Stanford competes in the Pac-12 Championships hosted by Oregon State

Stanford Daily Article |  Trysting Tree Golf Club | Pac-12 Tournament Website | Live Scoring by GolfStat | OSU host Website

FINAL RESULTS: gostanford.com article below includes some editing
Andrew Yun Wins Pac-12 Championship; Stanford Finishes Sixth.  Andrew closes with a 68 to earn a two-shot victory over Daniel Miernicki of Oregon. Andrew had 22 birdies and an eagle over 72 holes at the Pac-12 Championships.  Final round scorecards and prior round results are shown below.

Andrew Yun shot a final round 68 to claim medalist honors at the Pac-12 Championships at the Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis, Ore. on Sunday.

The Cardinal finished sixth in the team event at 1467 (+8), 20 strokes behind California, which claimed the team title with a playoff victory over Oregon.

Andrew w/ champion's medal-click to enlarge

Yun's 72 hole total of 68-70-67-68 275 (-13) was good for a two stroke victory over Daniel Miernicki of Oregon, who shot a final round 71. Sam Smith of USC and Eugene Wong of Oregon tied for third at 279 (-9).

Yun set the tone for his round with birdies on his first two holes. However, after collecting a par on the par-4 third hole, Yun bogeyed three of his next four holes to slip back to +1 on the day.

An eagle on the par-4 eighth followed by a birdie on the par-5 ninth allowed Yun to make the turn at two-under. He picked up three more birdies on the backside on holes, 11, 15 and 16 before dropping a stroke with a bogey on No. 17 to close with a 68.

Yun had 22 birdies and an eagle for the 72 hole event to become the first Stanford golfer to claim conference medalist honors since Jim Seki in 2002 on the same Trysting Tree layout.  Andrew is interviewed below after his final round.

Patrick Rodgers (73-74-65-70), who started his final round tied for sixth place after a brilliant 65 on Saturday, settled for an eighth place finish after closing with a 70 on Sunday.

Rodgers had five birdies and three bogeys on his Sunday card to finish at 282 (-6) for the event.  Cameron Wilson had a final round even par 72 and a solid 3 rounds of 2-under par play (76-66-DQ-72 214) marred by his failure to sign a correct scorecard in round 3.

Senior David Chung tied for 47th at (79-75-72-75) 301 (+13) after shooting a final round 75.

Marcel Puyat (77-76-74-78) and Patrick Grimes (82-75-73-77), playing in their first Pac-12 Championship event, tied for 59th and 62nd place, respectively.

Puyat shot a final round 78 to finish at 305 (+17) while Grimes' final round 7 left him at 307 (+19) for the tournament.

Final round scorecards - click to enlarge

Stanford will host the NCAA West Regional, May 17-19 at Stanford Golf Course. The top five teams from the event will advance to the NCAA Championships at the Riveria Country Club in Pacific Palisades.

 ROUND 3 RESULTS:  gostanford.com article below
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Stanford is in sixth place after three rounds of the Pac-12 Championships being held at the Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis, Ore. while junior Andrew Yun is just one stroke off the individual lead heading into Sunday's final round.

The Cardinal shot a 353 on Saturday and at 1086 (+6), is 20 strokes off the pace being set by Oregon, which enjoys a four-stroke lead over UCLA after three rounds.

California is in third place at 1072 (-8) followed by Oregon State and USC at even par 1080.

Yun birdied his last five holes on Saturday en route to a third round 69, leaving him at 207 (-9) for the first 54 holes.

He is one stroke behind co-leaders Daniel Mierniecki and Eugene Wong of Oregon while Patrick Cantlay of UCLA is lurking at 210 (-6).

Yun was two-over on his round after 13 holes before closing with five straight birdies for a third round 69.

However, the team's low round of the day belonged to freshman Patrick Rodgers, who fashioned a brilliant third round 65 to move into a tie for sixth place at 212 (-4).

Starting on hole 10, Rodgers birdied four of his first six holes and picked up another birdie on the par-4 first hole to start his second nine. After giving a stroke back with a bogey on his 13th hole, Rodgers made consecutive birdies on his 14th and 15th holes and closed with a birdie on 18.

David Chung is tied for 48th at 226 (+10) after battling to an even par 72, which included a triple bogey 7 on his ninth hole of the day. However, Chung birdied three of his last four holes to finish at even for the day.

Freshman Marcel Puyat is tied for 53rd at 227 (+11) after a third round 74 while fellow frosh Patrick Grimes is in 63rd place at 230 (+14) after shooting a 76 on Saturday.

Cameron Wilson, who was tied for seventh place after two rounds, was disqualified after signing an incorrect scorecard.

The Pac-12 Championships will conclude on Sunday at Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis.


ROUND 1 & 2 RESULTS - gostanford.com story below. Stanford Tied for Sixth After Two Rounds of Pac-12 Championships.  Cardinal 14 strokes behind UCLA; Yun one stroke off the lead.

 Stanford's men's golf team is tied for sixth place after two rounds of the Pac-12 Championships being held at Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis after the Cardinal turned in scores of 373 and 360 on Friday.

At 733 (+13), the Cardinal and Washington State are 14 strokes behind UCLA after the Bruins turned in rounds of 367 and 352 to build a three stroke lead over Oregon (722). California (724) and USC are tied for third, followed by Oregon State at 727.

Andrew Yun is in second place after 36 holes after the junior posted rounds of 68 and 70 at Trysting Tree. He is one stroke off the pace being set by Eugene Wong of Oregon, who shot rounds of 69 and 68 on Friday. Yun was even par after 10 holes on his morning round before running off four straight birdies. He picked up another birdie on the par-3 17th hole only to bogey the 18th to finish with a 68.

He began his second round with a double bogey on the first hole but then picked up birdies on 5, 9, 10 and 12 to move to three-under on his round. After a bogey on 13, Yun birdied the par-5 14th, bogeyed 16 but closed with a birdie on 18.

After an opening round 76, sophomore Cameron Wilson blistered Trysting Tree to shoot a 66 over his second 18. He had five birdies on the front side and moved to minus-6 on his round after a birdie on 15.  Wilson made his only bogey on 17 but closed with a birdie on 18 for a brilliant 66.

Freshman Patrick Rodgers had a hard time getting anything going on Friday and had to settle for rounds of 73 and 74. At 147, the nation's third-ranked player is tied for 28th. Rodgers was one-under on his afternoon round through 10 holes but suffered a triple bogey on the par-4 11th hole.

Freshman Marcel Puyat shot rounds of 77 and 76 and is tied for 57th at 153. Senior David Chung is tied for 61st at 154 after rounds of 79 and 75, while freshman Patrick Grimes is tied for 67 at 157 (82-75).

Six players account for five scores and the event is contested over 72 holes. Round 2 scorecards are shown below:

Round 2 scorecards - click to enlarge

BACKGROUND STORY -  gostanford.com. April 25, 2012
Cardinal searches for first conference title since 1994. Patrick Rodgers is coming off a first place finish at the Western Intercollegiate, his second win of the season.  The six man Stanford squad will include Rodgers, Andrew Yun, Cameron Wilson, David Chung, Patrick Grimes & Marcel Puyat.

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford's men's golf team heads to the Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis, Ore. this weekend in search of a title that has eluded the Cardinal since 1994 - the Pac-12 Championship.

Technically, this is the inaugural Pac-12 Conference Championship, but history shows winning a conference title has proven to be more difficult for the Cardinal than winning a NCAA Championship.

The Cardinal will begin its quest for the elusive conference title on Friday at Trysting Tree Golf Club, where the championship will be decided over 72-holes of stroke play. Teams will play 36 holes on Friday and 18 on Saturday and Sunday.

Six golfers from each team will account for five scores.

USC is the defending champion, winning last year's title at Stanford Golf Course. USC's Matt Trainer won medalist honors in a seven-hole playoff over Oregon State's Alex Moore.

Six of the 12 teams in the field are currently ranked among the nation's top-12 according to the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings, including No. 3 UCLA, No. 5 USC, No. 6 Stanford, No. 7 California, No. 10 Oregon and No. 12 Washington.

A total of 15 players are listed among the nation's Top 50 players, including Stanford's Patrick Rodgers, who is ranked third nationally in the latest individual listing released by Golfweek.

Knowles Family Director of Golf Conrad Ray is expected to start a lineup consisting of Rodgers, Andrew Yun, David Chung, Cameron Wilson, Marcel Puyat and Patrick Grimes.

Rodgers is coming off his second win of the season at the Western Intercollegiate, where he claimed a two-stroke victory over two golfers, including UCLA's Patrick Cantlay.

Rodgers, a semifinalist for the Ben Hogan Award, has seven top-10 finishes this season, including two wins. In addition winning the Blue Jacket at Pasatiempo, Rodgers claimed medalist honors in his first collegiate event at the Fighting Illini Invitational in September.

With a stroke average of 70.8, he is challenging Joel Kribel's single-season school record of 70.1, set in 1999. Tiger Woods is the only other Stanford golfer to post a stroke average under 71.0, as he finished with a mark of 70.6 for the 1995-96 season.

Junior Andrew Yun, currently ranked 19th by Golfweek, is coming off back-to-back top-10's at the U.S. Intercollegiate (t-10) and the Western Intercollegiate (t-4), two of five top-10's this season.

While Rodgers and Yun have been mainstays at the top of the lineup all season, Stanford's depth will be put to the test in this 72-hole, six count five tournament.

Wilson is coming off a 10th place finish at the Western Intercollegiate, where he finished one-over par after rounds of 69, 72 and 70.

Chung has finished inside the top-20 just twice this year but has three years of conference championship experience in his bag, along with titles at the 2010 North & South and Western Amateurs.

Grimes and Puyat have been playing some of their best golf of the season as of late. Grimes tied for 17th at the U.S. Intercollegiate after shooting rounds of 72, 72 and 71. He also opened with a 66 to tie for the first round lead at the Amer Ari Invitational, held on the Big Island in February.

Puyat has appeared in five tournaments this season, but carded a five-under 211 to tie for 17th at The Prestige at PGA West in his collegiate debut. He also tied for 19th at the U.S. Intercollegiate and tied for 25th at the Western Intercollegiate.

Patrick Rodgers wins Western Intercollegiate - Stanford finishes 2nd

FINAL RESULTS:
 April 15, 2012 - article below by gostanford.com |  Facebook Photos/Videos | Excellent Stanford Daily article |  Good article by local paper, Santa Cruz Sentinel | Golf Week Summary & Rankings |  Tournament Website | Pasatiempo Golf Club Website | Scoring by GolfStat.  Final round scorecards and round 1 & 2 results are below. Patrick Rodgers was the individual winner, Andrew Yun finished 4th and Cameron Wilson finished tied for 7th.

 Pasatiempo GC, designed by Alistair MacKenzie, is one of the top-rated courses in the world and features fast, undulating greens and tight driving holes.  The course is about an hour from the Stanford campus.

Patrick in winner's blue jacket with trophy - click to enlarge

Cardinal accepts 2nd place crystal

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- - Patrick Rodgers shot a final round 68 to capture the 66th Annual Western Intercollegiate at the Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz. Patrick had a bogey free final round closing with a 33 on the tough back nine after birdies at 13 and 18.

Rodgers' 54-hole total of 206 (-4) earned the freshman a two-stroke victory over UCLA's Patrick Cantlay and New Mexico State's Justin Shinn, who finished at 208 (-2).

Stanford finished second in the team standings at 1064 (+14), four strokes off the pace of top-ranked Texas (1060).  UCLA (1067), USC (1089), California (1100) and Oregon (1103) rounded out the top five.

The title is Rodgers' second of the year after following his win at the Fighting Illini Invitational in September, his first collegiate event. He has also finished in the top-10 in eight of his nine tournaments in his rookie year.  Patrick's final birdie putt on 18 to seal the win is below.

The Avon, Ind. native had 16 pars on his Sunday's card to go along with two birdies on he par-5 13th hole and the par-3 18th.

“Obviously, I know there is a lot of history behind this tournament and Pasatiempo is a great golf course," said Rodgers. "To be able to come through this week with such a great field that includes the top three amateurs in the world, it feels really great.

“I knew Justin Shin was 5-under par with three holes to play and I didn’t know how he finished. So I thought I needed 1-2 birdies on the last three holes. I made two really great par putts on 16 and 17. He had some tough holes play. He might have made a bogey. I was just concentrating on us as a team. I was trying to make birdie (on 18) to see if we could pull this out as a team. After I made the putt (on 18 for birdie), it was a good feeling.”

Junior Andrew Yun fired a closing round 69 to secure a fourth place finish at 209 (-1. He was even par on his round after seven holes but double bogeyed the par-3 8th hole before picking up clutch birdies on holes 9, 13 and 18.

Sophomore Cameron   notched a top-10 finish, tying for seventh at 211 (+1). He shot an even par 70 on Sunday with three birdies and three bogeys. David Chung and Patrick Grimes tied for 42nd at 224 (+14). Chung shot a final round 71 while Grimes carded a 73. Freshman Marcel Puyat's final round 78 left him tied for 45th at 225.

Wilson Bowen, playing as an individual, tied for 56th (+19) after turning in a 75 on Sunday.

 Final round scorecards are below - click to enlarge:

Final Round Scorecards - click to enlarge

ROUND 1 AND 2:
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- - Stanford's men's golf team finds itself in second place after two rounds of the 66th Annual Western Intercollegiate being held at the Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz after the Cardinal shot rounds of 353 and 360 on Saturday.

At 713 (+10), Stanford trails first place and top-ranked Texas by eight strokes after the Longhorns posted rounds of 355 and 350 for an even par total of 705.

UCLA is in third place at 715, followed by USC (722) and California (735).

Six players account for five scores in this 54-hole event which will wrap up on Sunday.

Second round play was suspended a little after 8:00 p.m. with a handful of players still on the course.

Freshman Patrick Rodgers carded rounds of 67 and 71 on the Alister MacKenzie-designed course and sits in second place at 138, one stroke off the pace being set by New Mexico State's Justin Shin, who is at 137 after rounds of 68 and 69.  After his superb 67 in round 1, Patrick's solid 2nd round of 71 was only marred by one over par hole, the par 5 9th hole where he had a double bogey 7.

Longhorn top guns Jordan Spieth (139) and Dylan Fritelli (140) are also in the title hunt, as is UCLA's Patrick Cantlay, who is part of a group at at even par.

Rodgers' morning card featured four birdies and one bogey. He got to -5 early in his second round, picking up birdies on holes 4 and 6, but made a double bogey on the par-4 ninth hole.

Rodgers then rattled off nine straight pars before making a bogey on No. 1, his 17th hole of the round after starting on No. 3.

Andrew Yun, who narrowly missed winning the Blue Jacket last year, shot two rounds of even par 70 and is tied for fourth place at 140.

Cameron Wilson followed a -1 69 with a 72 in the afternoon and is tied for ninth at 141.

Freshman Marcel Puyat is tied for 25th at 147 after rounds of 72 and 75, while fellow frosh Patrick Grimes is tied for 50th at 151 after rounds of 79 and 72.

Senior David Chung is tied for 58th at 153 (75-78) while Wilson Bowen, playing as an individual, is tied for 61st at 164 (81-73).

Second round scorecards are included below - click to enlarge:

Click to enlarge 2nd round scorecards

Cardinal hosts US Intercollegiate fielding two teams against strong field

FINAL RESULTS
The Cardinal A team finished all alone in 3rd place, 8 strokes behind Oregon and 7 behind USC, in the US Intercollegiate played at Stanford. The Cardinal B team finished an impressive 6th overall ahead of the 13th ranked San Diego State team demonstrating the excellent depth that exists at the Farm this season.
Patrick Rodgers led the way for Team A as he tied for 5th at even par (68-67-75 210), followed by Andrew Yun who tied for 10th after a strong final round 68 (71-73-68 212) while David Chung also finished strong with a 69 to tie for 14th (74-71-69 214). Cameron Wilson tied for 19th (71-73-72 216) and Steven Kearney tied for 61st (80-74-72 226) as he steadily improved his play each round.

Stanford's Team B was led by two freshmen as Patrick Grimes tied for 17th with a 215 total (72-71-71), Marcel Puyat tied for 19th (72-69-75 216), Wilson Bowen tied for 25th with a strong final round 70 (71-76-70 217), Shane Lebow tied for 53rd (69-77-78) and Andre De Decker tied for 81st (75-79-80 234).
Next up for the Cardinal is the Western Intercollegiate played at historic Pasatiempo in Santa Cruz, CA, about 40 miles south of the Stanford campus.

 Final round scorecards are included below.

ROUND 2 RESULTS:

Patrick Rodgers

It was a wild day on the Farm in a second round played in cool, very windy and rainy weather leading to a 2 hour rain delay from 11 am to 1 pm. Despite the weather, both Cardinal teams played well as Team A ended tied for 3rd and Team B is impressively tied for 5th. The Cardinal Team A tied for the day's best round at 4-over 284 total led by a remarkable 3-under 67 from freshman Patrick Rodgers who now leads the individual results (68-67 135) by two shots over Oregon's Eugene Wong. Team B is led by two freshmen as Marcel Puyat fired a brilliant 69 and he's tied for 8th individually (72-69 141) while Patrick Grimes is tied for 18th on rounds of 72-72 with Cameron Wilson (71-73) and Andrew Yun (71-73). Stanford finds itself still 12 strokes behind the impressive Oregon team whose top 3 players are Wong in 2nd and two others tied for 3rd individually. USC is in 2nd place 4 shots ahead of Stanford while UCLA is tied with Stanford for 3rd place.

Marcel Puyat

Rounding out Team A scores are David Chung with an impressive 2nd round 71 (74-71) and Steven Kearney who bounced back nicely with a 74 (80-74). Other Team B scores for Stanford were Shane Lebow (69-77), Wilson Bowen (71-76) and Andre De Decker (75-79). In reviewing the scorecards below Patrick Rodgers' back nine 32 stands out including birdies on holes 12, 13, 14 and 16 while Marcel Puyat's 69 included a stretch of 14 holes starting at the 5th hole without any bogies and with birdies on 15 and 16. Given the conditions these were two exceptional rounds of golf. Second round scorecards can be found below - click to enlarge:

ROUND 1 RESULTS:
The two Stanford teams entered both shot 4-over par 284 totals to finish tied for 6th, 12 shots behind the leader Oregon. The Red team was led by Patrick Rodgers who fired a 2-under par 68, followed by Cameron Wilson and Andrew Yun with 71, David Chung with 74 and Steven Kearney with 80. Article by San Jose Mercury News after round 1. Scorecards are shown below - click to enlarge.

The Stanford Black team B was led by Shane Lebow's 69, followed by Wilson Bowen at 71, Patrick Grimes and Marcel Puyat at 72 and Andre De Decker at 75. The San Jose Mercury newspaper interviewed Patrick Grimes after his first round. Team B scorecards are found below:

March 28, 2012 gostanford.com backgrounder:
STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford men's golf team hopes this weekend's U.S. Intercollegiate on its home course will provide a big dose of momentum heading into championship season, which begins with the Pac-12 Championships in late April.
Three squads currently ranked in Golfweek's/Sagarin top-10 headline the 16-team U.S. Intercollegiate field, including No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 USC and No. 7 Washington. Stanford and Oregon are ranked 11th and 12th, respectively, in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin ratings while San Diego State is ranked 13th. Colorado, Fresno State, Nevada, Oregon State, Pepperdine, San Francisco, San Jose State, UC Davis, Utah and Washington State round out the field. Teams will play 18 holes over three days beginning on Friday at Stanford Golf Course (par-70; 6,727 yards), teeing off on holes No. 1 and 10 at 8:00 a.m. each day.
Stanford will enter two squads in this event. The "red" team will consist of (in order) Cameron Wilson, David Chung, Andrew Yun, Patrick Rodgers and Steven Kearney, while the black team will be made up of Shane Lebow, Patrick Grimes, Marcel Puyat, Wilson Bowen and Andre DeDecker. Rodgers, ranked fifth in Golfweek's most recent individual rankings, is the highest-rated player in the field, followed by Chris Williams of Washington and Eugene Wong of Oregon, who are ranked No. 6 and 9 respectively.
San Diego State has two players ranked in Golfweek's top 20 in Todd Baek (12th) and J.J. Spaun (15th), while USC's Steve Lim is ranked 18th.
The Cardinal opened the spring with a solid third place showing at the Amer Ari Invitational on the Big Island before finishing ninth at the San Diego Intercollegiate Classic and fifth at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters. Stanford will participate in the Western intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club on April 14-15, which will be its final tune up prior to the Pac-12 Championships, slated for April 27-29.
The Cardinal will only have to look out its front door this weekend to find a measuring stick of its competition. "This will be a good warm up for the Pac-12 Championships," said Ray. "Our conference is so stacked with UCLA, USC, Washington and Oregon all playing at a high level. We're anxious to see how we compete at this time of year." Even though Stanford's last U.S. Intercollegiate title came in 2007, Ray is hoping course knowledge will play a key role in the Cardinal's fortunes this weekend. "Knowing the course should work in our favor and serve as a good prep for the NCAA Regionals which we will host in May. It's never too early to start building momentum." Oregon won the last U.S. Intercollegiate played in 2010 with a score of 839 (-1), while Duck Daniel Miernicki earned medalist honors with a score of 202.

Cardinal competes in Las Vegas vs an elite field

The Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters hosted by UNLV brings together 7 of the nation's top 15 teams in an event played on a top notch Robert Trent Jones (Sr. and Jr.) designed golf course, the Southern Highlands golf course.  See further background below.

FINAL RESULTS:
Stanford finished 5th sixteen shots behind the winning host UNLV team after a final round 305 total on a day with difficult scoring conditions.  Cal finished 2nd, UCLA 3rd and Texas A & M 4th.  Stanford finished ahead of top-ranked Texas and 3rd ranked Alabama.  Complete scoring was provided by Golfstat.

Senior co-captain David Chung led the Cardinal in scoring finishing tied for 15th (75-71-75 221), followed by Patrick Rodgers (75-70-77 222) and Cameron Wilson (70-77-75 222) who tied for 23rd, Andrew Yun (72-75-81 228) who tied for 46th and Steven Kearney (76-75-78 229) finishing 48th.  The low round of the final day was a 3-under 69 by Blake Biddle of host UNLV who won the individual title with a 212 total, 2 shots ahead of two players.
David's steady final round 75 included 2 birdies and 5 bogies while Cameron's 75 started with a scorching 34 front nine followed by a back nine marred by 5 bogies.  Andrew's final round of 81 was actually very steady except for a disastrous 10 on the par 5 9th hole and a triple bogey 6 on the par 3 17th hole.

Next up for the Cardinal will be to host the US Intercollegiate at Stanford March 30 thru April 1st.  Final round scorecards can be found below -- click to enlarge.

3rd round scorecards - click to enlarge

SECOND ROUND RESULTS:
Stanford (ranked 12th) finds itself tied for 4th with UCLA (ranked 5th) after two rounds, 10 shots behind the leader Cal (ranked #10) and 1 shot ahead of nationally top ranked Texas.  Host UNLV (ranked 11th) is in 2nd 6 shots behind Cal and Texas A & M (ranked 15th) is in 3rd another stroke behind.  Third ranked Alabama is 4 strokes behind Stanford.

Patrick Rodgers leads the way at 1 over 145 total after rounds of 75-70 ( T17) followed by David Chung (75-71 146 T26), Andrew Yun (72-75 147 T32), Cameron Wilson (70-77 147 T32) and Steven Kearney (76-75 151 T48).  Second round scorecards are shown below.  The Cardinal will be paired with Texas and UCLA in the final round.  The field is tightly bunched as 12 teams are within 10 shots of the Cardinal.

2nd round scorecards - click to enlarge

FIRST ROUND RESULTS:
Stanford is tied for 5th place after round 1 in the Southern Highlands Collegiate played in Las Vegas and hosted by UNLV.  Cameron Wilson led the way with a 2-under 70, followed by Andrew Yun's 72, Patrick Rodgers and David Chung at 75 and Steven Kearney at 76.  Round 1 scorecards can be found below -- as always click to enlarge.  Five of the nation's top 10 schools are competing.  The dramatic Southern Highlands golf course was co-designed by the late Robert Trent Jones Sr. and his son Robert Trent Jones, Jr.

Rnd 1 scorecards - click to enlarge

Background by gostanford.com on 3/8/12
STANFORD, Calif. -- - Stanford resumes its spring schedule this weekend at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters in Las Vegas, Nev., where five of the top-10 teams in the nation highlight one of the spring's most elite fields.
Teams will play 18 holes over three days beginning on Friday at the Southern Highlands Golf Club (par-72; 7,510 yards), teeing off on holes No. 1 and 10 at 8:00 a.m. each day.
Stanford, currently ranked 12th in Golfweek's/Sagarin rankings, will be joined in the field by No. 1 Texas, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 USC, No. 5 UCLA, No. 10 California, No. 11 UNLV, No. 15 Texas A&M, along with squads from Arizona State, Duke, Florida, New Mexico State, Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas Tech.
Knowles Family Director of Golf Conrad Ray is expected to start a lineup consisting of (in order) Patrick Rodgers, Andrew Yun, David Chung, Cameron Wilson and Steve Kearney.
Rodgers has secured five top-10 finishes in six events this season and continues to lead the team in stroke average at 70.8. He is currently ranked No. 5 among the nation's top individuals, according to Golfweek.
Jordan Spieth and Dylan Frittelli of Texas, ranked No. 1 and 2 by Golfweek, along with No. 4 Justin Thomas of Alabama and No. 7 Julien Brun of TCU, are also expected to be entered in the field.
Oklahoma State won last year's event with a score of 863 (-1), while Cowboy Morgan Hoffman earned medalist honors with a 54-hole score of 206 (-10).

The Cardinal is coming off an eighth place finish at the San Diego Intercollegiate, which was held Feb. 12-14 at the San Diego Golf Club in Chula Vista.
Following the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters, Stanford will return to action on March 31, playing host to the U.S. Intercollegiate at Stanford Golf Course.

Cardinal competes in San Diego Invitational including 4 of nation's top 12 teams

San Diego CC - click to enlarge

Freshman Patrick Rodgers, junior Andrew Yun, senior co-captain David Chung, sophomore Cameron Wilson and freshman Patrick Grimes competed for Stanford in the San Diego Intercollegiate played at San Diego Country Club Feb 13-14.  Live scoring is provided by GolfStat for the event.  The coaches reported that "the team for San Diego has been decided based on Hawaii qualifying, the Hawaii tournament and also a qualifying shoot out on February 8th - http://www.golfgamebook.com/club/leaderboard0211/2up-mq3s".


Final Results:
No doubt the Cardinal team was disappointed in their 8th place finish, 32 strokes behind Washington and 25 behind USC.  As Ass't Coach Phil Rowe reports below the team did not manage the firm, fast and undulating greens well.  Once again Patrick Rodgers (74-77-71 222) was low man as he finished 17th individually 8 shots behind the individual winner, Alex Ching from the University of San Diego.  This was the first tournament that Patrick did not finish in the top 10.  Andrew Yun tied for 26th (76-76-73 225), Cameron Wilson tied for 28th (77-77-72 226), David Chung tied for 40th (80-73-76 229) and Patrick Grimes was 79th (85-83-79 247).  


Asst Coach Phil Rowe said afterward "on the final day, Coach Ray came in to save the day and we were thus 11 shots better! Conditions were all round more favorable since a little overnight rain had softened the greens somewhat. The players also had a chance to leave the venue and return with a fresh perspective on the game conditions at hand. The final round was a gritty one after the first long 36 hole day where conditions and scores just got away from us. 

Looking forward, potentially we will be faced with similar challenges at Pasatiempo for the Western Intercollegiate and at Riviera for the NCAA Nationals. Clearly the our experiences at San Diego will help us direct our training and game plans for those events so we now eagerly look forward to our next events."

Final round scorecards are shown below - as always click to enlarge.

Final round scorecards - click to enlarge

Round 2 Results:
After darkness ended day one, round 2 was completed early on day two leaving the Cardinal in 9th position, 27 strokes behind leading Washington.  Stanford shot a 303 total as Patrick Rodgers was tied for 23rd (74-77), Andrew Yun tied for 29th (76-76), David Chung tied for 34th (80-73), Cameron Wilson tied for 41st (77-77) and Patrick Grimes 81st (85-83).  Round two scorecards are shown below - click to enlarge.  See Coach Rowe's comments about the first day below.

Round 2 scorecards - click to enlarge

Day 1 Results:
Play was called on account of darkness leaving Stanford in 8th place 23 strokes behind leading Washington and 20 strokes behind USC.  The Cardinal along with all teams finished 14-16 holes of round two after a first round total of 307 left it tied for 10th.  Round 1 scores found Patrick Rodgers at 74, Andrew Yun at 76, Cameron Wilson at 77 and Patrick Grimes at 85.  It was a tough day for the Cardinal as summarized succinctly by Assistant Coach Phil Rowe: 


"The San Diego Country Club is a fantastic and historic course with some connections with Stanford (William Bell: architect and the venue of Mickey Wright's 4th US Women's Open Championship  http://www.sandiegocountryclub.org/club/scripts/library/view_document.asp?GRP=8608&NS=PUBLIC&APP=80&DN=HISTORY) but today was not the day of the Cardinal!

There were only light to moderate winds and the rain that was forecast did not show until mid afternoon, however the better than expected weather conditions did not diminish the challenges presented by the course. Indisputably the greatest of those challenges were the firm, rapid and undulating greens. At the end of the first day with 36 holes in the books we find ourselves with a huge deficit over the leading teams. Today we did not manage the conditions as well as teams like USC who we were paired with. Some great putts early on by the Trojans took their momentum on a completely different trajectory. We clearly have much to learn from playing with those USC players today and look forward to turning the tables tomorrow."

Tournament Background
The San Diego State and USD men's golf teams host the San Diego Intercollegiate, Feb. 13-14. The 54-hole event will take place at the par-72, 7,033-yard San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista, Calif.

The hosts will be joined by co-host USD, as well as Arizona State, Augusta State, Cal State San Marcos, Coastal Carolina, Lamar, Point Loma Nazarene, San Diego, Southern California, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas-Arlington, UCLA, UC San Diego and Washington.

Seven of the 15 schools are ranked in the nation's top 50, headlined by No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Washington, No. 8 Stanford, No. 12 Southern Cal. Two-time defending national champion Augusta State will also make their second trip to the San Diego area in the last three years after competing in the 2010 NCAA regional at Carlton Oaks.

Day one action, which includes two rounds, gets underway Monday morning with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. PST. The final 18 holes begin with tee times on No. 1 and No. 10 from 7:30-9:30 a.m. Live scoring will be available on golfstat.com and the event is free to the public.

Rodgers & Yun named to Ben Hogan Award watch list

From a gostanford.com news release

Feb. 8, 2012

STANFORD, Calif. -- - Stanford's Andrew Yun and Patrick Rodgers are two of 28 collegiate golfers named to the 2012 The Ben Hogan Award Watch list, which was released on Wednesday by the Golf Coaches Association of America.  A video announcement of the awards list was released by GolfWeek.
The most prestigious award in men's college golf, The Ben Hogan Award is presented annually to the top men's NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the past 12-month period. The Ben Hogan Award Selection Committee represents leaders in professional, amateur and collegiate golf.

Rodgers, a freshman from Avon., Ind., has recorded top-10 finishes in all five of his events this season. He became the first Stanford golfer since Tiger Woods to win his first collegiate event when he captured the Fighting Illini Invitational at Olympia Fields in September.

Yun, a junior from Chandler, Ariz., shot a final round seven-under 65 at last week's Ameri Ari Invitational to record his third top-10 finish of the season. He was a semifinalist for this award last year.
The 2012 The Ben Hogan Award Watch List includes: Blayne Barber (Auburn, Jr.), Zac Blair (BYU, Jr.), Julien Brun (TCU, Fr.), Patrick Cantlay (UCLA, So.), Sean Dale (North Florida, Jr.), Derek Ernst (UNLV, Sr.), Dylan Frittelli (Texas, Sr.), Luke Guthrie (Illinois, Sr.), Stephan Jaeger (Chattanooga, Sr.), Brooks Koepka (Florida State, Sr.), Jace Long (Missouri, Jr.), Bryden Macpherson (Georgia, Jr.), Daniel Miernicki (Oregon, Sr.), Corbin Mills (Clemson, Jr.), Cheng-Tsung Pan (Washington, Fr.), Thomas Pieters (Illinois, So.), Patrick Rodgers (Stanford, Fr.), Kyle Souza (Chico State, Sr.), Jordan Spieth (Texas, Fr.), Justin Thomas (Alabama, Fr.), Ethan Tracy (Arkansas, Sr.), Harold Varner (East Carolina, Sr.), T.J. Vogel (Florida, Jr.), James White (Georgia Tech, Sr.), Cory Whitsett (Alabama, So.), Chris Williams (Washington, Jr.), Eugene Wong (Oregon, Sr.) and Andrew Yun (Stanford, Jr.). 

A list of 10 semifinalists will be unveiled on Wednesday, April 11, and then will be pared down to three finalists on Thursday, May 10. The winner will be crowned at a banquet at Colonial Country Club on Monday, May 21, prior to the start of the PGA TOUR's Crowne Plaza Invitational.
The award, which was first issued in 1990 and also included academic achievement in its original list of standards, revised its criteria for the 2001-02 collegiate season to its current standard of honoring the outstanding amateur collegiate golfer.
Since that time, the winners have been: D.J. Trahan (Clemson, 2002), Ricky Barnes (Arizona, 2003), Hunter Mahan (Oklahoma State, 2003), Bill Haas (Wake Forest, 2004), Ryan Moore (UNLV, 2005), Matt Every (Florida, 2006), Chris Kirk (Georgia, 2007), Rickie Fowler (Oklahoma State, 2008), Kyle Stanley (Clemson, 2009), Nick Taylor (Washington, 2010) and Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State, 2011).
Each of the first nine listed above is currently playing full time on the PGA TOUR. Over the last 10 PGA TOUR tournaments, former Hogan Award winners have recorded three victories and two runner-up finishes.

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.