NAPA VALLEY, Calif. – The Stanford men's golf team lost to USC in the final match of the Gifford Collegiate Championship at Silverado Resort and Spa, as the three-day event concluded Wednesday.
Stanford and USC each won two matches and halved the remaining two, but the Trojans won the tie-breaker (most holes) by a 7-6 margin.
"Our guys battled all week through some tough matches, and in the end to have it come down to a tie-breaker against a very strong USC team was a challenge, but an awesome experience for all of us," said Conrad Ray, Stanford's Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf. "We played some clutch golf when it mattered, and there were a ton of ups and downs. That experience will bode well for what lies ahead."
The event began Monday with stroke play, and Stanford (-21) finished second behind USC (-38).
Facing seventh-seeded South Florida in the first round of match play, the second-seeded Cardinal handed the Bulls a 3-2-1 setback. Jeffrey Swegle (3&2), Maverick McNealy (1-up) and Franklin Huang (4&3) each picked up wins.
The Cardinal won by the same count in the semifinals, this time against Washington. Swegle (6&5) registered a second win, and Isaiah Salinda (6&5) also impressed for Stanford. Brandon Wu (4&3) helped secure the victory.
In the finals, Huang went head-to-head with USC's Rico Hoey, and the two were tied through 16. Hoey took 17 with Huang rallying for a win on the 18th to tie the match. Swegle was 1-down with three remaining, but ended up tying his match. Salinda and Wu suffered setbacks with Badhwar and McNealy signing off on victorious scorecards.
Northwestern and Washington tied for third, Colorado placed fifth, UCLA sixth, Wisconsin seventh and South Florida eighth. Hoey won the individual title at 12-under.
The event was the last outing for the Cardinal this fall. Stanford returns to competition at the Amer Ari Invitational (Feb. 2-4) in Kona, Hawaii.
