Friday, September 12, 2014

Cardinal finishes 4th and McNealy 1st again at famed Olympia Fields in Chicago against a strong field


The Illini Invitational welcomed Stanford and a top field to famed Olympia Fields in Chicago, site of several major championships.

Stanford comes into the Illini Invitational off a 15-stroke win at the SW Intercollegiate hosted by USC.  The same 5 players, Maverick McNealy, Jim Liu, Viraat Badhwar, Patrick Grimes and Dominic Francks who competed recently are representing the Cardinal.

The field is strong with 8 of the top 20 teams entered including #1 Alabama, #3 Stanford, #7 Illinois, #13 Texas, #18 Texas A & M and #19 Arkansas.

Final Results (provided by gostanford.com)
Maverick McNealy picked up his second win in as many outings Sunday by claiming top honors at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational.

McNealy, who collected the first win of his collegiate career earlier this week at the Southwestern Intercollegiate, fired three consecutive rounds of 71 to finish 3-over at the par-70 Olympia Fields Country Club. He shared the top billing with host Illinois’ Dylan Meyer.

Stanford’s Cameron Wilson also shared medalist honors at the same tournament in 2013 with Robby Shelton of Alabama.

Stanford (294-299-289) was fourth overall among the 15-team field at 42-over. Illinois (+21), Florida State (+32) and Baylor (+36) claimed the top three spots.

Final Team scores - click to enlarge
Maverick's 3 winning rounds - click to enlarge

“I’m happy with how the guys hung in there, but we’ve got much to work on,” said Conrad Ray, Stanford’s Knowles Family Director of Men’s Golf. “It’s early in the year, so it was good for us to play a challenging course to see what we have team-wise.

“Maverick has been very solid these last two weeks, and two medals in a few strong fields is a great start to his year with added confidence. Jim Liu has had two great weeks, too. It’s good to see him playing better and on the right track.”

Liu’s even-par third round was the best score of any Cardinal during the 56-hole event. He was 4-under on the front but had four bogeys on the back, eventually finishing 12th overall at 8-over.

Patrick Grimes (+11) squeezed into the top-20, taking 19th with rounds of 74-73-74.

Viraat Badhwar (+20) tied for 54th and Dominick Francks (+31) tied for 71st.


Round 3 scorecards - click to enlarge
The Cardinal has a few weeks off until traveling to Forth Worth, Texas, for the Swoosh Invitational (Oct. 6-7).

Round 2 Results:
On another cool, windy but sunny day when scoring improved, the Cardinal failed to keep up with the leaders and fell 17 strokes behind Baylor and 9 behind host Illinois.  Stanford's 2nd round total of 299, or 19 over par, only beat 3 other teams in the field.  Team standings are included below:
Round 2 team scoring - click to enlarge

Stanford was once again led by Maverick McNealy who shot another 71 and is tied for 1st overall.  Patrick Grimes posted a 73, Jim Lie a 76, Viraat Badhwar a 79 and Dominic Francks an 80.  Round 2 scorecards are shown below:
Round 2 scorecards - click to enlarge

Round 1 Results:
In cool, rainy conditions at this demanding venue, Stanford completed round 1 at 14 over par  and is tied for 3rd, 3 behind Virginia Tech and 1 behind Florida State.  Team standings are shown below:

Round 1 Team totals - click to enlarge

“It was a really hard day to play,” CU head coach Roy Edwards said.  “The golf course is really long and tough to begin with, and they're using the same hole locations they used for the U.S. Open, and those are never easy.  Plus it played longer because it was cold (low 50s) with constant rainfall.  It made it tough for everyone to play; there wasn’t a single hole out here today where par wasn’t a good score.”

Coming off an individual win last week, Maverick McNealy led the way with a 1 over 71, Jim Liu finished with a very steady 72, Patrick Grimes shot 74, Viraat Badhwar shot a 77 (despite two triple bogies) and Dominick Francks an 84.  Scorecards for each player are shown below:
Round 2 scorecards - click to enlarge

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

2014-15 season begins with a dominating win at USC Invitational by the team and Maverick McNealy

Stanford wins by 15 strokes - click to enlarge

The 2014-15 season began at the USC Invitational at North Ranch CC in Thousand Oaks, CA.  Stanford's team included 3 returning sophomores Maverick McNealy, Jim Liua and Viraat Badhwar plus junior Dominic Francks and senior Patrick Grimes.  David Boote, a junior and top player from last year is in Japan representing Wales in the world amateur team championships.

Final Round Results:
The new season began with a resounding 15-stroke victory by the young Stanford Cardinal team led
Sophomore Maverick McNealy leads Stanford to a victory with his 5-stroke win
by a 5-shot individual win for sophomore Maverick McNealy and a 2nd place finish by sophomore Jim Liu.  Including last season's finish of 5 stroke play wins, this victory was the 6th straight team scoring title.  The top 4 team and individual scores are shown below (click to enlarge):
Team and individual scoring - click to enlarge
Liu
The final round showed impressive depth from all 5 players including a 66 by Maverick, 70 by Jim Liu, another 1-under 70 by Dominick Francks, a 71 by Patrick Grimes and a 72 by Viraat Badhwar leading to the tournament's lowest team score of 8-under par 276.  And this big win was done without David Boote, a top returning junior from last year who's in Japan playing in the World Amateur championships.

Maverick's final round 65 matched his Stanford low while his 203 total was his best as a Cardinal as he captured the first collegiate title of his young career.  His 65 included 7 birdies and a lone bogey on his final hole.  Maverick's scorecards are included below (click to enlarge):
Maverick McNealy's winning scorecards - click to enlarge
Jim's 2nd place finish and 208 total were his best as a Cardinal and his fine scoring is shown below:
Jim Liu ties for 2nd with these 3 rounds - click to enlarge
The team moves  on to play at Olympia Fields in Chicago in the Illini Invitational September 12-14.

Round 1 and 2 Results: provided by gostanford.com
Cardinal Leads at Fall Opener ---McNealy, Liu tied for first

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. – Stanford started the fall portion of its 2014-15 schedule right where it left off at the end of its previous regular season -- on top of the leaderboard.

The Cardinal is first among the 12-team field at the Southwestern Intercollegiate, as 36 holes of the three-round event at the par-71, 6,964-yard North Ranch Country Club were contested Monday.

At 4-over, Stanford (280-292) is six strokes ahead of second-place Washington (578). The Huskies fired a tournament-best 2-over in the second round of competition. Host USC (580) is third overall.
Round 1 & 2 Results - click to enlarge
Stanford, which collected six wins during the 2013-14 slate, closed its prior regular-season schedule with back-to-back wins. In fact, the Cardinal has not trailed through each of its last 14 days of stroke-play competition, a streak that originated March 28, 2014. Stanford last trailed on such an occasion at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters (March 9), when it finished second.

Maverick McNealy (66-72) and Jim Liu (69-69) are tied for first among individuals, with Viraat Badhwar (70-73) in seventh. Patrick Grimes (75-79) is tied for 54th and Dominick Francks (78-78) is tied for 58th.

McNealy was 6-under on the back nine of his opening round, tacking on an eagle on the par-5 15th.

The final 18 holes will be played Tuesday beginning at 8 a.m. (PT).