JUNO BEACH, Calif. - No. 2 Stanford men's golf defeated defending national champion Texas, 3-2, in the third-place match at The Stephens Cup on Wednesday at Seminole Golf Club. It was a rematch of the 2019 national championship match, which the Cardinal also won at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.
Ethan Ng (Stanford) defeats Keaton Vo (Texas), 2up
Ng fell behind after dropping the second hole of the day, but won the next two to take a 1up lead through four. Wins at No. 7 and 8 gave Ng a 2up lead at the turn, which he maintained until Vo won at No. 13 to cut the Stanford lead to one. Ng went 2up with a win at No. 14, but Vo won the next two holes to tie the match after 16 holes. Ng would close it out with a par and birdie to claim a 2up win and give the Cardinal its first point.
Mason Nome (Texas) defeats Barclay Brown (Stanford), 2&1
Nome maintained a lead throughout after winning the first hole of the day. Brown tied the match at No. 4, but Nome won No. 5 and never looked back to claim the 2&1 win and even the match.
Karl Vilips (Stanford) defeats Christiaan Maas (Texas), 2&1
Much like Nome for Texas, Vilips never trailed in the match. After both players scored par on the opening hole, Vilips won five of the next seven holes and led 5up through eight. After still leading 5up through No. 10, Maas won three of the next four holes, but Vilips matched Maas on each of the next four holes to claim the 2&1 win.
Nate Menon (Stanford) defeats Jacob Sosa (Texas), 1up
What turned out to be the clinching match came down to No. 18. Menon didn't lead until a birdie on No. 15 broke a tie, but Sosa's par on No. 17 tied the match. Menon would win on No. 18 with a par to clinch both his match, and the overall match for the Cardinal.
Travis Vick (Texas) defeats Michael Thorbjornsen (Stanford), 1up
Perhaps the match with the most star power saw Texas' Travis Vick pull out the match with a birdie on No. 18 to earn the Longhorns their second point. Each player led by one hole, but that was the largest margin, through 11 holes, before Vick went 2up on No. 12. Thorbjornsen bounced back with wins at No. 15 and No. 16 to force the match to No. 18.
The Cardinal is back in action next weekend for the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate (Oct. 21-23) to close out its fall schedule.
