Facing rough wind conditions and a difficult golf course, the No.11 Stanford men’s golf team finished fifth with a 22-over score of 1444 in the Pacific 10 Conference Championships yesterday at The Meadow Club in Fairfax, Calif. The Cardinal finished the first two days of the tournament in the top spot but gradually fell in the third and fourth rounds, due partly to high wind speeds and bad luck.

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Jeff Keacher

Stanford finished in fifth place at the Pac-10 Championships after coming into Tuesday’s third round atop the leaderboard. The Card will now look forward to the NCAA Regionals on May 15.

“I think that obviously we were disappointed that we didn’t play better,” said head coach Conrad Ray. “[The] wind conditions and golf course were really difficult.”

No. 2 Southern California finished the tournament in a tie for first with No. 29 Arizona State with a 15-over par score of 1,435. The Trojans managed to beat the Sun Devils in the tiebreaker on the 18th hole, 21-23, to take the Pac-10 title. Third and fourth place were also hard fought with California with an 18-over 1,438 only edging out No.3 UCLA by one stroke to take third.

Senior captain Rob Grube concluded his last Pac-10 Championships with a bang as he led his team the whole tournament. He finished the final round yesterday in a three-way tie for third place with a cumulative one-under score of 283. Even though he was unable to participate in the practice round due to a touch of the flu, he rallied back from his sickness to end day one on a high note in the No. 1 spot individually after firing a four-under 68. Staying consistent and competitive, he finished his final Pac-10 round with a two-over 73.

“We’ve relied on Rob so much this season,” coach Ray said. “Everyone gets shell shocked when he’s not himself, but he really came back to play well for us. He had a great chance to win the individual tournament today, but he had a double bogey on the 17th hole that made the difference. Despite all that, it was a great week for Rob and he made a good showing. This is a great cap to an awesome year for him.”

Sophomore Jordan Cox stepped up his game and finished in a tie for 21st place with a six-over score of 290 for the tournament. Cox, like many other golfers, had a tough time adjusting to the wind conditions in the third round which put him in a tie for 24th. Luckily, he did not let the bad weather get to him, finishing the final round at an even par 71.

Just two strokes behind his sophomore teammate was No. 16 freshman Sihwan Kim. Though he started out slow with an 11-over 224 that put him in a tie for 43rd after the first three rounds, Kim finally became accustomed to the high level of competition and the difficulty of the course to blast a 3-under score of 68 in the final round which put him in a tie for 24th overall.

Freshman Steve Ziegler had a strong showing for his first Pac-10 Championship, ending yesterday’s rounds in a tie for 27th with a nine-over score of 293. Ziegler was on fire on the first day of the tournament, posting a two-under 140 for the first two rounds. He also was able to get a hole-in-one on the 11th hole of the second round. He found himself slipping when the winds picked up for the third and fourth rounds but still made it into the top 30 individually.

Junior Dodge Kemmer significantly contributed to the Cardinal’s success posting a one-under 70 for the first round and two-over 73s in the second and fourth rounds. He had trouble in the third, leading him to score the nine-over 80 that put him in a tie for 38th overall.

Rounding out the Stanford six was junior Daniel Lim. Lim finished up the tournament with a 17-over 301 for the tournament, which put him in 51st place in the individual standings.

Coach Ray was optimistic about the conclusion of the Pac-10 Championships and hopes that playing at such a high level will give his golfers more experience and confidence going into the NCAA Regionals in mid-May.

“We have a young team,” coach Ray said. “We just need to be more consistent. I am looking forward to some of the younger guys stepping up into leadership roles like Daniel and Dodge. Sihwan had a tough week but came back strong in the end. Cox also played well. We have all of the tools we just need to put it all together to earn a great finish.”

The Cardinal is guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Championships but must wait until the field is announced to find out where it will be playing and who it will be facing. After capturing the national title at NCAAs last year, Stanford has high hopes as it looks to defend its championship.