Stanford wins the USC Collegiate by 10 shots!

As always, click any photo to enlarge.

The Cardinal broke through with their season's first win led by Steve Ziegler's scorching final round 65, at the USC Collegiate played at North Ranch CC in Westlake Village. The team's 13-under score of 839 was the lowest in the 31-year history of the event. Ziegler's 9-under 204 total led to his first individual tournament win after rounds of 71-68-65. Steve shot a blistering 6-under 30 on his final nine holes.



David Chung finished tied for 5th with rounds of 72-67-70, Sihwan Kim finished tied for 10th shooting 73-70-70, Dodge Kemmer tied for 18th with rounds of 68-71-78 and Jordan Cox tied for 75th with rounds of 85-75-74. As individuals, Daniel Lim tied for 26th (74-68-77) and Graham Brockington was 77th (74-75-86).

Roxie Dickinson of the Stanford Daily provides the following comments by Conrad Ray:
“The guys have been working so hard, I felt like it was just a matter of time before they would earn the win,” head coach Conrad Ray said. “After losing to USC in our last tournament, we definitely wanted to show them what we’re made of at their home event. [Sophomore Steve] Ziegler helped us to keep off the competition by shooting a great final round.”

“If you put yourself in a position enough times, you will improve regardless of what year you are,” Ray said. “Both Ziegler and Chung have played a lot for us this year. When we lost [junior] Joseph Bramlett to injury this year, a lot of guys have had to contribute more and step up to their positions. Luckily for us, it all came together this week.”

The Cardinal will be competing next at the Callaway Golf Collegiate Match Play Championship. This will be a different type of tournament for the Stanford men because it will be in a “match-play” style instead of their usual “stroke-play.” The NCAAs have converted to match-play style this year, where one team squares off directly against another team, more like a basketball or baseball tournament. The best golfer on one team faces off against the best golfer on the opponent’s team, and so on, for five participants per team, which puts more pressure on each individual golfer.

“The guys really enjoy the match-play format,” Ray said. “This tournament will help us anticipate what the NCAAs will be like. Though it does put more pressure on the individual golfer, it motivates the guys because it is a more ‘mano y mano’ game.”

The full Stanford Daily's excellent event coverage can be found here. | Stanford's gostanford.com website's full tournament report. | Full tournament scoring results can be found here.



DAY ONE RESULTS:
Stanford jumped off to a 2-stroke lead after 36 holes played on day 1 of the USC Collegiate played at the private North Ranch CC in Westlake Village, CA. A trio of Cardinal players, Steve Ziegler, David Chung and Dodge Kemmer all shot 3-under rounds of 139 to tie for 2nd individually. Sihwan Kim posted a 1-over 143 while Jordan Cox shot a 160.

In addition, competing as individuals are Daniel Lim who shot 142 and Graham Brockington who shot 149 on the first day of play. The tournament wraps up with one more round being played on Tuesday, Feb 24th.

2009-10 Recruit Andrew Yun ties for 5th in AJGA event

4-time AJGA All-American Andrew Yun, coming to Stanford for the 2009-10 season, finishes tied for 5th in a top field of juniors playing at Carlton Oaks in Texas. Andrew had rounds of 69-74-71 to finish 2-under par and 3 strokes out of first. Here are complete results from the event.

Yun's scores below show that with better play on the par fives he would have won the event as those ahead of him on the scoreboard all finished under par on par 5 holes.

Bramlett on a similar path to Tiger - ESPN article

Stanford junior All-American Joseph Bramlett is the subject of this article By Ron Kroichick
Special to ESPN.com
Feb 11, 2009
Dino Vournas/Getty Images

As a golf-consumed child growing up in Northern California, Joseph Bramlett openly admired Tiger Woods.

Joseph Bramlett drew attention at a young age. When Bramlett was 10, John Kennaday -- who was the Santa Clara golf coach at the time and now leads San Jose State -- offered him a scholarship to wherever he was coaching when he was ready for college.
Bramlett and his father, Marlo, traipsed around Stanford Golf Course when Joseph was 7 or 8 to watch Woods play in a college tournament. Not long thereafter, Bramlett plastered two posters of Woods on his bedroom wall, including one from the 1997 Masters.

But what separates Bramlett from other Woods fans is the road he has traveled and the parallels he shares with the world's top player. Bramlett also comes from a multiracial family and learned the game from a devoted, disciplined African-American father. Bramlett also defied his age, becoming the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Amateur, at age 14 in 2002, and helped his college team win the NCAA championship during his freshman season (something even Woods didn't pull off).

It's hardly coincidence Bramlett landed at Stanford. The school's academic prestige and proximity to his family's Saratoga, Calif., home were appealing, but it didn't hurt that Woods spent two years with the Cardinal before soaring into his otherworldly realm.

"Tiger has meant a lot to Joseph as a role model and pioneer," said John Kennaday, one of Bramlett's instructors during his younger days and now the coach at nearby San Jose State. "It's a good opportunity to follow in your hero's footsteps."
See the complete article by clicking here.

Stanford finishes 4th the UH Hilo tourney on the Big Island of Hawaii

The spectacular Mauna Lani Resort on the Big Island of Hawaii is the site of the University of Hawaii at Hilo Invitational. Stanford's team includes first team All-American sophomore Sihwan Kim, seniors Dodge Kemmer and Daniel Lim, sophomore Steve Ziegler and freshman David Chung. All-American junior Joseph Bramlett is not available due to an injury to his wrist falling from a bike on campus. The tournament website provides this overview and daily updates of the event this year:

FINAL RESULTS:
Stanford finished 19 shots back of USC in 4th place led by Steve Ziegler's 3-under 71-71-71 (T-7). The team finished 2 shots behind 3rd place TCU. Other Stanford scores were David Chung's 75-74-69 (T-15), Sihwan Kim's 74-71-77 (T-30), Dodge Kemer's 74-75-76 (T-43), and Daniel Lim's 77-80-71 (T-56). Here are full results for the event.

PRE-TOURNAMENT SUMMARY BY HOST UH-HILO:
"The 19th Annual University of Hawaii at Hilo Invitational Golf Tournament is scheduled for Wednesday, February 4 through Friday, February 6 on the Mauna Lani Resort North Course. The tournament begins with a 12:30 p.m. practice round on Tuesday, February 3. Shotgun starts will begin at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 7:30 a.m. on Thursday and Friday.

Joining the Vulcans in this year’s tournament are defending champion Stanford University, Arizona State University, Florida State University, Fresno State University, Georgia Tech, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University, University of California-Davis, University of Colorado, University of Hawaii-Manoa, University of Kansas, University of Oklahoma, University of Oregon, University of San Francisco, University of Southern California and University of Washington.

Defending medalist Jesper Kennegard will lead the Arizona State squad. Kennegard, a sophomore from Kippan, Sweden, has one top 10 finish in three tournaments and is averaging 71.67 strokes per round.

The 18-hole "North" course at the Mauna Lani Resort Golf Course facility in Kamuela, Hawaii features 6,913 yards of golf from the longest tees for a par of 72 . The course rating is 73.2 and it has a slope rating of 136 on Bahia grass. Designed by Robin Nelson, ASGCA/Rodney Wright, ASGCA/Ray Kane, the North golf course opened in 1981."