CARLSBAD, Calif. - An incredible run at the NCAA Men's Golf Championships falls just short for Stanford senior Karl Vilips, as he finishes T-8th with a 1-under 282 weekend.
Vilips carded a 1-over 73 in Monday's final trip around Omni La Costa, finishing two strokes behind championship winner Hiroshi Tai of Georgia Tech.
A difficult track all weekend long, Vilips led off his round with a birdie but was unable to gain any strokes beyond that point, as three bogeys on the scorecard kept the Perth, Australia, native from becoming Stanford's fourth all-time NCAA individual champion.
The tournament was there for the taking as the senior made the walk down the back stretch with seven golfers, including Vilips, within a stroke of the lead in the late stages of the round after Tai shot triple-bogey on the 17th.
Teeing off on the 10th hole, Vilips had a few long birdie chances on the more favorable front nine but was unable to get anything to fall as he shot par on holes 1–8.
Needing a birdie on the par-4 9th, Vilips' tee shot found the fairway bunker, thwarting his chances of a lead-tying birdie and instead finishing with a bogey to drop to 1-under.
Vilips finishes his career as the 2024 Pac-12 champion with his only career tournament win, 11 top-10 finishes, and the fifth-best career scoring average in program history with a 71.00.
Finishing No. 10 in the final PGA Tour U rankings, Vilips will now turn his attention to the professional golf ranks as his finish secured him conditional membership on the Korn Ferry Tour as well as fully exempt PGA Tour Americas membership for the remainder of the 2024 season.