NCAA Regionals Ahead For Pac-12 Men’s Golf
SAN FRANCISCO-- Eight Pac-12 Conference men’s golf teams will be in action next week as the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships get underway at six regional sites May 14-16. Representing the Pac-12 will be ARIZONA, ARIZONA STATE, CALIFORNIA, COLORADO, OREGON, STANFORD, UCLA and Conference champion USC.
Raleigh, N.C. – Lonnie Poole Golf Course (Par 71, 7,273 yards)
CALIFORNIA (No. 2 seed) – The Golden Bears have posted seven top-three finishes this season with three tournament titles – Alister McKenzie Invitational, Tavistock Collegiate Invitational and Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate … Pac-12 Coach of the Year Walter Chun has a trio of All-Pac-12 performers in first team selections KK Limbhasut (71.09 avg) and Colllin Morikawa (68.65), and second team selection Sebastian Crampton (70.94). The Bears enter the NCAA Championships as the No. 5 ranked team by Golfweek. Morikawa is currently the top-ranked amateur according to the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR). He has six top-five finishes with medalist honors at the Querencia Cabo Collegiate (-16) and a pair of first-place ties at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate (-14) and Western Intercollegiate (-10). He has posted 69 or better in 21 of 31 rounds.
ARIZONA STATE (No. 4 seed) – The Sun Devils have finished in the top four seven times this season, including three wins – Maui Jim Invitational, Bandon Dunes Championship and Thunderbird Invitational. Most recently, Arizona State is coming off a third-place showing at the Pac-12 Championships. Matt Thurmond’s squad is led by All-Pac-12 first team performer Alex del Rey (70.53), second-teamer Chun An Yu (70.58), and All-Freshman selection Mason Andersen (71.59). Arizona State has captured seven regional titles, second most in the NCAA to Oklahoma State (12).
Stockton, Calif. – The Reserve at Spanos Park (Par 72, 7,239 yards)
STANFORD (No. 3 seed) – The Cardinal have posted five top-five finishes this season behind All-Pac-12 first team selection Brandon Wu (70.50), and second-teamers Franklin Huang (71.15) and Jeffrey Swegle (70.29). Wu and Huang each have six top-25 finishes with three top-10 showings. Coach Conrad Ray’s squads have topped the leaderboard in three of the last four NCAA regionals (2107, 2016, 2014) with one second-place showing (2015).
USC (No. 4 seed) – The Pac-12 Champions have finished among the top five in six of 10 tournaments this season. Pac-12 Golfer of the Year Justin Suh (68.47) has eight top-10 finishes in 10 events, including a school-record five victories – Trinity Forest Invitational, Saint Mary’s Invitational, Amer Ari Invitational, Southern Highlands Intercollegiate and medalist honors at the Pac-12 Championships. Suh is currently ranked the No. 5 amateur (WAGR). Kaito Onishi (71.53) earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors. Coach Chris Zambri led the Trojans to a regional title last season and are riding a streak of three consecutive match-play appearances.
OREGON (No. 5 seed) – Last year’s NCAA runner-up, the Ducks have posted four top-four finishes this year under coach Casey Martin. The Ducks feature a pair of all-conference honorees in Norman Xiong (68.78) and Ryan Gonlund (71.38). Xiong is ranked No. 4 among world amateurs (WAGR) and has seven top-10 finishes this season, including an Oregon single-season record five victories – Rod Myers Invitational, Nike Collegiate Invitational, Duck Invitational, The Goodwin, and Western Intercollegiate.
COLORADO (No. 7 seed) – Coach Roy Edwards has the Buffs coming off their best conference finish since joining the Pac-12 with a second-place showing. Yannick Paul and Ross Macdonald finished tied for second (12-under) at the Pac-12 Championships. Paul (70.50), who took home medalist honors at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational has posted par or better in 23 rounds this season, including 10 of his last 11 rounds. The first team All-Pac-12 selection is riding a string of shooting 69 or better over his last seven rounds
Bryan, Texas – The Traditions Club (Par 72, 7,121 yards)
UCLA (No. 5 seed) – The Bruins have posted nine top-four finishes under coach Derek Freeman, including a victory at the Southwestern Invitational. Cole Madey (71.83) and Hidetoshi Yoshihara (71.83) earned All-Pac-12 second team honors, while Devon Bling (72.39) earned All-Freshman honors. Not only do Madey and Yoshihara share the same stroke average through 36 rounds, but each have posted five top-10 finishes this season.
Kissimmee, Fla. – Reunion Resort (Par 72, 7,154 yards)
ARIZONA (No. 6 seed) - The Wildcats return to NCAA regional action for the first time since 2013. Coach Jim Anderson’s team has posted five top-five finishes this season, including a win at the Arizona Intercollegiate. All-Pac-12 performer George Cunningham (70.19) finished tied for second (12-under) at the Pac-12 Championships and was one of just five golfers to shoot 69 or better in each of the four rounds. In fact, Cunningham has posted 69 or better in nine of his last 10 rounds. He’s collected a win at the William H.Tucker Intercollegiate and a tie for first at the Western Intercollegiate.
Three individuals from the Pac-12 were selected to play in the NCAA Championships – WASHINGTON’s Carl Yuan (71.32) and Henry Lee (72.43) and Utah’s Blake Tomlinson. Yuan finished tied for second at the Pac-12 Championships and earned All-Pac-12 second team honors, while Tomlinson garnered Pac-12 All-Freshman honors. All three will compete in the Stockton Region.
Live scoring will available for all regionals at www.golfstat.com
The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals, which will be held May 25-30, at Kartsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla. (Oklahoma State, host). The Pac-12 has had more teams participate in the match-play format for the NCAA Championships than any other conference with 21 appearances.
Conference of Champions: The Pac-12 Conference has claimed 15 NCAA team titles and produced 18 NCAA individual champions. Since 2003, the Pac-12 has netted four team champions (2004 - California; 2007 - Stanford; 2008 – UCLA; 2016 - Oregon) and seven individual champions (2003 - Alejandro Canizares, ASU; 2005 - James Lepp, WASH; 2007 - Jamie Lovemark, USC; 2008 - Kevin Chappell, UCLA; 2013 - Max Homa, CAL; 2014 – Cameron Wilson, STAN; 2016 – Aaron Wise, ORE).
Hogan Award Finalist: California’s Collin Morikawa is one of the three finalists for the Ben Hogan Award. A Pac-12 golfer claimed the award each of the last six years. The last five winners were Patrick Cantlay (UCLA, 2012), Chris Williams (Washington, 2013), Patrick Rodgers (Stanford, 2014), Jon Rahm (Arizona State, 2015 and 2016), and Maverick McNealy (Stanford, 2017).
Palmer Cup: Morikawa an USC’s Justin Suh will represent the United States, while California’s KK Limbhasut will represent the international squad in the Palmer Cup (July 6-8, Evian Resort Golf Club).
2018 Pac-12 Championship Results
April 23-25, Rolling Hills Country Club – Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.
Final Team Results (Par 71, 7,130 yards)
1. USC......................................... 347-340-351-351 — 1389 (-31)
2. Colorado................................... 348-351-347-347 — 1393 (-27)
3. Arizona State............................ 353-349-341-354 — 1397 (-23)
4. Stanford................................... 346-346-362-348 — 1402 (-18)
5. California.................................. 347-356-350-351 — 1404 (-16)
6. UCLA....................................... 361-349-355-345 — 1410 (-10)
7. Washington State...................... 357-358-342-355 — 1412 (-8)
8. Arizona..................................... 351-350-365-356 — 1422 (+2)
9. Washington.............................. 356-356-353-359 — 1424 (+4)
10. Oregon State............................ 352-360-360-359 — 1431 (+11)
11. Oregon..................................... 358-353-366-358 — 1435 (+15)
12. Utah........................................ 371-345-370-359 — 1445 (+25)
Final Individual Top 10 (Par 71, 7,130 yards)
1. Justin Suh, USC....................... 68-64-65-71—268 (-16)
T2. Yannik Paul, COLO................... 68-69-68-67—272 (-12)
T2. Carl Yuan, WASH...................... 67-68-70-67—272 (-12)
T2. George Cunningham, ARIZ........ 67-67-69-69—272 (-12)
T2. Ross Macdonald, COLO............. 69-69-67-67—272 (-12)
6. Koichiro Ishika, ASU.................. 69-69-66-66—273 (-11)
7. Collin Morikawa, CAL................. 67-71-70-65—274 (-10)
T8. Jeffrey Swegle, STAN................. 67-65-75-68—274 (-9)
T8. Zach Andersen, WSU................ 72-68-65-70—275 (-9)
T10. Franklin Huang, STAN.............. 65-69-71-71—276 (-8)
T10. Cole Madey, UCLA..................... 68-68-70-70—276 (-8)
All-Pac-12 First Team
George Cunningham, Sr., Arizona
Alex del Rey, So., Arizona State
KK Limbhasut, Jr., California
Collin Morikawa, Jr., California
Yannik Paul, Sr., Colorado
Justin Suh, Jr., USC
Brandon Wu, Jr., Stanford
Norman Xiong, So., Oregon
All-Pac-12 Second Team
Chun An Yu, So., Arizona State
Sebastian Crampton, RJr., California
Ryan Gronlund, RJr., Oregon
Franklin Huang, Sr., Stanford
Cole Madey, Jr., UCLA
Jeffrey Swegle, Sr., Stanford
Hidetoshi Yoshihara, So., UCLA
Carl Yuan, Jr., Washington
Honorable Mention: Mason Andersen, Fr., Arizona State; Zach Anderson, Sr., Washington State; Koichiro Ishika, Fr., Arizona State; Ross Macdonald, So., Colorado; Kaito Onishi, Fr., USC; Isaiah Salinda, Jr., Stanford
Pac-12 All-Freshman Team
Mason Andersen, Arizona State
Devon Bling, UCLA
Kaito Onishi, USC
Blake Tomlinson, Utah
Spencer Tibbits, Oregon State
Honorable Mention: Koichiro Ishika, Arizona State; Kaiwen Liu, California
Pac-12 Player of the Year: Justin Suh, USC
Pac-12 Freshman of the Year: Kaito Onishi, USC
Pac-12 Coach of the Year: Walter Chun, California
Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year: John Souza, Coloradox