After two tough days of competition at the Fighting Illini Invitational, the Stanford men’s golf team took fifth place, a disappointing result for the No. 1 ranked team in the nation. The Cardinal managed a 36-over-par total of 876 at the Olympia Fields Golf Course in Chicago, Ill., but it could not build up enough momentum to overcome No.7 Oklahoma State, who won the tournament with a 17-over-par 857.

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Senior team captain Rob Grube finished tied for seventh in the individual rankings with teammate Dodge Kemmer in Chicago, Ill., this weekend. It was Grube’s second consecutive top-ten finish after he tied for ninth at the Topy Cup in Japan in early September. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/7901
Stanford Daily File Photo

Senior team captain Rob Grube finished tied for seventh in the individual rankings with teammate Dodge Kemmer in Chicago, Ill., this weekend. It was Grube’s second consecutive top-ten finish after he tied for ninth at the Topy Cup in Japan in early September.

“Our guys were a little disappointed with how we played, but there are a lot of things we can learn from,” head coach Conrad Ray told GoStanford.com.

The individual winner, Oklahoma State’s Ricky Fowler, posted a seven-under 203 and was one of two golfers in the pool of 60 competitors to finish the tournament under par. No. 23 Texas finished second to Oklahoma with a score of 864 with Indiana (870) and No.8 Florida State (874) at its heels to place third and fourth in the team rankings, respectively.

Junior Dodge Kemmer secured the best finish of his career after he moved up three spots yesterday in the individual competition to take seventh place in the tournament. Kemmer was the only Cardinal golfer to nail down a below-par score of 69 for the round. Concluding the tournament with a 7-over 217, he helped the Cardinal maintain its fifth-place position over the many strong teams participating.

Senior captain Rob Grube kept Kemmer on his toes, tying with him in seventh place. It was Grube’s second top-ten finish of the year after three consistent and controlled round scores of 71, 73 and 73 strokes.

Just behind his senior teammate, freshman Sihwan Kim posted a 9-over-par score of 219 to earn a tie for 15th. Kim was tied with Kemmer and Grube after the first two rounds but let his game fall in the third round when he scored a five-over-par 75. Though the Invitational was only his second collegiate tournament, Kim now has two top-25 finishes under his belt.

Also among the top five Cardinal golfers were a pair of sophomores, Joseph Bramlett and Jordan Cox. Bramlett fell ten spots from Sunday and posted a final score of 223, putting him in a tie for 35th. Cox fell five places from Sunday’s position to finish the tournament in a tie for 50th with a score of 229.

This was only the Cardinal’s second team tournament of the year and it is fielding a much younger team than last season. The Cardinal lost seniors Zack Miller and Matt Savage, who were consistent members of the Cardinal roster. The young team is nonetheless playing well for the start of the season, notching two top-five finishes on the season — third place honors at the Topy Cup and now fifth place at the Fighting Illini.

Ray admitted to GoStanford.com that this tournament was a learning experience for the guys to help develop their skills.

“It was a very difficult course, but it showed us that we need to work on our short game and save shots around the green,” he said. “We felt we could have played better, but it’s a good time of year to learn what we need to do to improve and identify what our strengths and weaknesses are.”

Now that the Stanford golfers have gained some experience from these first two tournaments, they will head next to La Quinta, Calif. in two weeks, where they will aim to repeat as champions at The Prestige tournament at PGA West.