NORTH PLAINS, Ore. – Uncharacteristically unranked Stanford characteristically beat six ranked teams while finishing second Tuesday at the Nike Golf Collegiate Invitational held at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club.
No. 7 Oklahoma (-27) won the three-day, 54-hole tournament at the par-71, 7,017-yard track, as the defending national champions traded leads with Stanford throughout the final round. Stanford (-24) was six strokes clear of third-place No. 12 Vanderbilt.
"It was an honor to go toe-to-toe with the defending national champions today," said Conrad Ray, Stanford's Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf. "We had a chance on a really good golf course against a very strong field, and that's all we can ask for. Winning is as a team takes experience, and I think these guys this year are up for more to come."
Among the 15-team field, Stanford (274-273-281), which led after two rounds, also outplayed the likes of No. 3 Wake Forest, No. 5 Florida, No. 17 Duke, No. 20 Texas and No. 23 USC.
This is how you finish a round. ?? pic.twitter.com/2FK05C4JrV
— Stanford Men's Golf (@StanfordMGolf) October 2, 2017
Tuesday's final round featured red scores from Bradley Knox (-3), Brandon Wu (-1) and Isaiah Salinda (-1), with each finishing in the top-30 among individuals.
Wu was tremendous with a second-place 12-under, including an opening-round 65. He was one shot behind Oregon's Norman Xiong (-13) for medalist honors.
Seventh-place Salinda (66-69-70) was 8-under, and Knox (73-71-68) saved his best round for last.
Jeffrey Swegle (70-69-75) tied for 33rd and first-year swinger Ashwin Arasu (73-69-73) was 38th at 2-over.
The Cardinal finished 11th among 15 teams at the Fighting Illini Invitational (Sept. 15-17). Stanford went 290-286-292 for a 31-over at Olympia Fields Country Club. Texas A&M (-3) won the event and Alabama's Davis Riley (-10) claimed medalist honors.
Wu (-3) was Stanford's highest individual finisher, claiming sixth with rounds of 72-68-67. Henry Shimp (+6) was the only other Cardinal in the top-25 (25th after rounds of 70-72-74).
Stanford kicked off the 2017-18 campaign with an 11.5-0.5 decision over Army at the Bush Cup (Sept. 8), contested at the historic Olympic Club. The event featured four foursome rounds played in the morning, and eight singles matches in the afternoon.
Always supporting our teammates. #GoStanford
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Four-Ball
1. Henry Shimp and Ashwin Arasu def. Joseph Gerardi and Max Messner, 3-and-2
2. Jeff Swegle and David Snyder def. Justin Williamson and Gunnar Doyle, 5-and-4
3. Isaiah Salinda and Brandon Wu def. James McKee and Matt Plunkett, 4-and-3
4. Brad Know and Franklin Huang def. Nick Turner and Dean Sakata, 4-and-3
Individual
1. Ashwin Arasu def. Max Messner, 6-and-5
2. Henry Shimp def. Joseph Gerardi, 7-and-6
3. Franklin Huang def. Dean Sakata, 5-and-3
4. Nick Turner halved with Bradley Knox
5. Isaiah Salinda def. Gunnar Doyle, 4-and-3
6. Jeffery Swegle def. Justin Williamson, 6-and-5
7. Brandon Wu def. Matt Plunkett, 4-and-3
8. David Snyder def. James McKee, 2-and-1
Awaiting Stanford later this month is the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate (Oct. 20-22) in Alpharetta, Georgia.