2007 and a runner-up last year, shot a solid 71 putting him in 3rd place individually.

Next was Andrew Yun's 74, Steve Ziegler and Cameron Wilson's 77's and Shane Lebow's 82.  The best 5 out of 6 scores count leaving the Cardinal 13-over par as scores were high on this tough CordeValle course that is rated at 75.3 with a 144 slope.  The par 5 third hole proved to be the toughest challenge for the team as the team collectively had one par, two bogies, two double bogies and one triple bogey on this hole - the team was 9-over par on this one hole.  Only a total of 10 birdies and 1 eagle were recorded by the team.

First round scorecards can be found below --- click on the image to enlarge.

Click to enlarge 1st round scorecards

TOURNAMENT BACKGROUND:

Vineyards next to CordeValle

The 6-man team is set for the upcoming Gifford Collegiate tournament being played nearby at CordeValle  in San Martin, CA Nov 8-10.  This event will mark the 2010 debut of Stanford's All-American and US Amateur runner-up  David Chung, who just returned from Buenos Aires and the World Amateur where he represented the US on its 3-person team.  CordeValle GC was the site of a recent PGA Tour event won by Rocco Mediate.  Live tournament scoring by GolfStat is available.  See practice round videos below.

The team includes Andrew Yun, David Chung, Steve Ziegler, Cameron Wilson, Sihwan Kim and Shane Lebow.  The field of 12 teams includes 5 teams ranked in Golf Week's top 25 including #1 UCLA and #6 Augusta State.  Stanford is ranked #16 after it's first 3 tournaments played without top ranked All-American David Chung who returns from his recent play representing the US in the World Amateur in Buenos Aires.  The format for the event is unusual in that 6 players for each team compete with the 5 low scores each round counting towards the team score.  Typically 5 players compete with 4 scores counting.

During the practice round on Sunday, Nov 7, light rain moved in so the course should be playing longer with the softer conditions.  The weather is expected to clear during the tournament.

"Both as a team and for each individual player, this is the last chance we'll get to put it on show in 2010" Coach Ray said to his men following a team workout earlier this week; "it's time to make a statement ahead of the spring Championship season that is really not far away now".  Videos from the practice round are included below: