Cardinal finishes strongly in 3rd at Hawaii tourney behind Rodgers & Yun

FINAL  RESULTS:
Stanford finished in 3rd place at the Hawaii tournament played at Waikoloa Beach Resort's Kings Course on the Big Island, 10 shots behind top-ranked Texas and 5 behind USC.   It took a strong 11-under par final round of 277, equal to the best of the day to move the Cardinal ahead of Georgia Tech and UCLA.  In a field with 6 of the nation's top 10 teams, the Pac-12 finished 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 8th, 12th and 17th in the field of 20 teams.  The Cardinal finished ahead of the nationally 2nd ranked Oregon and the nationally 4th ranked UCLA.  Stanford came into the event ranked 7th in the country.  See Assistant Coach Phil Rowe's comments on the event below --- Head Coach Conrad Ray was home waiting for their third child.

Rodgers

The Cardinal was led by super-frosh Patrick Rodgers (67-69-71, 9-under 207) who finished 3rd individually, two strokes behind Jordan Spieth of Texas and Jeffrey Kang of USC.  Patrick has now finished in the top ten in each of his tournaments this season.  One shot behind was returning 1st team All-American  and junior Andrew Yun (69-74-65 208) who had the tournament low round of 65 in a blazing display that included an amazing 3 eagles on his front nine (more about this historic feat below).

Senior co-captain David Chung finished tied for 23rd with rounds of 70-73-70 (213), sophomore Cameron Wilson tied for 49th with 76-71-71 (218) and fellow sophomore Steven Kearney tied for 65th with 76-72-72 (220).  Freshman Patrick Grimes, playing as an individual, led the event after an opening 66 and finished tied for 35th with 66-75-74, a 215 total.

Stanford was 12 strokes behind Texas after the first round and played the best of any team over the last two rounds to move up from 6th place to 3rd.  A fast close on the final hole of each player's final round proved the difference as our 5-person team together was 4-under par behind David Chung's final hole eagle and 2 other birdies to move ahead of Georgia Tech by 1 shot and UCLA by 2 shots.

Yun

Andrew Yun's final round 65 (on nines of 31-34) as mentioned above was the lowest of the tournament, tied with one other player.  He began his historic round on the par 5 4th hole with an eagle and then proceeded to eagle his second hole, the par 4 5th hole.  After a double bogey on 6, his round continued with 5 more birdies and another eagle on his 17th hole, the par 5 2nd hole.  So the round included 5 birdies, 3 eagles, 2 bogies, a double bogey and only 7 pars.  The 3 eagles in 4 holes may never have been accomplished by any golfer anywhere.  On the pro tour, the last player to record 3 eagles in one round (not 9 holes) was Joe Ogilvie in the 2007 Fry's Open.  Truly an historic round by Andrew.

The final round scorecards are shown below - click to enlarge.

3rd round scorecards - click to enlarge

Assistant Coach Phil Rowe's comments after the event --- It was hard to keep up with all the action even from close up since there were so many birdies and eagles flying around there. I watched Steven Kearney hole out his wedge shot on hole 16 in the second round and also managed to see the two opening back to back eagles on holes 4 and 5 from Yun. From just looking at the scorecard it looks as though Andrew was -7 for 5 holes!!!

We played relatively better on each day. as you noted, we put ourselves a bit too far behind following round 1 and those strong teams were just not going to relinquish such a lead. not all of them at least. Every day was a story of promising starts, a lull in the middle and then a strong finish. The strong finish was incredible to experience first hand. I watched Kearney finish with a birdie, Cameron finish with back to back birdies, Chung with an eagle (-4 for last four) and then there was Yun who was -4 for his last four also!! the swirling windy conditions that made some parts of the course open for attack and others where a defensive par was the play. Fortunately all the conditions came right for us to overtake UCLA and Georgia Tech.

For a moment I thought Rodgers was going to bring home the individual title too since birdies on holes 18 and 1 got him right back in the mix and tied with Speith and Kang at that point. Unfortunately he was in between clubs on his second shot to the par 5 second hole and paid a hefty price for pulling his shot left into the hazard that would ruin his chances of a second collegiate win that will surely come along as a result of being in contention on an every tournament basis! Lot's to learn from this time around.

Other than that we had a fantastic week as always warmly hosted by Irv and Sukey Grousbeck, star supporters of the program.

There's a rapid turn around for San Diego so we are busy planning and working out the starting 5 for that one. Meanwhile, still no baby chez Ray!

ROUND 2 RESULTS:

Stanford moved up one spot to a tie for 5th place after a solid 3-under par 285 2nd round total on a day when the wind blew on the Kona side of the Big Island in Hawaii - this 2nd round for Stanford was tied for 2nd best on the day.  Texas remains in the lead 10 shots ahead of the Cardinal, with UCLA, USC and Washington holding down the next 3 spots.

Patrick Rodgers once again led the way for the team with a 3-under 69 (67-69) leaving him tied for 2nd individually only one shot behind the leader from UCLA.  Andrew Yun (69-74) and David Chung (70-73) are tied for 30th individually while Cameron Wilson (76-71 65th) and Steven Kearney (76-72 T66) both had solid 2nd rounds in the tougher conditions.

Patrick's solid round featured 5 birdies and two bogies and both Steven and Cameron had good back nines leading to their 71-72 respectively.  Steven's superb back nine of 5-under 31 was especially noteworthy as he had 4 birdies and an eagle 2 on the par 4 16th hole to offset a lone bogey on the par 5 14th.

Freshman Patrick Grimes, playing as an individual, after leading the event in round one with his 6-under 66 had a 75 leaving him tied for 21st position.

Scorecards of the 5 team players are included below:

Round 2 scorecards - click to enlarge

ROUND 1 RESULTS:
The Cardinal is in 6th place, 12 shots behind leading and top-ranked Texas after round one of the 20 team Ari Invitational played on the Big Island of Hawaii at the Waikoloa Beach Resort's Kings Course.  Three Pac-12 teams, UCLA, Washington and USC are ahead of Stanford and Oregon is 2 shots behind the Cardinal.  Live scoring is available by Golfstat.

Rodgers

Freshman Patrick Rodgers, the nation's 4th ranked collegiate player, led the team's play with a 5-under 67 (T4) in a round that included 6 birdies and a lone bogey.  Andrew Yun had a 69 (T15), David Chung a 70 (T26) while sophomores Stephen Kearney and Cameron Wilson had matching 76's (T93).

Grimes

Freshman Patrick Grimes, playing as an individual, had a great round of 66 and is tied for 1st in the field.  His round featured 8 birdies.

Scorecards for the team players and Patrick are showed below --- click to enlarge.

Round 1 scorecards of team players

Patrick Grimes - round 1 scorecard - click to enlarge

BACKGROUND ON HAWAII TOURNAMENT FROM GOSTANFORD.COM:

STANFORD, Calif. -- - Stanford's men's golf team, ranked seventh by Golfweek, will open its spring season on Wednesday at the Amer Ari Invitational, where six of the top 10 teams in the nation will vie for the team title at the Waikoloa Kings' Course on the Big Island.

Top-ranked (Golfweek/Sagarin) Texas, No. 2 Oregon, No. 4 UCLA, No. 9 Georgia Tech and No. 10 Washington, along with No. 7 Stanford, headline the field which also includes Pac-12 rivals Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon State and No. 11 USC.

Oklahoma State, Cal-State Chico, TCU, Texas Tech, UC Davis, Hawaii-Hilo, Hawaii-Manoa, San Jose State, San Francisco and Osaka Gakuin University from Japan round out the field.

Stanford finished tied for 11th in last year's event but has captured the team title three times in the last five years, finishing first in 2007, '08 and '10.

Knowles Family Director of Golf Conrad Ray is expected to start a lineup featuring freshman Patrick Rodgers, junior Andrew Yun, senior David Chung along with sophomore Cameron Wilson and and junior Steve Kearney. Freshman Patrick Grimes is expected to compete as an individual.

Ray will not be accompanying the team, as his wife Jennifer is expecting their third child.

The Cardinal is hoping for a fast start to the spring season against one of the nation's strongest fields, as the team sets its sights on returning to the NCAA Championships after coming up short in qualifying last year. 

Stanford made a strong statement in its first event of the year, capturing the 15-team Fighting Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields, thanks to top-five finishes by three golfers, including Rodgers, who became the first Stanford golfer since Tiger Woods to win his inaugural collegiate event.

The Cardinal also had a strong showing at The Prestige at PGA West, finishing third in a 15-team field. Stanford closed out the fall season with a pair of seventh-place finishes at the Isleworth Intercollegiate Invitational and the Gifford Collegiate Championships, respectively.

"One big takeaway from the fall is we had some really stellar results, starting at Olympia Fields, where Patrick Rodgers came right off his Walker Cup appearance to win the event," said Ray. "Yun finished third and Cameron Wilson was tied for the lead going into the final round before finishing fourth.

"That was the great thing about the fall - we got strong contributions across the board."

Ray is excited about the depth on this year's team, especially at the top of the lineup.

"The teams that I've had that have been really successful are the ones who are deep and have every player contributing in some fashion or another. Having one guy carry the team is not a formula for success. Our goal this spring is to have each of our five guys play an active role."

Rodgers enters the spring as the fourth-ranked player in the country, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. His presence adds tremendous depth to a lineup that features Yun, who earned first team All-American honors last season and Chung, who was a finalist at the 2010 U.S. Amateur.

"I've been around the Stanford program for a lot of years both as a player and a coach and have seen a lot of world class players," said Ray. "I'm not sure if I have seen a player prepare himself better to get tournament-ready than Patrick Rodgers. He prepares himself and manages his game like a seasoned touring pro.

"He pretty much didn't miss a shot in Chicago and won the event against a very strong field. But he also showed he can post scores when he's not playing his best, which is rare for a freshman. The sky is the limit for the kid."

According to Ray, the next step for Yun, who earned first team PING All-America honors last year after carding seven top-5 finishes, is to close the door when he is in contention.

"Winning is a acquired skill," said Ray. "You have to learn how to manage your emotions down the stretch on the back nine and know what you have to do to get in the house with a low score. Andrew's next big goal is to win. He's more fit and has a better handle on his mechanics. If he continues to stay patient, he is going to get through that door.

"The exciting thing is when you have a year like Andrew had last season, your expectations change. He has set a high bar for himself."

Chung is regaining his form that made him one of the top amateur players in the world two years ago when he won the North-South Men's and Western Amateur titles, along with a runner-up finish at the U.S. Amateur.

"If you look back on David's career, he has had stretches where he has been up and down," said Ray. "He is more mature with his approach right now and the results will follow."

Ray has also been pleased with the progress of Wilson and Kearney, two seasoned sophomores who played in every event during the fall.

"Wilson hits shots that others can't hit and Kearney will compete to the end. We feel really good about where those two players are at right now."

Following the Amer Ari Invitational, the Cardinal will have a short turnaround before it competes in the San Diego Intercollegiate Classic, Feb. 12-14. After an appearance at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters, March 9-11, the Cardinal will play host to the U.S. Intercollegiate at Stanford Golf Course, March 30-April 1.

The Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club precedes the Pac-12 Men's Golf Championships, set for Apr. 27-29 at Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis, Ore.

Stanford Golf Course will also play host to the NCAA West Regionals from May 17-19.

This year's NCAA Championships will be held at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, May 29-June 3.

Yun, Chung & Rodgers compete in inaugural Patriot All-American

Andrew Yun, David Chung and Patrick Rodgers are among the top collegiate golfers invited to compete in the inaugural Patriot All-American Invitational being held at the Wigwam Golf Course in Litchfield Park, Arizona. The field includes 84 top collegiate golfers including 21 of the top 100 amateurs in the world.  Participants were all past All-Americans in college or the AJGA.  There is Live Scoring available for the event through the main website --- http://patriotallamerica.com/.

FINAL ROUND RESULTS: Andrew Yun led the way finishing tied for 7th with a 2-under 211 total on rounds of 69-75-67.  Andrew finished 12 shots behind Cory Whitsett and 9 behind Bobby Wyatt.  Patrick Rodgers finished tied for 10th one behind Andrew at 212 with his rounds of 73-69-70 and David Chung tied for 23rd at 2-over 215 on rounds of 72-70-73.

Scorecards of all rounds for the three Cardinal All-Americans are included below - click on the images to enlarge.

Andrew Yun's 3 rounds - click to enlarge

Patrick Rodgers' 3 rounds

David Chung's 3 rounds

ROUND TWO RESULTS:  David Chung (72-70 Even) and Patrick Rodgers (72-69) are tied for 15th while Andrew Yun slipped to a tie for 28th after rounds of 69-75.  Cory Whitsett leads at 9-under par after rounds of 69-64.

ROUND ONE RESULTS:  Andrew Yun is tied for 3rd after his first round 69 while David Chung is tied for 19th with his 72 and Patrick Rodgers is tied for 25th at 73.  Brent Koepka's 4-under 67 gives him the first round lead.

Cardinal signs Boote and Francks to National Letters of Intent

STANFORD, Calif. - The Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf, Conrad Ray, has announced high school senior Dominick Francks and International Student David Boote have signed national letters of intent to attend Stanford University next fall.

Francks, who is from Olympia, Washington and attends Olympia High School has collected many golfing accolades on a regional and national stage.


 In 2010 the Washington State Golf Association named Dominick Junior Boy’s “Player of the Year” after he won both the Junior State Championship and the Junior Pacific Northwest Amateur.


 In 2011, he retained his “Player of the Year” status with the Washington Junior Golf Association, added a MVP honor representing Washington at the Junior America’s Cup and claimed the WIAA 4A State High School Golf Championship Title. 


Notable results on the national golfing scene in 2011 included tied 3^rd place in the Callaway Junior World Championship, 5^th in the Junior America’s Cup and tied 2^nd place in the Hudson Junior Invitational. Francks maintains a USGA Handicap of +2.5 and a Stroke average of 72. 


He has also played 3 years of Varsity Basketball and is a member of the Olympia High School Sports Round Table. Dominick stands 6'3" and weighs 195 lbs.


His fields of academic interest are currently Biology and Philosophy.  
Dominick commits to Stanford | Junior World 3rd Place Finish | Washington State High School Champion |  2010 PNGA junior champion | You Tube Swing Video.

click to enlarge

Boote hails from Surrey, England and attends Epsom College where he is studying for A-Levels in Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Economics and Critical Thinking. Despite residing in the suburbs of London in England, David is very proud of his Welsh heritage and is their 2011 National Junior Champion. 


Success representing Wales at Junior level in European International events along with solid play at the Men’s Home Internationals at County Sligo, Ireland, this summer has elevated David’s standing to being a key member of the Welsh National Men’s Amateur Squad. 


Perhaps his greatest 2011 recognition came when David captained Great Britain and Ireland Juniors in the Jaques Leglise Trophy and helped his team earn victory over a strong Continent of Europe team in Neguri, Spain. 


Individually in 2011, David won the United Kingdom Nick Faldo Series Championship. Through numerous wins and top finishes in National cometitions over the course of several years, David earned selection opportunities to competed twice on American soil at the Junior Jones Cup and the Junior Players where he finished respectably in 9^th and 35^th spots respectively. 


Outside of golf, David plays the lead baritone saxophone for his school band ensemble, acts in his school dramatics society and has represented Epsom College in Rugby and Field Hockey.  David's golf handicap is +2.1 and he stands 5'10" and weighs 155 lbs.  
David Spearheads Wales Challenge | David wins the Faldo Series | David Captains GB & I team vs Continent of Europe | Photos and Story of GB & I win in Spain | Surrey County Golf Story of Signing.

David signs LOI - click to enlarge

click to enlarge

http://www.theolympian.com/2011/11/10/1870823/south-sound-golfer-commits-to.html

Gifford Collegiate at CordeValle is underway in San Martin, CA

Stanford is competing in the unique Gifford Collegiate tournament held at highly regarded CordeValle GC in nearby San Martin, CA, about 45 minutes from the Stanford campus.  CordeValle is a top venue having recently hosted the PGA Tour's Fry's Open.

Final Results:
The third and final round ended with Stanford in 6th place after an 11-over par 366 total counting the low five scores out of six players competing in this unique event.  The Cardinal finished 50 shots behind the winning USC team and 46 behind 2nd place UCLA.

Freshman Patrick Rodgers led the way with a 2-over total of 215 (70-73-72 T10), followed by Cameron Wilson at 216 (75-72-69 T13), Andrew Yun at 222 (73-74-75 T25), David Chung at 223 (74-75-74 T30), Shane Lebow with 231 (79-76-76 T59) and Marcel Puyat at 236 (80-79-77 67th).  The overall individual winner was Steve Lim of USC with an 11-under 202 total.

Playing as individuals, Steven Kearney finished at 223 (75-77-71 T30) while Andre DeDecker ended with a 231 total (78-79-74 T59).  The fall tournament season has ended with Stanford returning to action on the Big Island of Hawaii Feb 1-3.

Prior round results, tournament background and practice round videos can be found below.  Final round scorecards can be found immediately below --- click to enlarge:

Final round scorecards - click to enlarge

Second Round Results:
The second round ended with Stanford moving up one spot to 7th with its 15-over par 370 total.  The team is 44 shots behind the leading USC team, 31 behind UCLA and 19 behind 3rd place Virginia.  The lead individuals, Cantlay of UCLA and Lim of USC are tied with 9-under par totals of 133.

The Cardinal is led by Patrick Rodgers at 143 (70-73 T8), followed by Andrew Yun (73-74 T27) and Cameron Wilson (75-72 T27) at 147, David Chung at 149 (74-75 T37), Shane Lebow at 155 (79-76 T62) and Marcel Puyat's 159 (80-79 69th).  Playing as individuals, Steven Kearney is at 152 (75-77 T47) and Andre DeDecker at 157 (78-79 T64).

Second round scorecards of the six team players are below (click to enlarge):

2nd round scorecards - click to enlarge

First Round Results:
It was a tough first round for the 2nd ranked Cardinal team as they ended in 8th place a full 26 shots behind leading USC.  On a day when scoring was low, it took a sensational comeback by freshman Patrick Rodgers to achieve his 1-under par total of 70 (T9) which was the team's only sub-par score.  Patrick was 5-over on his first 8 holes, starting on the back nine, and he then reeled off 6 birdies on his next 10 holes, resulting in a 31 on his back nine.

Andrew Yun was next with a 73 followed by David Chung's 74, Cameron Wilson's 75, Shane Lebow's 79 and Marcel Puyat's 80.  Playing as individuals Steven Kearney had a 75 and Andre DeDecker had a 78.  The individual leader was UCLA's Patrick Cantlay's 63 while USC had 3 players with rounds of 66, 68 and 68.

The individual scorecards are show below (click on image to enlarge):

First round scorecards - click to enlarge

Tournament Background & Video:
Each team competes with 6 players, not the typical 5 players, with the low 5 scores counting each day.  In addition, the Cardinal bring 2 individual competitors.  Read Coach Phil Rowe's excellent summary of the qualifying for this CordeValle tourney in the coach's blog --- http://stanfordmensgolf.blogspot.com/2011/10/team-heading-to-cordevalle.html.  Stanford finished 2nd to UCLA in the 2010 event at CordeValle.

The tournament includes many of the nation's top teams (by GolfWeek) including #2 Oregon, #3 Stanford, #5 Washington and #11 UCLA, plus #32 USC, Arizona, Central Carolina, Long Beach State, Northwestern, Virginia and Washington State.

Stanford's line-up includes Patrick Rodgers, Andrew Yun, Cameron Wilson, David Chung, Shane Lebow and Marcel Puyat and Steven Kearney and Andre DeDecker will compete as individuals.  Stanford is paired with Virginia in the first round.  Short practice round videos of each player are included below -- each video is very short and will automatically move to the next video.

Isleworth Collegiate Results in Windermere, Florida

Stanford's third tournament of the season is being played in Windermere, Florida, at the highly rated Arnold Palmer-designed Isleworth GC, home to many touring pros.  The tournament has become one of the premiere events always bringing together many of the nation's top teams from around the country.  This year's event is no exception with Texas (#1), Stanford (#2),  Alabama (#5), California (#7), North Florida (#12), Oklahoma State (#13), UCF (#15) and LSU (#18) competing along with Florida, TCU and Vanderbilt.  Team rankings shown are by Golfweek. |  Live scoring is being provided by GolfStat. |  Pre-tourney videos by Coach Phil Rowe - see videos below.  Thanks to Elise Chung for providing excellent photos of the event (see sample below) --- https://picasaweb.google.com/cechung/Isleworth2011?feat=email.

Team photo by Elise Chung - click to enlarge

Final Results - Stanford finished a disappointing 7th a full 45 shots behind the hot Texas team despite having three individuals finishing in the top 10.  Nine strokes separated the 2nd thru 7th teams.  The 3rd and final round total of 301 was the worst of the three days of play (291-299-301) as the Cardinal had no players breaking par.

Patrick Rodgers finished 4th overall (70-72-74 216), Andrew Yun finished tied for 6th (69-73-76 218), Cameron Wilson was tied for 10th (73-75-72), David Chung tied for 59th (79-79-79) and Steven Kearney tied for 68th (81-82-79).  The runaway individual winner was Jordan Spieth of Texas with an 11-under par 205 total.  The final tournament of the fall season starts Oct 31 at Cordevalle GC near Stanford, a course that recently hosted a PGA tour event.

The final round scorecards can be found below:

3rd round scorecards - click to enlarge

Round Two Results - Stanford stands in 4th place after two rounds after an 11-over par 299, leaving the team 16 shots behind Texas, 6 behind LSU and 3 behind North Florida.  Scores were higher in the 2nd round, likely due to windy conditions.  Andrew Yun (69-73) and Patrick Rodgers (70-72) are tied for 2nd individually at 2-under par, 4 shots behind Jordan Spieth (65-73) of Texas.

The team leaders are followed by Cameron Wilson (73-75), David Chung (79-79) and Steven Kearney (81-82).  Round two scorecards are included below:

2nd round scorecards - click to enlarge

Round One Results - Stanford finished tied with Alabama for 3rd after the first round, 13 strokes behind Texas and 4 behind North Florida.  The Cardinal was led by Andrew Yun with a 3-under par 69, followed by Patrick Rodgers at 70, Cameron Wilson with 73, David Chung with 79 and Steven Kearney with 81.

Patrick is tied for 2nd individually 4 shots behind Texas' Jordan Spieth, while Patrick is tied for 5th.  Andrew's round was marked by a sterling 5-under par back nine 31 while Patrick's steady round included 3 birdies and a lone bogie.

Round one scorecards are included below:

Round 1 scorecards - click to enlarge

Practice round videos below

Stanford finishes 3rd at The Prestige at PGA West in La Quinta, CA

FINAL ROUND RESULTS:
Stanford finished 3rd, 8 strokes behind Oregon and 6 behind Washington in a low-scoring shootout in the Palm Spring area desert.  Played at the Greg Norman Course at PGA West, the Prestige had the nation's top two teams facing off in the Cardinal and Oregon.

3rd Place Award - Click to enlarge

A solid final round 10 under par 278, the day's 3rd best round, was not enough to catch Oregon which had built a 10 stroke lead after the second round.

In the final round, Patrick Rodgers and David Chung led the way with matching 68s, Steven Kearney had a 70, Andrew Yun a 72 and Cameron Wilson a 74.  Three round totals were Rodgers 209 (69-72-68 T10), Yun 210 (66-72-72 T14), Cameron Wilson 213 (72-67-74 T24), Steven Kearney 214 (73-71-70 T26)  and David Chung 217 (73-76-68 T39).

Playing as individuals, Marcel Puyat, from nearby Indio, had a fine tournament with rounds of 71-71-69 for a 211 total to finish T17 and Andre DeDecker had a 225 total on rounds of 77-73-75 to finish T67.

Head coach Conrad Ray had this to say following the event:

"I thought we played pretty well," said Ray. "Oregon has a really good team this year as does Washington and it just wasn't our week this week. We had some bright spots - it was nice to see David Chung put up a good round today and Patrick Rodgers had another top-10."

After freshman Marcel Puyat's first tournament:

"We have high hopes for Marcel," said Ray. "He's hitting it well and he's got a good short game that he really works at. I see nothing but upside for Marcel; he's going to help us before the season's out. We have a bunch of guys who can play and we have a deep team this year and that's always a good thing in college golf."

Here are final round scorecards for the team players followed by Marcel Puyat's 3 round scorecards:

Final round scorecards - click to enlarge

Marcel Puyat's 3 round scorecards - click to enlarge

ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Stanford shot a steady second round total of 282 (6-under par) but found itself 10 shots behind as it was passed by three teams going very low, led by Oregon's 15-under par total of 273.  Scoring conditions allowed Oregon, Washington and San Diego State to each post 4 under par rounds.

The Cardinal was led in the second round by Cameron Wilson's 5-under 67 (72-67), followed by Steven Kearney's 71 (73-71),  72s from Andrew Yun (66-72) and Patrick Rodgers (69-72) and a 76 from David Chung (73-76).  Cameron's round included 7 birdies.  Playing as individuals, Marcel Puyat again played well with a 71 (71-71) and Andre DeDecker had a 73 (77-73).

Don't miss the dozens of photos on Facebook.  Scorecards from team players are shown below:

2nd round scorecards - click to enlarge

ROUND 1 RESULTS:
La Quinta, Calif - Stanford shot an opening round 280 in the opening round at The Prestige at PGA West held at the Greg Norman Course. Stanford got off to a slow start but was able to move up the leaderboard on the back nine.

The Cardinal, ranked first in the country by Golfweek, is one stroke behind No. 2 Oregon for the team lead.

Defending champion Andrew Yun fired a 66 (-6), good for a share of first place with Arizona State's Spencer Fletcher, after making five birdies on the back nine. Patrick Rodgers had a 69 after going three-under on the back nine and is tied for eighth place, three strokes back.

Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf Conrad Ray was impressed by Yun's play.

"Andrew had a stellar back nine and looked great all the way around," he said. "His game is solid and he's feeling really good about how he's playing this year."

Cameron Wilson (72), David Chung (73) and Steve Kearney (73) carded solid rounds for the Cardinal.

"I feel pretty good about how we played," said Ray. "Steve got off to a slow start and finished strong and everyone contributed. We have some work left and we're going to have to play well the rest of the tournament."

Freshman Marcel Puyat had a fine 71 and Andre DeDecker  a 77 while competing as individuals.  GoStanford.com story.

First round scorecards can be found below (click to enlarge):

Round 1 scorecards for the team players - click to enlarge

Perspective on Stanford's win at Olympia Fields

Last week was a special one for the Stanford men's golf team which had a dominating win by 16-strokes on the demanding Olympia Fields CC against an elite field that included the #1, #4, #6, #8 and #12 teams in the nation.  Some perspective on just how special last week was for Stanford:

• It was the Cardinal's first team win since Feb 2010.
• Stanford had the #1, #3 and #4 finishers individually, perhaps the best top 3 finishes by any team in years.  Closest to that were #4, #5 and #6 finishes by Stanford in the May 2010 regional at Notre Dame.
• Stanford led all 3 rounds and won by 16 shots, a larger margin than any in recent memory.
• Stanford had 5 rounds in the 60s on a very tough course, next best team had 2 rounds in the 60s.  
• Stanford had the day's low individual round on two of the three days, and was 1 stroke behind on the other day.
• Patrick Rodgers' win in his first event was the first such win by a freshman since Tiger Woods in 1995.
• Patrick Rodgers was named national player of the week by Golf Week and Stanford athlete of the week for all sports, the latter a first for a golfer since Sihwan Kim was honored June 2008.
• The lineup included two freshman, one sophomore and two juniors.
• Stanford was playing without 2-time All-American David Chung.

This is only one event and a long road lies ahead to where this team will hope to end up but it will surely be fun to watch this year's crop of players develop.

Interview with Coach Ray after the win

Interview with Coach Ray after day 2 with Cardinal leading by 11

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