Southern California, No. 7 in the latest Golfstat rankings, closed with a solid
4-under 284 to cruise to a 10-shot victory over a big-time field in the
Southern Highlands Collegiate, which concluded Wednesday at the Southern
Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas.
The talented Trojans grabbed the tournament by the throat
with an opening round of 10-under 278 over the 7,374-yard, par-72 Southern
Highlands layout and never let go. They fell back a little with a 3-over 291 in
the middle round before going back under par in the final round for an 11-under
863 total that gave them a second straight team title at Southern Highlands.
No. 4 Oklahoma State, coming off a dominating performance in
winning the Querencia Cabo Collegiate in Mexico, was the only other team to
finish under par. The Cowboys matched par in the final round at 288 for a
1-under 863 total.
No. 11 Texas Tech took third with a 1-under 287 in the final
round for a 3-over 867 total and No. 10 Stanford and No. 33 Pepperdine were
another six shots back of the Red Raiders in a tie for fourth at 9-over 873. The
Cardinal posted a final-round 298 while the Waves carded a 294.
No. 19 UNLV was another shot back in sixth at 874 after a
final-round 874, No. 14 Oklahoma was one more stroke back at 875 in seventh
after a final-round 875 and No. 5 Illinois was yet another shot back in eighth
at 876 after a final-round 289. No. 2 Florida bounced back from a tough middle
round of 303 with a final-round 289 to claim ninth at 20-over 884.
The Trojans were led by Cheng Jin, a freshman from China,
and Justin Suh, a sophomore from San Jose, Calif., both of whom finished in a
group of four players tied for third in the individual standings at 5-under
211. Jin bookended a 1-over 73 in the middle round with 3-under 69s in the
first and final rounds. Suh’s best round was a 4-under 68 in the middle round
and he finished up with a 1-over 73.
Sean Crocker, a junior from Westlake Village, Calif.,
finished tied for 12th at 2-under 214, Andrew Levitt, a redshirt
senior from Ladera Ranch, Calif., finished tied for 29th at 5-over
221 and Rico Hoey, a senior from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., finished tied for 34th
at 7-over 223. Crocker and Hoey contributed a 68 and a 71, respectively, to the
Trojans solid opening round while Levitt saved his best for last, a 2-under 70
in the final round.
Oklahoma’s Grant Hirschman, a junior from Collierville,
Tenn., claimed the individual title in a playoff over California’s Collin
Marikawa, a sophomore from La Canada Flintridge, Calif.
Hirschman fired a final round of 4-under 68 to catch
Marikawa at 6-under 210. Marikawa had set the pace with a sizzling 6-under 66
in the opening round. Hirschman’s approach on the first hole of the playoff,
the par-5 18th, finished two feet from the hole for an easy birdie
that gave him the title.
Joining the Southern Cal tandem of Jin and Suh in the group
tied for third at 211, a shot out of the top spot, were Arizona State’s Jared
du Toit, a senior from Canada, who had a final-round 69, and
Texas Tech’s Ivan Ramirez, a sophomore from Colombia who closed with a pair of 68s after an opening-round 75.
Texas Tech’s Ivan Ramirez, a sophomore from Colombia who closed with a pair of 68s after an opening-round 75.
A number of individuals who were invited to a practice
session for potential U.S. Walker Cup team members in December at Los Angeles
Country Club were in the field, including Cal’s Marikawa and Southern Cal’s Crocker
and Hoey. The Walker Cup Match will be played Sept. 9 and 10 at Los Angeles
Country Club against a side from Great Britain & Ireland.
Also among that group in the Southern Highlands field were
Stanford’s Maverick McNealy, a senior from Portola Valley, Calif. who finished
tied for 12th at 1-under 215, and the Illinois duo of Nick Hardy, a
junior from Northbrook Ill. who finished tied for 10th at 3-under
213, and Dylan Meyer, a junior from Evansville, Ill. who finished tied for 25th
at 4-over 220.
McNealy, No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, opened
with a 5-under 67 before falling back with rounds of 73 and 75.
I reference the Golfstat
rankings frequently when I round up the college tournaments for this blog.
It took me a while to figure out the Golfstat
roundup for an event. But I caught on as I started to check out a lot more
college events when I expanded the blog in 2016 and Golfstat became an invaluable tool.
I mention this because Golfstat’s
founder, Mark Laesch, died Saturday at his home in Noblesville, Ind. at age
62 from ALS, a disease that has also claimed his father, his sister and his
uncle.
I would recommend you check out an inspirational Golfweek story on Laesch’s life and the
remarkable final months of his life.
Laesch figured out a way to make sense out of 15 to 20 teams
of five players each, plus some added individuals, in a timely fashion. You get
the team scores, the individual results, a breakdown of how each team’s players
fared and a bunch of other statistics. If you’ve watched any of The Golf
Channel’s coverage of the NCAA Championships, men’s and women’s, the last
couple of years, you couldn’t help but be impressed by the high level of play.
And you can trace the heightened interest in college golf
right back to Laesch and Golfstat
making it a lot easier to follow.
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