University of Washington
NCAA Regionals
One Stroke Keeps UW Men Out Of Championship
May 21, 2011 | Men's Golf
May 21, 2011
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Washington finished the NCAA Men's Golf Southwest Regional at -7 overall after shooting a 4-under 280 in Saturday's final round, but Arizona rallied late on their home course to pass the Huskies and claim the last of five spots and advance to the NCAA Championship.
The Huskies and Wildcats battled all day and it came down the stretch to determine who would advance to Stillwater, Oklahoma for a chance to play for the national championship.
| 6 | Washington | 279 | 286 | 280 | 845 |
| T7 | Tze Huang Choo (3) | 69 | 70 | 70 | 209 |
| T16 | Chris Williams (1) | 71 | 72 | 69 | 212 |
| T16 | Kevin Spooner (4) | 68 | 71 | 73 | 212 |
| T34 | Charlie Hughes (2) | 73 | 75 | 68 | 216 |
| T45 | Jens Bracht (5) | 71 | 73 | 74 | 218 |
Washington entered the clubhouse tied with the Wildcats, with Arizona still having several holes left to play. The Wildcats got three-consecutive birdies from their No. 1 player Tarquin MacManus, starting at 15 to put Arizona up two strokes. With the Huskies needing him to double-bogey No. 18 to force a tie, MacManus scored bogey to send his team into the championship.
"This is a devastating blow, no matter how you look at it," said UW coach Matt Thurmond as his team headed to the airport for the long trip home. "Not because we should never miss an NCAA Championship...even the best teams do that.
It will be just the second time in Thurmond's 10 years as UW's head coach that his team will not play in the championship.
"It was the way we did it. We played our guts out and played well and with so much passion. We executed big shots when we needed to. To see it come down to one shot and lose it when we played well...it's actually a lot harder."
San Diego State won the team title comfortably at -19. Texas A&M was second at -12, followed by California (-9), Pepperdine (-8) and Arizona (-8). UC Davis' Matt Hansen took medalist honors at -9 to also advance to the championship.
Senior Tze Huang Choo led Washington with a seventh-place finish in the tournament and shot 70 in Saturday's final round. He ended up at 209 (-4) in his final collegiate tournament.
"I'm just really sad for the seniors," said Thurmond. "I really felt like Choo and Kevin (Spooner) deserved to play in the NCAA Championship...and of course the other guys too. But, this was their last chance to play in it and they competed their guts out and played their best tournaments of their careers."
Spooner and sophomore Chris Williams tied for 16th at -1 overall. Williams had his best 18 of the 54 hole tournament, carding 2-under 69 on the last day.
Sophomore Charlie Hughes also had his best day of the tournament, shooting 68. He finished +3 (216) overall and tied for 34th.
Jens Bracht tied for 45th at +5 overall.
Thurmond will lose Spooner and Choo to graduation, but will welcome in Cheng Tsung Pan -- one of the world's top amateur players -- next season.
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| Course:OMNI Tucson National: NCAA Arizona Regional Par 71 - 7199 yards |
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| current position |
team | scoring | rounds | total score |
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| to par | thru | today | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 |
|
-19 | F | -7 | 278 | 278 | 277 | 833 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 |
|
-12 | F | -7 | 281 | 282 | 277 | 840 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 |
|
-9 | F | -6 | 286 | 279 | 278 | 843 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T4 |
|
-8 | F | -4 | 284 | 280 | 280 | 844 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T4 |
|
-8 | F | -1 | 281 | 280 | 283 | 844 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 |
|
-7 | F | -4 | 279 | 286 | 280 | 845 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 |
|
-3 | F | -4 | 284 | 285 | 280 | 849 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 |
|
+1 | F | -5 | 287 | 287 | 279 | 853 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 |
|
+6 | F | +7 | 283 | 284 | 291 | 858 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 |
|
+8 | F | +4 | 280 | 292 | 288 | 860 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 |
|
+21 | F | -2 | 290 | 301 | 282 | 873 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 |
|
+24 | F | +10 | 294 | 288 | 294 | 876 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 |
|
+30 | F | +6 | 302 | 290 | 290 | 882 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 |
|
+51 | F | +11 | 310 | 298 | 295 | 903 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Players Mentioned
