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| 23 team field - click to enlarge |
STANFORD, Calif. - Top-seeded Stanford shared the NCAA Men’s Golf Stanford Regional Championships crown with Baylor, as the 54-hole event concluded Wednesday at Stanford Golf Course.
With the win, the Cardinal advances to the NCAA Championships (May 26-31) in Sugar Grove, Illinois.
Stanford (271-278-274) has won three consecutive regional crowns and five overall in the program’s history.
“It was good to defend our home turf and pick up another win,” said Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf Conrad Ray, who now had led his team to a 10th appearance in the NCAA Championships in 13 years at the helm. “Our goal was to win the day, and we did it by posting the low team score. We had a lot of solid contributions across the board, and Maverick (McNealy) played solid for us. We’ve all got some added motivation heading into the NCAA Championships.”
The Cardinal trailed Baylor by seven strokes heading into the final round of the three-day event, and went 6-under to match the Bears’ final 17-under total.
Pepperdine (-5), Oklahoma (-3) and North Carolina (+3) also advanced to the NCAA Championships. Individual Travis Trace (-2) of North Florida also earned bid to the national finale.
Oklahoma’s Brad Dalke (-12) took home medalist honors, with Baylor’s Cooper Dossey (-9) claiming second. Maverick McNealy (-8) was third in his final home appearance. McNealy shot an even par 70 (65-67-70 202 3rd) on his final round despite 3 double bogies which were offset by 4 birdies and an eagle on the day.
Franklin Huang (67-71-68) and Brandon Wu (70-71-65) tied for fourth at 4-under. Wu’s 65, which included only one bogey, was the best score on the day by any player.
Viraat Badhwar (70-69-71) tied for 12th at even-par and Isaiah Salinda (69-71-72) was 2-over for 20th.
Stanford has won eight national titles and twice been the NCAA runner-up. The Cardinal will be playing for a chance at its first title since 2007.
Final results are shown below - click on image to enlarge.
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| Top 10 team and individual scoring - click to enlarge |
STANFORD, Calif. – Baylor grabbed the lead Tuesday with a 15-under-par 265 Tuesday at Stanford Golf Course, matching the single-round team record at the NCAA Stanford Regional Championships. The Bears jumped ahead of top-seeded Stanford, as the Cardinal went 2-under beneath overcast skies.
The Bears equaled the mark set by San Diego State, when the Aztecs combined for a 265 in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Stanford Regional.
Baylor (277-265) leads the 13-team field at 18-under, seven strokes ahead of the host Cardinal (271-278). Pepperdine is 5-under and Oklahoma is 3-under. The top ten teams are shown below - click on image to enlarge. The low 5 teams advance to the NCAA Championship
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| Top 10 teams after round 2 |
Maverick McNealy paced Stanford for the second straight round, firing a 3-under 67. He was 3-under until a double-bogey on the par-3 eighth, and recovered by going 2-under on the back nine.
McNealy, 8-under overall, trails only clubhouse leader Brad Dalke of Oklahoma for medalist honors. Dalke (-11) followed Monday’s round of 65 with a 64, as the latter included a pair of bogeys.
Dalke’s round was bettered by Georgia Tech’s Luke Schniederjans, whose 62 was the lowest individual round ever at an NCAA Regional event contested on Stanford’s home course. Both San Diego State’s J.J. Spaun (2012) and BYU’s Oscar Alvarez (2005) shot 63 during regional action on The Farm.
Schniederjans, the younger brother of PGA Tour professional, Ollie, also claimed the lowest score during a collegiate competition at Stanford Golf Course since Cardinal legend Patrick Rodgers’ 63 recorded during The Goodwin in 2014.
Another Cardinal to the Schniederjan family: Cameron Wilson won the 2014 NCAA individual title when he birdied the third hole of a playoff against Ollie.
Still standing is the Stanford Golf Course record 59 set by Viraat Badhwar in 2015. Badhwar moved into 13th place Tuesday with a 1-under 69. He eagled the par-5 seventh by starting with a high draw over the tree-lined left side of the fairway, using a hot bounce for a 160-yard approach shot. He put his 9-iron to 11 feet and drained the birdie putt.
The eagle resulted in a five-shot swing from Badhwar’s triple-bogey on the same hole one round prior.
Franklin Huang (t-8th), Isaiah Salinda (t-17th) and Brandon Wu (t-27th) each finished their second round with a 1-over 71.
Round One Results:
STANFORD, Calif. – Baylor grabbed the lead Tuesday with a 15-under-par 265 Tuesday at Stanford Golf Course, matching the single-round team record at the NCAA Stanford Regional Championships. The Bears jumped ahead of top-seeded Stanford, as the Cardinal went 2-under beneath overcast skies.
The Bears equaled the mark set by San Diego State, when the Aztecs combined for a 265 in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Stanford Regional.
Baylor (277-265) leads the 13-team field at 18-under, seven strokes ahead of the host Cardinal (271-278). Pepperdine is 5-under and Oklahoma is 3-under.
The three-day event at Stanford Golf Course concludes Wednesday as Stanford will tee off starting on hole #1 at 9:15 a.m.
Maverick McNealy paced Stanford for the second straight round, firing a 3-under 67. He was 3-under until a double-bogey on the par-3 eighth, and recovered by going 2-under on the back nine.
McNealy, 8-under overall, trails only clubhouse leader Brad Dalke of Oklahoma for medalist honors. Dalke (-11) followed Monday’s round of 65 with a 64, as the latter included a pair of bogeys.
Dalke’s round was bettered by Georgia Tech’s Luke Schniederjans, whose 62 was the lowest individual round ever at an NCAA Regional event contested on Stanford’s home course. Both San Diego State’s J.J. Spaun (2012) and BYU’s Oscar Alvarez (2005) shot 63 during regional action on The Farm.
Schniederjans, the younger brother of PGA Tour professional, Ollie, also claimed the lowest score during a collegiate competition at Stanford Golf Course since Cardinal legend Patrick Rodgers’ 63 recorded during The Goodwin in 2014.
Another Cardinal to the Schniederjan family: Cameron Wilson won the 2014 NCAA individual title when he birdied the third hole of a playoff against Ollie.
Still standing is the Stanford Golf Course record 59 set by Viraat Badhwar in 2015. Badhwar moved into 13th place Tuesday with a 1-under 69. He eagled the par-5 seventh by starting with a high draw over the tree-lined left side of the fairway, using a hot bounce for a 160-yard approach shot. He put his 9-iron to 11 feet and drained the birdie putt.
The eagle resulted in a five-shot swing from Badhwar’s triple-bogey on the same hole one round prior.
Franklin Huang (t-8th), Isaiah Salinda (t-17th) and Brandon Wu (t-27th) each finished their second round with a 1-over 71.
Round One Results
STANFORD, Calif. - On the opening day of its 19th consecutive NCAA Men's Golf Regional Championships appearance, No. 8 Stanford blew ahead of the 13-team field by registering an astounding 9-under-par 271. Sitting six strokes better than second-place Baylor, the Cardinal received rounds of even-par or better from each of its five student-athletes.
The Cardinal is seeking a fifth regional title, and third in as many seasons, while playing host to the event at Stanford Golf Course. The par-70 course is playing at 6,727 yards for the NCAA Regional Championships.
The Cardinal won its last outing on its home course -- The Goodwin -- contested this past April.
"We're excited about the good start today, and tomorrow should prove to be a good test," said Conrad Ray, Stanford's Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf. "The conditions got tougher as the day went on -- the greens got firmer and the wind came up. But we putted well on the back nine and made a lot of birdies, and hopefully we can keep it rolling."
Monday's round featured a 5-under 65 from All-American Maverick McNealy, who grew up playing the course while being raised in nearby Portola Valley. McNealy's score was matched by Oklahoma's Brad Dalke to lead the medalist race.
With 11 career wins under his belt and chasing a school-record 12th, the standout round could be a welcoming sign of what's to come for McNealy.
"I hit the ball well today," McNealy said. "I haven't hit the ball this well since this same time during my sophomore year."
His round picked up momentum on the 483-yard, par-4 second. After hitting his drive left on the first hole and lipping out a birdie putt, his drive on the second found the middle of the fairway and he lofted a soft 5-iron to five feet. He buried the putt for the first of four birdies on the front nine. McNealy finished his round with birdies on three of the final five holes, and his seven birdies were the most of any player on the day.
Franklin Huang (-3) was two strokes behind McNealy and tied for third. Four birdies during a six-hole stretch in the middle of his round helped make him one of three Cardinal to finish in the top 10.
Huang's drive on the 351-yard, par-4 11th rested 50 yards short of the green. A nippy pitch had some hook spin to settle seven feet from the pin, which he converted into a birdie. Huang was the only Cardinal to birdie the par-4 12th.
Isaiah Salinda, tied for 10th, had 228 yards into the green on the 539-yard, par-5 seventh. He hit a 3-iron to 25 feet and made the putt to get his round going. He birdied 11 and 14, and had an eagle chance on 16 that resulted in a tap-in birdie. Salinda carded a 1-under 69.
Tied for 17th, Brandon Wu was his steady self with an even-par 70. Also tied for 17th at even-par is Viraat Badhwar, whose first birdie on the par-4 sixth came with an added surprise. His mother, who traveled to Stanford from India, arrived in time to see his tee shot on the sixth tee.
"That was the first time I had seen my mom in five months, which was cool," Badhwar said. "That got me going."
Background
NCAA Regional held at the Stanford Golf Course, May 15-17, 2017
Cardinal Contingent • Maverick McNealy, Franklin Huang, Brandon Wu, Isaiah Salinda, Viraat Badhwar
The Lowdown
• No. 8 Stanford plays host to the NCAA Stanford Regional Championships after finishing second in the Pac-12 Championships. The Cardinal won its last outing on its home course -- The Goodwin -- contested this past April.
• The regional bid is the 19th consecutive for the Cardinal, and Stanford has advanced to the NCAA Championships in nine of the past 12 seasons.
• Stanford seeks the fifth regional title in program history. Stanford won the regional title in 1996, 2010, 2015 and 2016
• Stanford has won eight national titles and twice been the NCAA runner-up. The Cardinal will be playing for a chance at its first title since 2007.
The Field
• Stanford, the region’s No. 1 seed, will welcome Baylor, Oklahoma, Georgia Tech, Pepperdine, North Carolina, North Florida, BYU, Houston, Ohio State, UC Santa Barbara, Sacramento State and South Dakota State. Individuals include Collin Morikawa (Cal), Hayden Shieh (Santa Clara), David Kim (UC Irvine), Justin Doeden (Minnesota), Andres Gonzalez (Long Beach State), Felix Mory (Cal State Northridge), Fidel Concepcion (Southern Utah), Grant Booth (Nevada), Brian Humphreys (Boise State) and Mike Graboyes (Cornell).
The Course
• Located in the foothills overlooking Stanford’s campus, Stanford University Golf Course is consistently rated as one of the finest courses in the world.
• The par-70 course will play at 6,727 yards for the NCAA Stanford Regional Championships.
• Designed in 1930 by renowned architects William Bell and George Thomas, the course is steeped in tradition. Throughout the years, Stanford has hosted many intercollegiate and non-collegiate events, including the Stanford Intercollegiate, Peg Barnard Intercollegiate, Pac-10 Championships, NCAA Regional Championships, NCAA Women’s Championship, USGA Junior Amateur Qualifying, U.S. Open Qualifying and The Gathering at the Farm, a former Senior PGA Tour event.
• Stanford University Golf Course seen many influential golfers on its grounds throughout the years. Such notables include Tom Watson, Tiger Woods, Bob Rosburg, Notah Begay III, Casey Martin and former USGA presidents Sandy Tatum, Grant Spaeth and Walter Driver.
The Format
• The regional tournament will feature 54 holes of play (18 on Monday, 18 on Tuesday, 18 on Wednesday). The low five teams and low three individuals not on those teams will advance to the NCAA Championships at Rich Harvest Farms (May 26-31) in Sugar Grove, Illinois.
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