AMHERST, Va. — Three-under par performances and a late-round, six-birdie flurry provided an opportunity to extend the postseason for Stanford men’s golf but was ultimately not enough as the Cardinal completed the final round of action from the NCAA Men’s Golf Regional at Poplar Grove Golf Club on Wednesday. Stanford, which shot 1-under for the round, ended the tournament at 13-over and in eighth overall.
The Cardinal entered the third round tied for eighth overall and nine shots back of the cut when it began on Tuesday morning. With every intention to play the round on Tuesday, Stanford battled through the conditions before play was halted - and ultimately suspended - shooting 2-over for the round with golfers spread through the first four holes.
The third round resurgence began in the early hours of Wednesday morning with the Cardinal earning three birdies on hole five, including one from Brian Ma - who slotted in for Kush Arora during the third round - to start the comeback bid. Through the front nine, Jay Leng grabbed his second birdie of the round to shoot 1-under heading into the turn while Ma and Logan Kim shot even to keep Stanford in the mix. Nathan Wang did well to claw back into the round after a double-bogey on three had him chasing through the first nine holes.
Stanford showed its poise on the back nine, however, littering the leaderboard and surging above the cut through 15 holes. Spearheading the surge was Logan Kim, who battled back from a bogey on hole 11 with consecutive birdies on holes 13 and 14. Following him, Leng snagged three birdies after bogeying hole 10 to put him 3-under through 15. Ma and Wang held suit for Stanford, shooting even-par and 2-over as Stanford held on to the final NCAA Championship spot heading into the final three holes.
Though the Cardinal rattled off two birdies as a team through the final three holes, three bogeys kept the Cardinal from moving back in front of the cut line as the rest of the field closed in on the final spot forcing Stanford into eighth place overall.
Jay Leng earned his fourth top-20 finish of the season in his first year with the Cardinal, finishing the tournament at 1-over following his 1-under third round while Logan Kim earned his third-highest finish at a tournament this season, slotting in a tie for 24th at 2-over for the tournament following his 2-under round on Wednesday. Brian Ma grabbed his first sub-70 round of the season on Wednesday in relief, keeping the Cardinal in contention with a 1-under, 69 card during the third round.
Nathan Wang completed his junior campaign on The Farm with his sixth-consecutive top-30 finish, placing 27th overall at 3-over for the tournament. TK Chantananuwat also shot well during the tournament, placing tied for 55th at 11-over for the tournament to wrap up his freshman campaign.