March 4, 2008
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. - The seventh-ranked Stanford men's golf team finished the USC/Ashworth Collegiate Invitational in third place today at North Ranch Country Club as eighth-ranked USC retained their top spot from yesterday and tenth-ranked Tennessee stole into second place ahead of the Cardinal on the back nine of the final round, finishing one stroke ahead of Stanford.
"We were hoping for a better round today," said The Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf and head coach, Conrad Ray. "USC played today to where they gave us a chance to win, but hats off to them for getting it done."
The Cardinal encountered many challenges in the tournament, as gusty winds plagued the course on Monday, and hard, fast conditions prevailed on the greens.
"The course was the story of the week, it was very difficult with the green conditions and we don't play very often in the winds we had yesterday, it was a strong challenge," added Ray. "We dug ourselves in too big of a hole to climb out of."
Stanford finished plus-38 shooting 890, and was led by individual efforts from junior Dodge Kemmer and No. 16 freshman Sihwan Kim. The two tied for third place overall with Tennessee's No. 57 Chris Paisley and Notre Dame's Josh Sandman with a seven-over-par 220 over three rounds of play. Kemmer recorded his best round of the tournament today, shooting one-under-par 70, while Kim's best round came yesterday in the second with a two-under-par 69.
"Those two had a great event," praised Ray. "Dodge played solidly and Sihwan has been consistently good over the last couple of tournaments. It's been great to watch them progress."
No. 52 senior Rob Grube finished in the top-20, tying for 20th with four other golfers and shooting a plus-13 227. Also, freshman Steve Ziegler, competing as an individual, shot an impressive three-under-par 68 today in the third round and jumped 42 places to finish in a tie for 25th with teammate Daniel Lim and three other golfers. Ziegler and Lim finished fourteen-over-par shooting 227.
Stanford will return home to continue working on their game in preparation for the United States Collegiate Championship in Alpharetta, Ga. that begins on March 24.
Final Results - Stanford
USC/Ashworth Collegiate Invitational
North Ranch Country Club - Westlake Village, Calif.
3 Stanford University 305 297 288 890
T3 (#16) Sihwan Kim 78 69 73 220
T3 Dodge Kemmer 72 78 70 220
T20 (#52) Rob Grube 77 76 73 226
T25 Daniel Lim 81 74 72 227
T64 Jordan Cox 78 80 79 237
Individual Competition
T25 Steve Ziegler 82 77 68 227
78 Graham Brockington 86 85 82 253
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March 3, 2008
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. - The seventh-ranked Stanford men's golf team is currently in fourth place after playing two rounds on day one of the USC/Ashworth Collegiate Invitational at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif. They currently trail No. 8 USC by 11 strokes, No. 33 Pepperdine by six, and BYU by one.
The Cardinal finished the first round in second place 21 strokes behind USC, who shot an even 284, as most of the teams struggled to harness the windy conditions that were affecting the flight of the ball. Although Stanford was able to improve in the second round, they dropped to fourth place after the second round was completed.
Stanford shot a 21-over 305 in the first round and a 13-over 297 in the second round. The Cardinal are plus-34 overall and will look to cut that mark down as much as possible in tomorrow's third and final round.
Freshman Sihwan Kim is having another strong outing for the Cardinal, and is tied for sixth with Notre Dame's Josh Sandman. Kim is plus-five after two rounds, shooting 78 in the first round, and a two-under-par 69 in the second. He is only six strokes back from Loyola Marymount's Jason D'Amore, who sits atop the leaderboard with a one-under 141.
Junior Dodge Kemmer is also playing well and is currently tied for 14th with five other golfers, shooting a plus-eight 150 for both rounds.
Stanford's Steve Ziegler and Graham Brockington are also competing in the tournament individually and their scores are not counting towards the team total.