After playing 54 holes against some of the top teams in the nation, the No. 8 Stanford men’s golf team finished just eight strokes shy of enjoying its second consecutive Prestige at the PGA West Championship. In the end, No. 1 Charlotte won the tournament after posting a three-round, 10-under-par total of 854.

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Stanford Daily File Photo

Sophomore Joseph Bramlett tied with senior team captain Rob Grube for 11th place, and Stanford finished second at the Prestige at the PGA West. The Cardinal placed four individual golfers in the top 25 at the tournament.

The Cardinal was the only other team to hit the below-par mark, managing a two-under score of 862 to seize second place honors in front of Central Florida, in third with a five-over 869, and Pepperdine and Texas Christian tied at fourth with a score of 876, 12 over par.

Leading the Cardinal to its third top-five finish this season was sophomore Jordan Cox who concluded the tournament in a tie for eighth place. Cox began the tournament at even par on Monday after posting scores of 71 and 73 strokes in the first and second rounds, respectively. He stepped up his game yesterday and jumped seven places after collecting five birdies on the day to earn a final-round two-under-par score of 70. Cox earned his first collegiate top-ten finish and his lowest-ever tournament single-round score this weekend.

“The guys played solidly this week, but we were hoping to defend the title,” coach Conrad Ray said. “I think there were a lot of promising events at the tournament, but the conditions were tough. The way the course was set up made it difficult, but Jordan Cox was able to snag a top-ten finish, which was great for us.”

Just behind Cox were sophomore Joseph Bramlett and senior captain Rob Grube. Bramlett fell two spots after yesterday’s final round to finish in a tie for eleventh with a three-round even-par 216 for the tournament. Bramlett’s best round came in the second when he notched a two-under score of 70, but he could not hang onto his lead in the third round, where he collected a two-over-par score of 74.

Grube remained ranked in the 15th spot throughout the tournament and shot his best score of 70 in the first round of play. Grube, a remarkably consistent golfer, posted three round totals of 70, 74 and 72 strokes to cap off his even-par performance.

Junior Dodge Kemmer concluded day one in a tie for 49th, but shot a three-under-par score of 69 in the last round to move him up 26 places to a tie for 23rd. Rounding out the Cardinal competitors was freshman Sihwan Kim who shot a six-over-par 222 to put him in a tie for 32nd.

Freshman Steve Ziegler competed as an individual in the tournament and moved up nine spots after the final round to tie with Kim for 32nd place. Junior Daniel Lim also competed as an individual and posted a three-round total of 225 to place him in a tie for 54th.

“We are definitely making progress,” Ray said. “The team is really coming together, and the guys are trying to establish themselves on the course. It is only our third event, with two left to go, so we still have a lot of golf to play. Everyone is playing a part and cooking with it.”

Though Stanford was up against seven other top-50 teams, including top-ranked Charlotte, No. 22 Pepperdine and No. 25 Wisconsin, among others, the Cardinal was able to clinch the second-place spot in the tournament and has now jumped seven spots in the national rankings to No. 8. After only its third tournament of the fall season, the Cardinal team seems to have its bearings as it heads into the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational in Florida next week.

“We are looking forward to heading off to Florida,” Ray said. “This will be one of our toughest events in terms of the field; many solid teams will be attending. The Prestige was a good test of our abilities, but we will have to be on top of our game to play well in Florida this weekend.”