Washington caps a two-win week with a victory in The Goodwin; Nevada's Callens claims individual crown

   Pretty good week for Washington, you’d have to say.

   The Huskies, No. 9 in the latest Golfstat rankings and probably going up, surged past three teams with a final round of 10-under-par 270 in Saturday’s final round to claim a three-shot victory with a 22-under 818 total in The Goodwin, hosted by Stanford at the Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif.

   It was the second team victory of the week for Washington as the Huskies were coming off a win in the Duck Invitational, which wrapped up Tuesday at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.

   Washington’s Pac-12 rival Stanford, always tough on its home course, had taken a seven-shot lead into the final round as the 14^th-ranked Cardinal opened with the low round of the tournament, a sizzling 12-under 268 over the 6,742-yard, par-70 Stanford Golf Course layout, and added an 8-under 272 in Friday’s second round.

   Washington, meanwhile, had opened with a solid 9-under 271 before adding a 3-under 277 in Friday’s second round and was in a tie for fourth place, eight shots behind Stanford. But the Huskies responded with the best round of the day in Saturday’s final round to earn its fifth tournament title of the wraparound 2021-2022 season.

   Washington was seeded seventh in the Cle Elum Regional last spring, but was unable to advance to the NCAA Championship.

   No. 47 Nevada, out of the Mountain West Conference, closed with a solid 6-under 274 to earn runnerup honors with a 19-under 821 total. The Wolf Pack, the Mountain West runnerup a year ago who were unable to advance as a 10 seed out of the Albuquerque Regional last, opened with a solid 8-under 272 and added a 5-under 275 in Friday’s second round.

   Stanford also was unable to advance to the NCAA Championship as a six seed in the Albuquerque Regional, which, I’m sure, was considered a disappointing season by its standards. The Cardinal slipped to a 3-over 283 in Saturday’s final round of The Goodwin to finish in third place, two shots behind Nevada with a 17-under 823 total.

   It was a strong showing in The Goodwin for American Athletic Conference power SMU as the Mustangs, probably a little underrated at No. 51, finished a shot behind Stanford in fourth place with a 16-under 824 total. SMU advanced to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. last spring with a third-place finish in the Stillwater Regional as a four seed.

   Another Pac-12 power Oregon, ranked 36^th, was another four shots behind SMU in fifth place with a 12-under 828 total. Coming off a fifth-place finish as the host in the Duck Invitational, Oregon kept getting better each day in The Goodwin. After opening with a 282, the Ducks carded a 6-under 274 in Friday’s second round before closing with an 8-under 272.

   Atlantic Coast Conference power Georgia Tech, always up for a road trip, finished in a tie for sixth place with No. 50 Little Rock in the bulky 28-team field, each landing on 11-under 829, a shot behind Oregon.

   The No. 11 Yellow Jackets, who advanced to last spring’s NCAA Championship with a third-place finish as a five seed in the Tallahassee Regional, were right there with Washington, eight shots behind Stanford going into the final round, after adding a 3-under 277 in Friday’s second round to a strong 9-under 271 in the opening round. Georgia Tech closed with a 1-over 281.

   Little Rock, the Mountain West runnerup a year ago, made the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk after finishing fifth as a nine seed in the Stillwater Regional. The Trojans opened with a solid 5-under 275, struggled a little with a 1-over 281 in Friday’s second and closed strong with a 7-under 273 to get their share of sixth place with Georgia Tech.

   Drexel head coach Ben Feld scheduled an ambitious trip to the Goodwin for his City 6 champion Dragons and they finished in 25^th place with a 35-over 875 total. The runnerup in the Colonial Athletic Conference Championship a year ago at the Dataw Island Club’s Colton Dike Course on Helena Island, S.C., Drexel should benefit from its trip to northern California to play in a field filled with some of the heavyweights of college golf.

   After opening with an 11-over 291, Drexel added a 10-over 290 in Friday’s second round before closing with a 294.

   Leading the way for Washington were Petr Hruby, a junior from the Czech Republic, and Noah Woolsey, a senior from Pleasanton, Calif., both of whom were among a group of six players tied for eighth place at 7-under 203.

   After opening with a 67, Hruby matched par in Friday’s second round before contributing a sparkling 4-under 66 to Washington’s final-round surge. Woolsey was in the hunt for the individual title after opening with a 5-under 65 and adding a 2-under 68 in Friday’s second before falling back a little in the final round when he matched par with a 70.

   Backing up Hruby and Woolsey for the Huskies was Teddy Lin, a sophomore from Taiwan who sandwiched a 3-under 67 in Friday’s second round with a pair of 1-under 69s to finish among the group tied for 15^th place with a 5-under 215 total.

   Taehoon Song, a senior from South Korea, added a 72 in Friday’s second round to his opening round of 1-over 71 before claiming low-Huskie honors in Saturday’s final round with a 5-under 65 that left him among the group tied for 31^st place with a 2-under 208 total.

   Perhaps the most impressive thing about Washington’s victory is that it was accomplished with its best player, R.J. Manke, a senior from Lakewood, Wash. and No. 9 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), not having his best stuff. Manke sandwiched a 2-over 72 in Friday’s second round with a pair of even-par 70s to end up in the group tied for 57^th place with a 2-over 212 total.

   Manke decided to take the extra year of eligibility offered by the NCAA to make up for the spring of 2020 lost to coronavirus pandemic at Washington. He was a member of Pepperdine’s national championship team a year ago, but was not included in the starting lineup for the Waves at Grayhawk.

   Nevada’s Peyton Callens, a senior from Canada, put together a flawless five-birdie, no-bogey 5-under 65 in Saturday’s final round to land at the top of a stellar leaderboard with a 13-under 197 total that gave him his first career tournament victory.

   Callens had opened with a 65 and added a 3-under 67 in Friday’s second round that left him trailing co-leaders Lucas Carper, a sophomore at U.C. Davis from San Diego, and Karl Vilips, a sophomore at Stanford from Australia and No. 66 in the WAGR, by a shot.

   But a birdie at the 18^th hole gave Callens a one-shot victory over Carper, who had opened with a 66, added a 5-under 65 in Friday’s second round and closed with a 3-under 67 for a 12-under 198 total.

   Like Callens, California’s Sampson Zheng, a sophomore from Spain, was just a shot out of the lead entering the final round after posting back-to-back 66s in the first two rounds. Zheng closed with a solid 67 to finish alone in third place with an 11-under 199 total.

   SMU’s Noah Goodwin, a senior from Corinth, Texas and No. 34 in the WAGR, was another shot behind Zheng in fourth place with a 10-under 200 total. Goodwin, the winner of the 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur at Flint Hills National Golf Club in Andover, Kan., sandwiched a 68 in Friday’s second round with a pair of 4-under 66s.

   Goodwin has quietly had a really nice college career with the Mustangs, leading them to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk last spring by claiming the individual title in the Stillwater Regional at the Karsten Creek Golf Club.

   Oregon’s Eric Doyle, a freshman from San Diego, rocketed up the leaderboard with a scintillating final round of 7-under 63 that left him alone in fifth place with a 9-under 201 total. Doyle, who had carded a 68 in Friday’s second round after matching par with a 70 in the opening round, started off the 10^th tee in his final round and in one breathtaking stretch birdied the 16^th hole, made a hole-in-one on 17, birdied 18 and birdied one.

   Carper’s U.C. Davis teammate, Thomas Hutchison, a senior from San Diego, and Little Rock’s Anton Albers, a senior from Germany, finished in a tie for sixth place, each landing on 8-under 208.

   After opening with a 4-under 66, Hutchison registered back-to-back 68s. Albers had a share of the lead following an opening round of 5-under 65 before adding a 68 in Friday’s second round and closing with a 69.

   Goodwin wasn’t the only U.S. Junior Amateur champion in the top 10 as Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen, a sophomore from Wellesley, Mass. and No. 18 in the WAGR, joined Washington’s Hruby and Woolsey, in the large group tied for eighth place at 7-under 203.

  Thorbjonrsen, who conquered Akshay Bhatia in the U.S. Junior Amateur final in 2018 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., was in the hunt for the individual title after adding a sparkling 5-under 65 in Friday’s second round after opening with a 68. He matched par in the final round with a 70.

   Rounding out the group at 7-under were Long Beach State’s Ian Gilligan, a freshman from Reno, Nev., Georgia Tech’s Christo Lamprecht, a sophomore from South Africa and No. 80 in the WAGR, and Brigham Young’s Carson Lundell, a senior from Alpine, Utah.

   After matching par in the opening round with a 70, Gilligan posted a 4-under 66 before closing with a 67. Lamprecht sandwiched a 3-under 67 in Friday’s second round with a pair of 68s. Lundell was in contention for the individual title after firing back-to-back 66s in the first two rounds before closing with a 71.

   Leading the way for Drexel was Jeffrey Cunningham, a senior from West Palm Beach, Fla. who opened with a solid 1-under 68, added a 71 in Friday’s second round and closed with a 73 to finish among the group tied for 65^th place with a 3-over 213.

   Backing up Cunningham for the Dragons was Drue Nicholas, a sophomore out of St. Augustine Prep and Egg Harbor Township, N.J. who finished in the group tied for 96^th place with a 7-over 217 total. Nicholas, whose strong season includes an individual victory in last fall’s ODU/ODX Intercollegiate at the Kilmarlioc Golf Club in Powells Point, N.C., added a 72 in Friday’s second round to his opening-round 71 before closing with a 74.

   Angelo Giantsopoulos, a senior from Canada, finished among the group tied for 115^th place with a 221 total as he added a final-round 75 to the back-to-back 73s he posted in the first two rounds. Giantsopoulos has had a strong senior season, including earning co-medalist honors in last fall’s City 6 Championship at Llanerch Country Club.

   Tayfadzwa Nyamukondiwa, a freshman from Malaysia, bounced back from an opening-round 78 with 74 in Friday’s second round before closing with a 2-over 72 to finish among the group tied for 123^rd place at 224.

   Rounding out the Drexel lineup was junior Liam Hart, winner of the 2017 PIAA Class AAA title as a junior at Holy Ghost Prep. Hart added back-to-back 77s in the final two rounds after opening with an 80 as he finished alone in 141^st place with a 234 total.

   Hart wasn’t the only PIAA champion in the field as Nate Menon, the Class AA champion as a junior at Wyomissing in 2015, competed as an individual for host Stanford and played well. After opening with a 2-under 68, Menon matched par in Friday’s second round with a 70 and closed with a 69 to finish among the group tied for 25^th place at 3-under 207.