Golf Week's Video Interview with Head Coach Conrad Ray

Stanford photo of Conrad Ray and his daughter Ella at the 2007 national championships where the Cardinal finished 2nd.

Golf Week magazine does a video interview with head coach Conrad Ray, selected as the national coach of the year in 2007. This interview covers a lot of ground in small amount of time touching on the 1994 national championship team that Conrad was a player on and the 2007 national championship team that Conrad coached.

Cardinal finishes 2nd at the CordeValle Collegiate

Stanford finished 2nd in the CordeValle Collegiate played in San Martin, CA, behind a dominant performance by USC which won the team title by 26 shots. Three Cardinal players finished in the top 10 individually with Sihwan Kim tying for 4th at 2-under par, Joseph Bramlett in 6th at even par and Jordan Cox tying for 10th at 2-over playing as an individual.

The unique format had each team including 6 players with the low 5 rounds each day counting towards the team score, instead of the typical event with 5 players on a squad. The four remaining Stanford players who counted for the team included David Chung at 11-over and the trio of players, Kemmer, Lim and Ziegler, all at 12-over.

Stanford's team will now be off until they return to action Feb 4th on the Big Island in Hawaii.

POSTED AFTER FIRST TWO ROUNDS:
After two rounds Stanford is in 2nd place but finds itself 19 strokes behind a red-hot USC team which has 3 players at the top of the individual leaderboard. Stanford is led by its two All-Americans, Sihwan Kim at 1-under and in 6th place and Joseph Bramlett tied for 7th at even par. An encouraging note is the play of junior Jordan Cox who is in 10th place at 1-over par, although he is playing as an individual so his scores don't count towards team play.

The weather has been on the cool side and the 2nd round was marked by gusty winds throughout the day making scoring conditions tough. The CordeValle course is showing its teeth given the conditions with the average scoring around 76 shots per round and the low round over the first two days was a 68. Only two other rounds were under 70, one being Sihwan Kim's first round 69 that tied him for the individual lead after day one.

In the second round the gusty winds led to erratic play by the entire field, including the Cardinal team. Cox's low team round of 70 included 7 birdies, 5 on the front nine when he made the turn at 3-under 33. Kim's round included a double bogey 7 on the par 5 third hold but he came back to close with an eagle on the par 5 18th hole over water. That 18th hole proved to be tough on two of the Cardinal players as Bramlett and Kemmer both finished with double bogies, in Bramlett's case that led to a still solid 1-over 73. Bramlett offset two double bogeys with five birdies.


The Stanford news service reports the following before the tourney began:

Playing for the Cardinal in the 54-hole three-day tournament will be Sihwan Kim, Joseph Bramlett, David Chung, Steve Ziegler, Daniel Lim, and Dodge Kemmer. Jordan Cox will also be competing as an individual. Kim was last year's CordeValle individual champion, and helped the team to a second place finish.

Four other Golfweek top 50 teams will be joining Stanford in the tournament: Arizona, No. 2 Arkansas, No. 36 Augusta State, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, No. 18 Lamar, Northwestern, Santa Clara, UCLA, USC, and No. 9 Washington.

The Cardinal is paired with Lamar and Lim will be the first to tee off on the first hole at 8 a.m. to begin the tournament.

For more information about the CordeValle Golf Course, please visit http://cordevalle.com/golf.cfm.

Stanford finishes 8th against the nation's best at the Isleworth Collegiate

Stanford finished 8th against a strong field at the Isleworth Collegiate in Windermere, Florida. Cold, windy weather greeted the golfers on a day that began in the high 40s and only reached the 60s later in the afternoon. Winds gusted to 20 miles per hour throughout the round and scored soared for all the teams.

Final round scores included three 76s by Joseph Bramlett, Steve Ziegler and Dodge Kemmer while David Chung posted an 80 and Sihwan Kim struggled to a 85.

A final day log can be found at this tournament website.

POST AFTER THE SECOND ROUND:
Stanford sends it's young talented squad back to Tiger's home course in Windermere, Florida. Competing this year are Sihwan Kim, Joseph Bramlett, Dodge Kemmer, Steve Ziegler and David Chung - one senior, one junior, two sophomores and a freshman.

Stanford moved up 6 places to a tie for 8th place among the 18 elite teams playing at the Isleworth Collegiate in Windermere, Florida. Bramlett's (photo below) tournament best 5-under par 67 led the Cardinal who improved by 9 shots under their first day total. Ziegler and Chung followed with 74, while Kemmer had a 77 and Kim a 78. Bramlett's round featured 6 birdies and one bogey over the tough Isleworth course, moving him up to a tie for 13th place individually despite an opening round 77.



POST AFTER ROUND 1:
Against an elite field of the nation's best teams, it was a tough first round for the Cardinal at the Isleworth Collegiate as the team is tied for 14th place, 14 shots behind the Alabama. Stanford was led by sophomore Steve Ziegler's 1-over 73, followed by freshman David Chung's 75, sophomore Sihwan Kim's 76 and two 77s from junior Joseph Bramlett and senior Dodge Kemmer. With two days remaining there are plenty of holes for the team to get back into contention.

From the main tournament website comes the following summary:

"Play at the nation’s premier men’s college golf tournament began Sunday morning and Alabama (287, -1) paces the
field after one round of action at the Isleworth-UCF Collegiate Invitational. The Crimson Tide’s Matthew Swan and
Indiana’s Jorge Campillo are tied for first in the individual standings at 4-under-par 68."

"Six individuals broke par Sunday, while Alabama is the lone team in the red. Indiana is second at 289 (+1), followed
by Southern California (290, +2)."

POST BEFORE THE TOURNEY BEGAN:
Stanford sends it's young talented squad back to Tiger's home course in Windermere, Florida. Competing this year will be Sihwan Kim, Joseph Bramlett, Dodge Kemmer, Steve Ziegler and David Chung - one senior, one junior, two sophomores and a freshman.

From the tournament website: "Eighteen of the best men’s golf teams in the country will compete in the nation’s premier college tournament when play begins at the fifth-annual Isleworth-UCF Collegiate Invitational on Sunday morning . The three-day, three-round tournament at the Isleworth Golf & Country Club in Windermere includes eight of the top-10 squads in the country.

In total, 13 of the 18 teams in this year’s event are ranked in the top-30 nationally, including the host Knights (30). According to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, Oklahoma State is the top team in the country. Tournament participants Southern Cal (3), Georgia (4), Illinois (5), Stanford (6), South Carolina (8), Texas (9) and Alabama (10) join the Cowboys in the top 10."

Stanford finishes 3rd in the Prestige played at PGA West

Stanford finished 3rd in the Prestige played at PGA West on the Greg Norman course in a tourney it co-hosts with UC Davis. Leading the way was TCU winning by 10 over 2nd place UC Davis while the Cardinal was another 8 shots behind Davis.

Final results on the surface look good as Stanford had 4 individuals placing in the top 20, but what largely separated the top two teams from the field was the very strong play from the two players who tied for first individually at 6-under par. Stanford's best, Sihwan Kim, finished at two-over par in a tie for 8th place. TCU also had two other players finishing tied for 5th at 1-over par leading to their dominating win.

After Kim, Steve Ziegler's last two solid rounds included a 2-under 70 final round to move him into a tie for 11th with teammate Joseph Bramlett who finished with a final round 75. Freshman David Chung had a top-20 finish with his 3rd round 73 leading to his tie for 15th place overall. Daniel Lim finished with a 76 to tie for 63rd.

Playing as individuals Dodge Kemmer had a 75 last round to finish tied for 30th overall and Jordan Cox had a 73 on his third round and finished tied for 76th place overall.

Next up is a major test against the nation's elite teams in Windermere, Florida, home of Tiger Woods and the Isleworth Country Club, site of the upcoming tournament. Stanford will look to improve its play from all team members in order to compete for this top event.


COMMENTS AFTER ROUNDS 1 & 2:
Desert golf at La Quinta, California, is proving to be a challenge for the teams competing at the Prestige played on the Greg Norman course at PGA West. In the morning round of the 36-hole first day, unseasonably cool temperatures in the fifties to start the day combined with Santa Ana winds that gusted to 30 miles per hour led to very high scores.

Stanford was in 2nd by 3 strokes behind TCU after the morning round 9-over par 597 being led by Joseph Bramlett's 72, Sihwan Kim and David Chung's 74s and Steve Ziegler's 77. Daniel Lim's 78 was not counted as the low four scores are used each round. Dodge Kemmer and Jordan Cox played as individuals shooting 74 and 84 respectively.

The winds subsided a bit though still gusting and the desert heated up into the low eighties but the second round followed the same pattern as Stanford improved to 592 was again lost 3 shots to TCU falling 6-shots behind. Meanwhile UC Davis had a torrid 582 score led by a sparkling 63 from their top player. Stanford scores in the afternoon were Kim 72, Bramlett 73, Ziegler 73, Chung 74, Lim 78, Kemmer 78 and Cox 79 were disappointing with nobody going low.

The pattern of play in the first round for all but Kim and Bramlett was that doubles, triples and quads would mar otherwise decent golf on a day when pars were at a premium. Chung's 74 included a triple, for example. In the 2nd round, again Kim and Bramlett were the only players who managed to avoid a score worse than a bogey.

Individually the Cardinal has three players in the top ten led by Bramlett's tied for 4th.
It will take a solid last round to claim this title but Stanford is certainly very capable of pulling that off.

Stanford finishes 4th in 1st Tourney, the Illini Invitational

Olympia Fields GC. Tournament photos below courtesy of GolfStat.

Stanford finished 4th in first tournament of the 2008-09 season played at the venue of the 2003 US Open, Olympia Fields Golf Club in Illinois. Hosted and won by Illinois, the field was very strong including three of the top ten teams: defending national champion UCLA, Stanford and perennial power Oklahoma State.

Qualifying to make the trip are Sihwan Kim, Joseph Bramlett, Dodge Kemmer, Steve Ziegler and freshman David Chung. Joseph is coming back from his long injury layoff from last year while David Chung, highly touted freshman, is making his collegiate debut.

Here you will find a hole by hole review of the great Olympia Fields North golf course. You can find complete live scoring for the entire field here.

FINAL RESULTS - Stanford finished 4th, 15 strokes behind behind host school Illinois, which was followed by Indiana and Oklahoma State. Bramlett led the way as he tied for 7th at 3-over par, followed Kemmer at 6-over, Ziegler at 7-over, Kim at 13-over and Chung at 15-over par.

Joseph's third round 71 (he finished 4 shots behind the individual leader) was very steady finishing with 2 bogeys and one birdie while Dodge overcame two double bogeys with 3 birdies offsetting one bogey to shoot 72. Steve's 70, Stanford's best final round, had him firing a 33 on the back nine with four birdies and 2 bogeys. Sihwan's 73 included 5 bogeys and two birdies and David 71 resulted from a two birdie, 3 bogey round.

Although the Cardinal may be disappointed to not win their opening event, the best news is that Joseph Bramlett appears back in fine form after his long absence due to injury. That should prove very significant for this deep Stanford team that should only get better as the season progresses

ROUND 2 RESULTS - Although Stanford remains in a tie for 5th place, they have fallen 11 shots behind Oklahoma State. The day included rounds of 71 by Kemmer, three 74s by Bramlett, Ziegler and Kim, and a 75 by Chung.

Joseph is in a tie for 7th individually after two days of play (68-74). His round included 4 bogeys and no birdies while 2 of his bogeys came on his last two holes. Dodge's solid 2nd round included 4 birdies and 5 bogeys while Sihwan had a good round going until he finished bogey, double bogey. Steve managed to avoid any doubles but he had 6 bogeys and 1 birdie. David's round looked promising but was marred by an opening double bogey and a triple bogey on #16.

No question the team will need a very strong round to overcome the lead of the top two teams.

ROUND 1 RESULTS - The Cardinal stands tied for 5th at 10-over par after the first round, led by Bramlett's tournament leading 68 and Kemmer and Ziegler's 73. Kim opened with a 76 and David Chung struggled to a 79. Stanford stands only 2 shots behind a trio of teams tied at the top. Bramlett's strong opening round included 5 birdies and 3 bogeys. Freshman David Chung's collegiate career included a quadruple bogey 8 on his 2nd hole, a tough start indeed. Two other double bogeys followed leading to his 79. Ziegler's solid 73 included a triple bogey on the 4th but he played well thereafter with 3 birdies to post his 3-over round. Kemmer's 73 was steadier with 4 bogeys and 1 birdie. Returning first team All-American Kim struggled early after bogeying 3 of his first 4 holes. He played 1-under par golf thru 15 after the rough start but then had two double bogeys on 16 and 18 to finish at 6-over.

Sihwan Kim was not happy when his tee shot ended right of the bunker on 8. He hit this shot nicely to 5 feet and made the par putt.

Steve Ziegler tees off on the long par 3 eigth hole. He hit a great shot and made the birdie putt.

David Chung with a touchy downhill chip on 8. It ran 4 feet past and left of the hole and he made the par putt.

2008-09 Player web pages are updated with swing sequences and new stats

We've added individual NCAA tournament statistics for each player who has competed for Stanford. In addition, for all the returning players, their individual web pages include swing sequences such as the one shown below.

For example, here's the updated web page for sophomore All-American Sihwan Kim: http://stanfordmensgolf.com/kim.htm.

Here's the swing sequence for returning senior Dodge Kemmer which can be found in a larger image on his web page:

Joseph Bramlett finishes 7th in 1st tourney in 9 months

Joseph Bramlett returned to competitive play and finished in 7th place with rounds of 68-66-75, trailing the winner Matt Grush by 6 shots shots. Joseph was only 2 shots back in 2nd after the first two rounds. The final day was blustery and Joseph went out in 39 to move out of contention. Here's an article from the Scramento Bee describing the final round.

All final scores are shown here: http://www.statefairgolf.net/events/allscores.asp.

A local Sacramento Bee story had this to say about Joseph after the second round --- "Bramlett is a 20-year-old Stanford junior who was the youngest to qualify for the U.S. Amateur at age 14 and has been a star in the making for years.

'I'm just thrilled to be competing again,' said Bramlett, a Saratoga resident who didn't swing a golf club from January through July of this year after bruising his wrist in a team training exercise."Here's the Sacramento Bee story after the 2nd round.

Joseph hurt his wrist in a training accident with the golf team at the end of 2007 and missed the entire spring and summer golf seasons. After his outstanding freshman campaign at Stanford where Joseph earned 2nd team All-American honors it was a significant loss for Stanford's team that went on to finish 2nd in the NCAA Championship without Joseph.