Published: Thursday, May 31, 2012, 10:11 p.m.
Husky golf team sixth, match play next
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PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- Washington shot 6-over 290 in the third round of stroke play at the NCAA Men's Golf Championship on Thursday to finish in sixth place and claim one of eight match play spots and a shot at winning the national title.
The Huskies, who shot a three-round score of 872 at Riviera Country Club, face Texas in today's quarterfinals. The Longhorns entered the tournament as the top-ranked team,
Alabma (859), UCLA (860), Texas (869) and California and San Diego State (each at (871) finished ahead of the Huskies in the stroke play portion of the tournament.
This is the third time Washington has advanced to match play at the NCAA Championship. The match play format is just in its fourth year of existence, but the Huskies and Oklahoma State -- which did not advance to the championship -- are the only teams with three appearances.
The Huskies, who began the final round in sixth place, got off to a great start. Eagles by Trevor Simsby and Charlie Hughes, plus a birdie by Chris Williams, moved UW up to third behind Alabama and UCLA, and the Huskies held that spot for most of the day.
UW made the turn at a combined 3-under and birdies by Ty Chambers on hole 10 and Williams on No. 11 kept the Huskies rolling to start the back nine. Then the team faltered. From holes 15 through 18, the Huskies combined for nine bogeys and just one birdie.
"We played the front nine really well and played the start of the back nine real well," UW Coach Matt Thurmond said. "It wasn't as stressful as it often is for me until about the last hour. We started making a bunch of bogeys and it got tight at the end.
"We did a good job today, we really did," Thurmond continued. "The last holes are going to be hard no matter what. Teams are going to struggle on them. We didn't play them very well but we ourselves in such a position that we could afford to do that. We didn't use all our bullets."
Williams, who was named a first team All-American by PING in the awards ceremony following the completion of the round, led the Huskies with a 1-under 70. He ended up a team-best 3-over 216 for the tournament and tied for 21st overall.
"I was feeling good and playing really well," Williams said following his round. "I had a rough three putt on seven, but I came back with a couple pars and a birdie on 11. I was feeling fine and just really ran out of gas down the stretch. I made a couple of bad bogeys and scored par on 17. It was just kind of a frustrating finish."
Cheng-Tsung Pan, who was named to the five-man Golf Coaches Association All-Freshman team on Thursday, was second among Huskies. He shot 72 on Thursday and finished one stroke back of Williams and tied for 29th.
Simsby shot 72 and ended up at 218 and tied for 37th. Hughes tied for 54th with 221 after shooting a 76.
Ty Chambers matched Hughes with a 76 of his own and finished at 234 for the tournament.
With the stroke play portion finished, the Huskies will quickly turn their attention to match play. The eight teams advancing will hold a "pairings party" on Thursday with each coach determining their lineup in a draft-like process.
Thurmond was not giving away any hints as to how he would match up his guys against Texas, but he did say his team would be better prepared than in the past when his team bowed out twice in the quarterfinals previously.
"There are going to be no easy matches and I'm confident that we have done everything we can do to be prepared for match play," Thurmond said prior to knowing that Texas would be his foe. "I think this is a real good match playing team. We're playing very well right now.
"I think any team we get paired against we're going to go 'Oh, they're a really good team' but I guarantee that whoever we get paired against us is going to be thinking 'Oh (no), we've got Washington.'"
The Huskies, who shot a three-round score of 872 at Riviera Country Club, face Texas in today's quarterfinals. The Longhorns entered the tournament as the top-ranked team,
Alabma (859), UCLA (860), Texas (869) and California and San Diego State (each at (871) finished ahead of the Huskies in the stroke play portion of the tournament.
This is the third time Washington has advanced to match play at the NCAA Championship. The match play format is just in its fourth year of existence, but the Huskies and Oklahoma State -- which did not advance to the championship -- are the only teams with three appearances.
The Huskies, who began the final round in sixth place, got off to a great start. Eagles by Trevor Simsby and Charlie Hughes, plus a birdie by Chris Williams, moved UW up to third behind Alabama and UCLA, and the Huskies held that spot for most of the day.
UW made the turn at a combined 3-under and birdies by Ty Chambers on hole 10 and Williams on No. 11 kept the Huskies rolling to start the back nine. Then the team faltered. From holes 15 through 18, the Huskies combined for nine bogeys and just one birdie.
"We played the front nine really well and played the start of the back nine real well," UW Coach Matt Thurmond said. "It wasn't as stressful as it often is for me until about the last hour. We started making a bunch of bogeys and it got tight at the end.
"We did a good job today, we really did," Thurmond continued. "The last holes are going to be hard no matter what. Teams are going to struggle on them. We didn't play them very well but we ourselves in such a position that we could afford to do that. We didn't use all our bullets."
Williams, who was named a first team All-American by PING in the awards ceremony following the completion of the round, led the Huskies with a 1-under 70. He ended up a team-best 3-over 216 for the tournament and tied for 21st overall.
"I was feeling good and playing really well," Williams said following his round. "I had a rough three putt on seven, but I came back with a couple pars and a birdie on 11. I was feeling fine and just really ran out of gas down the stretch. I made a couple of bad bogeys and scored par on 17. It was just kind of a frustrating finish."
Cheng-Tsung Pan, who was named to the five-man Golf Coaches Association All-Freshman team on Thursday, was second among Huskies. He shot 72 on Thursday and finished one stroke back of Williams and tied for 29th.
Simsby shot 72 and ended up at 218 and tied for 37th. Hughes tied for 54th with 221 after shooting a 76.
Ty Chambers matched Hughes with a 76 of his own and finished at 234 for the tournament.
With the stroke play portion finished, the Huskies will quickly turn their attention to match play. The eight teams advancing will hold a "pairings party" on Thursday with each coach determining their lineup in a draft-like process.
Thurmond was not giving away any hints as to how he would match up his guys against Texas, but he did say his team would be better prepared than in the past when his team bowed out twice in the quarterfinals previously.
"There are going to be no easy matches and I'm confident that we have done everything we can do to be prepared for match play," Thurmond said prior to knowing that Texas would be his foe. "I think this is a real good match playing team. We're playing very well right now.
"I think any team we get paired against we're going to go 'Oh, they're a really good team' but I guarantee that whoever we get paired against us is going to be thinking 'Oh (no), we've got Washington.'"
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