If you’re one of the final eight teams that make it to match
play in the NCAA Championship in the spring, it has to be considered a good
season, right?
And Oklahoma State did that. The Cowboys were among the
highest-rated teams in the country all of last season. But they also watched
Texas walk away with the Big 12 championship. And it couldn’t have gone over
well in Stillwater when Big 12 and in-state rival Oklahoma ended up with the
big prize, the NCAA championship.
Oklahoma State, No. 2 in the latest Golfstat rankings, showed it plans to be ready when the NCAA
Championship is played on the Cowboys’ home course, Karsten Creek Golf Club,
next spring, with a three-shot victory over Texas and the rest of a
star-studded field in the Golf Club of Georgia Intercollegiate, which wrapped
up Sunday.
Oklahoma State grabbed the lead after Friday’s opening round
with a sparkling 11-under-par 277 over the Golf Club of Georgia’s 7,017-yard,
par-72 Lakeside Course. The Cowboys fell back to fifth with a 2-under 296 in
Saturday’s second round, but came on strong again with a spectacular 14-under
274 in Sunday’s final round for a 27-under 837 total.
No. 18 Texas had opened with back-to-back rounds of 9-under
279, but fell back just enough in its final round of 6-under 282 to finish
second behind the Cowboys at 24-under 840. No. 5 Wake Forest, which had surged
into the lead on the strength of a 17-under 271 in the second round, had a
final round of 1-over 289 to finish third at 22-under 842.
No. 3 Georgia Tech and No. 20 UCLA finished tied for fourth
at 18-under 836, the Yellow Jackets posting a final round of 3-under 285 and
the Bruins carding a final round of 7-under 281.
Reigning national champion Oklahoma, ranked 12th,
was also in the field, but finished tied for 11th at 8-under 855, but
Oklahoma State knows all too well that how you’re playing in May means a lot
more than how you’re playing in October.
The Cowboys were led by Matthew Wolf, a freshman from Agoura
Hills, Calif. who was the runnerup in the individual standings at 12-under 204,
just a shot behind individual champion Doug Ghim, a senior at Texas from
Arlington Heights, Ill. and a member of the winning U.S. Walker Cup side. Wolf
opened with a 6-under 66, fell back a little with a 1-under 71 and finished up
strong with a 5-under 67.
The Cowboys had another top-five finisher in Zach Bauchou, a
junior from Forest, Va. who finished tied for fifth at 8-under 308 after a
final round of 4-under 68.
Also for the Cowboys, Viktor Hovland, a sophomore from
Norway, finished tied for 12th at 5-under 211 after a final round of
3-under 69, Nick Heinen, a junior from Edmond, Okla., was tied for 44th
at even-par 216 after matching par in the final round with a 72 and junior
Hayden Wood, another Edmond guy, was tied for 63rd at 5-over 221
after a final round of 2-under 70 that was a crucial counter for Oklahoma
State.
Ghim, a hard-luck loser in the final of the U.S. Amateur
last summer at Riviera Country Club, grabbed the individual title. He opened
with a 6-under 66, added a 5-under 67 in Saturday’s second round and cooled
off, if that’s the right expression, with a 2-under 70 in the final round for a
13-under 203 total.
Duke’s Alex Smalley, a junior from Wake Forest, N.C., had
the individual lead after rounds of 67 and 65,
but settled for third at 11-under 205 after a final round of 1-over 73.
Smalley’s Atlantic Coast Conference rival at Wake Forest, Will Zalatoris, a
senior from Plano, Texas and a teammate of Ghim’s on the winning U.S. Walker
Cup team, was another shot back in fourth at 10-under 206. After a pair of
4-under 68s, Zalatoris finished with a 2-under 70.
Joining Oklahoma State’s Bauchou in the tie for fifth at
8-under 208 was a painful reminder of Oklahoma’s success last spring, Sooner
Brad Dalke, a junior from Norman, Okla. After struggling in the opening round
with a 2-over 74, Dalke ripped off a 6-under 66 in the second round before
finishing up with a 4-under 68.
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