University of Washington
Pac-10 Championships
Husky Golf Cruises To Pac-10 Title
April 29, 2009 | Men's Golf
April 29, 2009
• Related Content: Pac-10 Tournament Central | Behind the Ropes Blog With O.D. Vincent
• Scoring: Golfstat.com | Final Team Results 
| Final Player Results
• PHOTO GALLERY
SEATTLE, Wash. -- The No. 5 University of Washington men's golf team asserted its dominance at the top of the Pac-10 with an 18-stroke victory Wednesday at the conference championship at Seattle Golf Club.
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"It feels great," Wallace said. "We worked so hard for this all year; I've been working hard myself trying to reach my goals and this was one of them. It's great."
Wallace etched his name in UW history alongside Erik Olson (2005) and Clint Names (1961) who won the individual title along with the team. Wallace is the fourth Husky to win the Pac-10 individual championship -- O.D. Vincent also won it in 1988.
With the title, the Huskies earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals, and will learn Monday at which of the six sites they will play May 14-16. It was the fifth conference championship in program history, and the second in coach Matt Thurmond's eight-year tenure.
The Huskies look to be peaking at the right time this season, as they have won their second consecutive tournament in dominating fashion. Two weeks ago, UW blew away the competition at the U.S. Intercollegiate, a tournament hosted by Stanford and contained nine Pac-10 schools in the 17-team field, winning by 15 strokes.
"It's a really special year with a special group of guys, and I think we're going to do some great things ahead," Thurmond said. "It doesn't surprise me the way they've played. They keep getting better and they keep working harder. And when we need to hit the big shots they always do."
Coming into the final round, the Huskies enjoyed an eight-stroke lead over the Ducks. Paired in twosomes with Oregon the final two days, Washington really shined, hitting shots when they needed to.
"We've got two teams ranked ahead of us - USC and Stanford - and a bunch of other good teams," Thurmond said. "This is the best conference in the country, for sure, and we've been holding our own. It's some impressive play."
Finishing runner-up is junior Nick Taylor at 7-under. Taylor (76-70-67-68 281) made a charge at his teammate, shooting a combined 9-under between rounds three and four, but still came up short. But Taylor wasn't the only player to finish in the top 10, as sophomore Tze Huang Choo was eighth at 1-under. Junior Richard Lee finished in a tie for 11th place at 1-over while Chris Killmer was 24th and Jens Bracht was 38th.
Team Standings
1. Washington 365-360-347-352 1424
2. Oregon 366-363-350-363 1442
3. Arizona State 375-362-356-363 1456
4. Stanford 366-371-359-361 1457
4. Oregon State 364-371-361-368 1464
6. UCLA 371-378-365-352 1466
7. California 372-369-363-363 1467
8. USC 371-374-366-363 1474
9. Arizona 374-375-367-367 1483
10. Washington State 390-378-370-386 1524
Previous Washington Pac-10 Championships
1961 (A.A.W.U), 1963 (A.A.W.U), 1988, 2005
Previous Pac-10 Individual Champions
Erik Olson (2005)
O.D. Vincent (1988)
Clint Names (1961) A.A.W.U.
