STOCKTON, Calif. - Behind matching 4-under 68s from Barclay Brown and Henry Shimp, Stanford men's golf sits in first place following the first round of the NCAA Stockton Regional at The Reserve at Spanos Park. Brown and Shimp are in a four-way tie for first and the Cardinal (10-under 278) leads Arizona State by a stroke. The top five teams and one individual not on an advancing team will advance to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club following Wednesday's round.
"It was great to see a solid team contribution across the board today," Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf Conrad Ray said. "When we have five scores that all have a chance to count in the top four, we've been competitive this year. We've paid some extra attention to ball flight control and putting the last few weeks and it was great to see the guys execute."
All four Cardinal scorers were under par on Monday and all five shot even-par or better. After a bogey at No. 1, Brown was 5-under over the last 17 holes with five birdies and 12 pars. Shimp was 1-over after three holes, but had six birdies, a bogey and eight pars over his final 15 holes to tie Brown atop the leaderboard. Of the Stanford duo atop the leaderboard, Ray said: "Both have been playing well and it was great to see that continue in round one."
Stanford's sensational sophomore duo of Michael Thorbjornsen and Karl Vilips are tied for 19th at 1-under through 18 holes. Thorbjornsen was 2-over through 15 holes, but finished eagle-par-birdie to vault up the leaderboard and end his round on a high note. Vilips was 2-under through two holes on Monday, but sat 2-over at the turn. He tallied four birdies and a bogey on the back nine to close with his opening-round 71.
Although he didn't score on Monday, Ethan Ng fired an even-par 72 with two birdies and two bogeys to sit tied for 30th overall. Stanford is second in the field with 22 birdies, led the field in par 4 scoring (-3) and was tied for first on par 5 scoring (-9).
On his message to the team after Monday's round, Ray said: "There's a lot of golf left to play! We have to stick to a solid game plan and stay positive. Good things will happen if our focus stays on the parts within our control."
The Cardinal will tee off at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday with 2-seed Arizona State and 3-seed Denver. With 36 holes to play, the cut line currently sits at 1-under.
NCAA Regional (The Reserve at Spanos Park, par 72)
| Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Stanford | 278 (-10) | -- | -- | 278 (-10) |
| T1. Barclay Brown | 68 (-4) | -- | -- | 68 (-4) |
| T1. Henry Shimp | 68 (-4) | -- | -- | 68 (-4) |
| T19. Michael Thorbjornsen | 71 (-1) | -- | -- | 71 (-1) |
| T19. Karl Vilips | 71 (-1) | -- | -- | 71 (-1) |
| T30. Ethan Ng | 72 (E) | -- | -- | 72 (E) |