Thursday, March 26, 2015

Stanford finishes 3rd and Maverick McNealy 1st in The Goodwin as the full squad competes




Final Results - text mostly by GoStanford.com
Maverick McNealy overcame a three-shot deficit to chase down UAB's Will Cannon to win The Goodwin at Stanford Golf Course on Saturday.

The season's fourth win for McNealy came with scores of 67-64-66 (197) to finish at 13-under, one shot shy of matching 2014 winner Patrick Rodgers' tournament-record 196. McNealy's win was the latest of Stanford's 15 individual titles at the event.

McNealy and Cannon signed identical 197 scorecards, with McNealy taking the top honor in a scorecard playoff. McNealy became the first collegiate golfer to reach four individual victories on the season.
Maverick McNealy with Wally Goodwin after the win - click to enlarge
In McNealy's three rounds, the sophomore totaled 20 birdies, one eagle, five bogeys and a quadruple bogey.  

McNealy got his hands on the trophy with a big-time finish on the 18th. His second shot came to rest a few dozen yards beyond the green and the ensuing chip landed on the back fringe. He calmly sank a 17-foot putt for par which stood to help earn the win.  Maverick's win came despite uneven results on the greens in his final round which included three 3-putts leading to his bogies on #8, #12 and #17 --- on the par 3 8th he 3 putted after hitting his tee shot to 3 feet.

"Maverick continues to lead us with an amazing win on his home course," said Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf Conrad Ray. "It was something special."

Cannon, who tied the tournament record with a 62 in round 2 along with SMU's Austin Smotherman, steered his UAB squad to first place at 23-under (272-269-276). UAB and SMU tied for top honors, but the Blazers found the edge courtesy of the applied tiebreaker.

After trailing by 13 in round 1, by 10 after round 2, Stanford finished 6 back in third with a 17-under 823.  The Cardinal was 8-under on its final circuit.

David Boote (67-69-67 203 T6) drained five birdies during his final round of 67, giving him a share of sixth at 7-under for the event. Franklin Huang (74-74-67 215 T64) added a 67 and was 5-over through 54 holes in his home debut. Patrick Grimes (71-68-72 211 T33) tied for 33rd at 1-over.  Viraat Badhwar (71-74-73 218 T80), the course record holder with a 59, was off his normal form as he tied for 80th overall.

Jeffrey Swegle (73-65-67 205 T12) contributed a smooth 3-under 67 to tie for 12th.  Jeff's excellent tournament included a 65 in round 2 and a final round without any bogies. Dominick Francks (74-71-69 214 T50) and Bradley Knox (73-70-71 214 T50) tied for 50th at 4-over. 


Final team scores and individual final round scorecards are shown below - click to enlarge.
Final team scores & Stanford round 3 scorecards - click to enlarge
"I'm happy the guys made a run in the team competition," Ray added. "The course played difficult with some firmer greens and longer rough. It was neat to see Franklin Huang come back to help the team.

"It was extra special to have Coach (Wally) Goodwin here to give Maverick the winner's jacket of his namesake tournament. Everyone at Stanford appreciates what Coach Goodwin has done for the golf program and university."
Maverick accepts the Goodwin jacket from Ass't Coach Graham Brockington
The Cardinal next heads south to Santa Cruz, California, for the Western Intercollegiate (April 11-12).

Round Two Results - text by GoStanford.com
Stanford remained in 5th place 10 strokes behind UAB after a 2nd round team total of 5-under par 275.  Stanford was one of seven teams to notch an under-par round Friday at The Goodwin, putting the Cardinal in a prime spot to make a run on the final day of the 54-hole event.

UAB surged to the top of the leaderboard with an 11-under 269 to move to 19-under through 36 holes. UNLV (-15) is second in front of SMU (-13) and TCU (-11), which led the 24-team field after the opening round at the Stanford Golf Course.

The Cardinal tees off between 12:26 p.m and 1:10 p.m. (PT) on Saturday to finish the event.



The top 12 teams and individual scorecards are shown below - click to enlarge:
Rnd 2 scoring - scorecards & top 12 teams
Maverick McNealy put on a show during his round of 6-under 64. McNealy logged seven birdies, four of which came on consecutive holes during his back nine.  Starting at 16 Maverick had a stretch of 7 birdies in 11 holes.

At 9-under through 36 holes, McNealy is tied for third among individuals and trails co-leaders John Oda of UNLV and Will Cannon of UAB by three shots. Cannon posted Friday's best round with an 8-under 62.

David Boote used four birdies to help card his 1-under 69. Boote is tied for 12th, and David Grimes is tied for 21st after his 2-under 68. Grimes was one of two Cardinal to eagle the par-5 seventh, joining Viraat Badhwar for that honor. Badhwar shot a 4-over 74, as did Franklin Huang.

Stanford's individual performers shined with rounds of 5-under from Jeffrey Swegle (Jeff's brilliant round included 8 birdies and 3 bogies), even-par from Bradley Knox and 1-over from Dominick Francks.


Individual scoring for Stanford is shown below:
Stanford individual scorecards
Round One Results - text by GoStanford.com
Stanford opened its home tournament Thursday and got through the first 18 holes of competition in fifth place. The opening round of The Goodwin saw TCU go off with a 16-under 264 to lead the 24-team field at Stanford Golf Course, with three players posting a 5-under 65. 

Stanford is 12 shots back at 4-under but only 4 behind 2nd place UAB - see team scoring below.
Round 1 Team Scoring - click to enlarge
UNLV's John Oda recorded the day's best round with a 6-under 64. Oda is one shot ahead of a six-player pack tied for second at 5-under.

"The guys got off to a solid start, and definitely left a few shots out there," said Conrad Ray, Stanford's Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf. "We battled a few big numbers and made a couple of easy mistakes that kept us from being around the lead. I'm confident that the guys will be ready to shoot low tomorrow and work their way back into contention."

Maverick McNealy had six birdies and an eagle, but added a bogey and quadruple-bogey during his round of 67. McNealy eagled the par-5 seventh and hit two out of bounds off the 13th tee.

McNealy is tied for 11th along with David Boote, whose 67 came with five birdies and a pair of bogeys.

Viraat Badhwar was 1-over at 71, as was teammate Patrick Grimes. Franklin Huang carded a 4-over 74 in a round marred by a 4-over 8 on the 2nd hole.


Round 1 scorecards are shown below.
Round 1 scorecards - click to enlarge
Stanford tees off in round 2 between 12:15 and 12:59 pm starting on the 10th hole once again playing with USC and Oregon.

Background - by GoStanford.com
The Goodwin
Thursday-Saturday, March 26-28
Stanford Golf Course • Stanford, Calif.

The Tournament
• Stanford will play host to The Goodwin this week at Stanford Golf Course.

• The event will span three days and features 54 holes of stroke play. Team scores will consist of the cumulative total of its four best scores out of five per round. For the purposes of tournament honors and awards, ties will be split per NCAA Championship tie-breaking procedures.

• Originally named the 'United States Intercollegiate', the event was renamed 'The Goodwin' prior to the 2014 edition in honor of former Cardinal head coach Wally Goodwin. Goodwin coached at Stanford from 1983-2000, and his tenure was highlighted by winning the 1994 national title. Goodwin was named national coach of the year in 1992 and 1994.

• Goodwin recruited and coached standouts such as Tiger Woods, Casey Martin, Notah Begay, Joel Kribel and current Stanford head coach Conrad Ray, among many other stars from Stanford's proud golfing tradition.

• Defending team champion Stanford has claimed 14 team victories and 14 individual titles at the event, the most of any program in each category. The Cardinal captured the first team and individual titles in 1968 during the inaugural year of the tournament.

• Stanford alumni who have won the event include Sandy Adelman (1968), Gary Vanier (1970), Tom Watson (1971), Conrad Nilmeier (1973), Dave Baskins (1974), Mike Peck (1976), Mike Milliken (1990), Casey Martin (1995), Joel Kribel (1996-97), Philip Rowe (2002), Rob Grube (2006-07) and Patrick Rodgers (2014).

• The Cardinal holds the event's longest team winning streak at six (1970-1975).


The Field
• The 24-team field is comprised of No. 7 Stanford, No. 11 USC, No. 15 Oregon, No. 24 UNLV, Arizona, Boise State, BYU, Colorado, Colorado State, Denver, Loyola Marymount, Minnesota, Northwestern, Pepperdine, Princeton, USF, San Jose State, Saint Mary's, Santa Clara, Southern Methodist, Texas Christian, UAB, UC Davis and Washington State.

• The field includes TCU's Paul Barjon, who won the 2013 event with an 11-under 199.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Cardinal finishes 5th in the Querencia Cabo Collegiate against 6 of the top 10 teams in the nation



Stanford brought its young team, including two freshmen, two sophomore and a junior, to Mexico to compete in the Querencia Cabo Collegiate on a Tom Fazio designed course against 6 of the top 10 tanked teams in the country.  Arkansas and Houston are hosting the event that includes #2 Florida State, #3 LSU, #5 Wake Forest, #7 Baylor, #9 Vanderbilt, #10 Stanford, #15 South Florida and #22 Washington.

Final Results:
Although the final team result of 5th place was disappointing, the Stanford 5 all finished in the top 25 individually, something that has only happened twice in the past 8 years.  “Overall, the scoring was tough today with the course playing very firm and the breeze challenging,” Knowles Family Director of Men’s Golf Conrad Ray said. “We got off to a bit of a slow start. There were a few big numbers this week which kept us finishing higher, but it is the first time I can think of in a long time that everyone was in the top-25. We are still getting better with every event, and this team, although young, is starting to figure things out.”

Starting the day in 2nd place, a final day 10-over par 294 resulted in the Cardinal finishing in 5th place, 15 strokes behind Florida State and 4 behind 4th place Washington.  Only two teams in round 3 had a higher total than Stanford as all 5 players were over par for the day.  A very encouraging result, however, is that Viraat Badhwar finished tied for 8th and team depth emerged as the two freshmen, Franklin Huang and Jeff Swegle, were steady throughout as both finished in the top 25 individually.

Three players had final round 2-over 73, Maverick McNealy (74-69-73 215 T20), Jeff Swegle (72-71-73 216 T20) and Franklin Huang (72-72-73 217 T25).  Viraat Badhwar had a strong tournament finishing tied for 8th overall despite a final round 75 (67-68-75 210 T8) while David Boote finished with a 76 (71-70-76 216 T25).

Final round team and Stanford scorecards are shown below - click to enlarge.
Final team standings and round 3 scorecards - click to enlarge
Round 2 Results:
Despite windy conditions, Stanford posted the lowest 2nd round of 6-under par 278 to move into 2nd place overall, 1 stroke behind South Florida. Florida State is 2 behind Stanford and Washington 3 behind in what may end up being a 4 team race for the championship.  Steady play by all 5 Cardinal golfers led to the successful second round.

Viraat Badhwar again leads the way after a 68 ties him for the individual lead (67-68 135 T1).  Maverick McNealy bounced back from his frustrating first round with a 69 (74-69 143 T17), David Boote fired a 70 (71-70 141 T11), Jeff Swegle had a 71 (72-71 143 T17) and Franklin Huang a 72 (72-72 144 T23).  Coach Ray talks about the 2nd round solid play despite windy conditions.


Team and individual scores for the top 9 teams is shown below - click to enlarge.
Round 2 scoring - click to enlarge
Round 1 Results:
Complete round 1 results are shown below including the Stanford scorecards (click to enlarge).  The Cardinal is tied for 3rd with Washington after a 2-under team total of 282 and trails Florida State by 7 and South Florida by 6 strokes.

Viraat Badhwar led the way with a strong 4-under 67 as he posted 4 birdies and the rest pars leaving him tied for 2nd overall.  David Boote was even par at 71 and tied for 18th and the two freshmen, Franklin Huang and Jeff Swegle, were 1 over at 73 and tied for 23rd. Franklin's roller-coaster round included 6 birdies and two double bogies while Jeff steady round included two bogies and 1 birdie.

Starting on hole 6, Maverick McNealy was rolling along at 4-under through 13 holes until disaster struck as he went double bogey, bogey, birdie before a 10 on the par 5 4th hole ruined an otherwise strong round.  Maverick ended with a 3-over 74 despite the closing difficulties.
Round 1 Team and Stanford scorecards - click to enlarge