Pac-12 Championships
Boulder Country Club (Par-70 • 7,129 yards)
Boulder, Colo.
Friday-Sunday, April 28-30
Live Results • GoStanford.com
Live Stream • GoStanford.com (Friday and Saturday)
Television • Pac-12 Networks (May 7 at 11 a.m. PT)
The Lowdown
• Stanford, the three-time defending league champion, aims for an unprecedented fourth title when it heads to the Pac-12 Championships this week in Boulder, Colorado.
• The Cardinal could become the first program to win four consecutive Pac-12 crowns since Arizona State copped six from 1995-2000.
• Colorado will serve as host of the 58th annual Pac-12 Championships. It's the first time in 45 years the Buffaloes have entertained a conference championship, dating to 1972 when Colorado was a member of the Big Eight Conference.
• The Pac-12 is led by three top-10 teams in No. 1 USC, No. 8 Stanford, No. 10 Oregon, No. 22 Arizona State and No. 25 Colorado.
• According to Golfstat's statistical rankings for average score, six of the NCAA's top 10 individuals hail from the Pac-12 -- No. 1 Wyndham Clark of Oregon (69.54), No. 4 Collin Morikawa of California (69.78), No. 6 Maverick McNealy of Stanford, No. 7 Jared du Toit of Arizona State (69.88), No. 9 Norman Xiong of Oregon (70.14) and No. 10 Sean Crocker of USC (70.15).
• McNealy, the Pac-12 medalist in 2015 and current top-ranked amateur in the world, will look to become the first Pac-12 golfer to earn medalist honors multiple times since Arizona State's Paul Casey won three straight titles from 1998-2000.
• Stanford enters the event having posted a top-four finish in six events on the season. McNealy leads individuals with five top-10 finishes, including his record-tying 11th tournament victory at the Nike Collegiate. He matches Tiger Woods and Patrick Rodgers on the school's all-time wins list.
• McNealy has shot 69 or better in 14 of 23 rounds on the season. Junior Franklin Huang (71.57) and sophomore Brandon Wu (72.00) have combined for nine top-10 finishes.
The Format
• Seventy-two holes of stroke play over three days of competition shall decide the Pac-12 championships. The 36-hole day of competition will fall on the first day of the tournament. The championship will be played in threesomes to ensure competition is completed on time. Boulder Country Club will have a 7,129-yard, par-70 configuration for the tournament, with the elevation at the club of 5,220 feet -- the highest for a men's championship in conference history.
• In the event of a tie for the team championship, NCAA team tie-breaking procedures shall be followed to determine the champion.
• In the event of a tie for the individual championship, a sudden-death playoff shall be held immediately after the conclusion of the final round to determine the champion. If the tie is between members of the same team, the playoff shall be held at the discretion of that team's coach, who shall be allowed to determine whether a playoff shall be held. If a playoff is not held, the individuals shall be declared co-champions.
The History
• Stanford captured the inaugural Pac-12 title in 1960 and has since won the conference championships in 1968, 1970, 1974, 1977, 1992, 1994, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
2016 • The Country Club (Salt Lake City, Utah)
2015 • Palouse Ridge Golf Club (Pullman, Wash.)
2014 • The Gallery Golf Club (Marana, Ariz.)
1994 • Tucson National Golf Course (Tucson, Ariz.)
1992 • Trysting Tree Golf Course (Corvallis, Ore.)
1977 • Stanford Golf Course (Stanford, Calif.)
1974 • Stanford Golf Course (Stanford, Calif.)
1970 • Mira Vista Country Club (Richmond, Calif.)
1968 • Los Angeles Country Club (Los Angeles, Calif.)
1960 • Stanford Golf Course (Stanford, Calif.)
• Stanford holds claim to 22 individual league medalists, tied with USC for the conference lead. The Pac-12 champions to wear the cardinal and white include Pete Choate (1960, 1962), Sandy Adelman (1969), Mike Peck (1977, 1978), Jack Skilling (1980), Don Walsworth (1986), Christian Cevaer (1989, 1992), Tiger Woods (1996), Jim Seki (2002), Andrew Yun (2012), Patrick Rodgers (2014) and Maverick McNealy (2015).
• In 1996, Tiger Woods' 61 at the par-72 Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach, California, was the second-lowest single round score in the history of the Pac-12 Championships. Only Paul Casey's collegiate-record 60 in the 1999 league tournament was lower. Woods fired a Pac-12 Championships record 11-under in his round.
Second in Santa Cruz
• McNealy, Bradley Knox, and Isaiah Salinda finished among the top five individuals and Stanford placed second in the Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club. Stanford (351-347-370) was 18-over in one of the longest-running men's golf championships in the United States, with Pac-12 foe USC winning the event at even-par. McNealy, who won the tournament in 2016, made a run at medalist honors this year but took a step back by going 3-over during his final three holes. McNealy (68-68-74) was fourth at even-par and USC's Justin Suh bested the field at 5-under to take home the title. Salinda (69-66-76) and Knox (71-70-70) tied for fifth at 1-over, with Knox moving up six spots from his standing through 36 holes. Salinda punctuated his outing with an eagle on the par-4, 378-yard fourth hole.
It Was a Good Win
• Stanford punctuated a wire-to-wire lead by holding off No. 1 USC to claim the team title at The Goodwin, its first win on the season and 15th overall in the 49th edition of the event. Stanford (276-288-273) was 3-under overall, nine shots better than second-place USC.
Doubled Down
• Stanford finished tied for fourth among 15 teams at the Southern Highlands Collegiate. The Cardinal fell two spots from its standing after 36 holes. The three-day event at Southern Highlands Golf Course yielded scores of 281-294-298 for the Cardinal, nine strokes over par and matching the output of Pepperdine. Ten of the nation's top-25 teams competed in the event.
Fourth in La Quinta
• Isaiah Salinda and Franklin Huang shelved top-10 individual finishes while Stanford placed fourth at The Prestige at PGA West with rounds of 281-289-291 (+9). Salinda and Huang tied for sixth at 3-under overall. It was the best-ever collegiate finish for Salinda (69-71-70).
Island Living
• Stanford opened the spring season with a sixth-place finish at the Amer Ari Invitational contested at the Waikoloa Kings' Course. The Cardinal went 21-under after rounds of 278-282-283 on the par-72, 7,074-yard track. Maverick McNealy (68-66-68) went under par in each of his three rounds for a 14-under that yielded a fourth-place finish.
Cardinal Does Napa
• Stanford lost to USC in the final match of the Gifford Collegiate Championship at Silverado Resort and Spa. The Cardinal 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.
Late Charge Yields Bronze
• Stanford (293-286-278) teamed to go 7-under for third place at the three-day, 54-hole Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate. Brandon Wu (-6) tied for fourth among individuals after rounds of 73-68-69.
McNealy Ties Record
• In his 2016-17 season debut at the Nike Collegiate Invitational, Maverick McNealy earned his 11th career victory, matching the Stanford record shared by PGA Tour professionals Tiger Woods and Patrick Rodgers. McNealy (68-66-68) was the only player with three consecutive rounds under par at Colonial Country Club, two shots better than Oregon's Wyndham Clark. He helped the Cardinal tie for sixth with USC among the 15-team field.
Swinging In Scotland
• Before the season began, Stanford players trekked across the pond to Scotland to master their craft on some of the world's best courses. The courses played included: Balcomie Links, Carnoustie Golf Links, New Course in St. Andrews, Kingsbarns Golf Links, Cruden Bay Golf Club, Trump International Golf Links, Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, Nairn Golf Club, Castle Stuart Golf Links and Royal Dornoch Golf Club.