Punched Their Ticket

STOCKTON, Calif. - Stanford men's golf is headed to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. following a second-place finish at The Reserve at Spanos Park. The Cardinal finished at 28-under and will be joined at NCAA Championships by Arizona State, BYU, Oregon and Liberty from the Stockton Regional.

"I'm really happy for this team who has battled through a lot of ups and downs this season," Knowles Family Director of Men's Golf Conrad Ray said. "They were super solid coming down the stretch. The last few weeks have been very promising and I'm looking forward to the opportunity in Scottsdale. We've got a team that can make a great run if things go our way. 

The Cardinal got contributions from up and down the lineup all week, never counting a score above even par for any of the three rounds. Stanford was led by Barclay Brown's tie for second (-10) and Michael Thorbjornsen's tie for fifth (-8), but also saw Karl Vilips and Ethan Ng tie for 24th while Henry Shimp tied for 44th in a 72-player field.

"It was a team effort for sure this week," Ray said. "We always say depth is the key to our success and that paid off this week. We also did a solid job executing tough shots when we needed to this week. Having had both 2020 and 2021 affected by COVID, it will be nice to get to Grayhawk, settle in and make a run at the championship without battling a situation out of our control. The guys are excited and feel confident about our chances."

Brown fired three rounds in the 60s (68-69-69) to finish just one stroke off individual medalist honors. He and Shimp missed regionals in 2021 due to COVID-19 testing and contact tracing protocols. Brown led the Cardinal with 37 pars and also added 12 birdies and an eagle on the week. 

Thorbjornsen was also under par all three rounds, firing his best round of the week on Wednesday with a 4-under 68 thanks to two eagles and two birdies. Thorbjornsen had three eagles on the week to lead the field and. like Brown, played the par 5s at 8-under and the par 4s at 4-under.

Vilips had 31 pars on the week, but took advantage of 12 birdies and an eagle en route to his 3-under 213. Ng matched Vilips thanks to 36 pars and 11 birdies. Shimp led the Cardinal with 13 birdies and added 31 pars on the week. 

Stanford will make its 13th NCAA Championships appearance in 17 tries under Ray, who is in his 18th season at the helm. The Cardinal's last apperance came in 2019 at the Blessings in Fayetteville, Ark., where Stanford won its ninth national title of all time. Grayhawk Golf Club will be set up as a par 70 for the men and play at 7,289 yards. Thirty teams qualify on the men's side and all will play three rounds of stroke play (May 27-29) before the field is cut to 15 for the final round of stroke play on Memorial Day (May 30). After 72 holes of stroke play, the top eight teams will advance to match play (May 31 and June 1) to determine the NCAA team champion. 
 

NCAA Regional (The Reserve at Spanos Park, par 72)