University of Washington
Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational
Williams Ties School Record In Leading UW To Season-Opening Win
September 27, 2011 | Men's Golf
Sept. 27, 2011
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Williams (Moscow, Idaho) shot 3-under 69 to earn his fourth career win and Washington combined to shoot 5-over 293 to win the rain-shortened event over Washington State and Fresno State by six strokes.
"You're supposed to say that (winning) feels just as good, but it doesn't," Husky Coach Matt Thurmond said following his team's fourth win in the event. "There are only six teams here and we only played one day. I felt like there was a lot to lose today, without a lot to gain ... and that's never a good position to be in."
The tournament was scheduled to include 16 teams that would play 54 holes over two days. But, over 1 ½ inches of rain fell on Gold Mountain's Olympic Course on Monday, forcing the cancelation of 36 holes of golf. Ten teams chose to withdraw from the competition, leaving Gonzaga, Fresno State, Santa Clara, Washington State, Pepperdine and Washington to compete for the title.
| 1 | Washington | 293 | 293 |
| 1 | Chris Williams (1) | 69 | 69 |
| 5 | Trevor Simsby (4) | 72 | 72 |
| T8 | Cory McElyea (5) | 74 | 74 |
| T25 | Cheng-Tsung Pan (2) | 78 | 78 |
| T31 | Charlie Hughes (3) | 79 | 79 |
The Huskies struggled early as their top three golfers - Williams, Cheng-Tsung Pan and Charlie Hughes - combined to go 7-over on the first two holes.
Williams uncharacteristically carded a triple-bogey 7 on the par-4 second hole after losing a ball in a sand trap. His drive hit a tree to the left and a fortunate bounce sent his ball into a fairway bunker. He tried to blast his ball out from there, but instead lost it further into the bunker or the high rough surrounding the trap. After a futile search for his ball, he had to re-drop into the bunker.
"It was tough," Williams said about rebounding from his slow start. "It's a pretty easy hole. It is normally a birdie hole. To walk away with a seven was tough."
From there, Williams rebounded nicely. He birdied No.'s 4 and 9 to get to 1-over, where he would remain until going on a birdie tear down the stretch. He birdied four-consecutive holes starting on No. 14 to overtake Washington State's Trent Sanders, who had led most of the tournament.
Sanders ended up in a three-way tie for second at -1 with WSU teammate Jarrett Foote and Pepperdine's Josh Anderson.
"He spotted everyone three shots," Thurmond quipped about Williams.
"He has a different swagger about him now and a new level of maturity. A year ago he would have been so angry he would have shot a 74 or 75. To shoot 69 after a triple on the second hole - that is impressive to come back and beat everybody."
Williams' round may have been remarkable, but it did not come as a surprise. Williams had one of the most stellar summers by a Husky golfer in history. He qualified for the U.S. Open, won two-thirds of the Western Swing and represented the United States in both the Palmer Cup and Walker Cup.
Husky sophomore Trevor Simsby got the new season off to a great start by setting a new career-high with a fifth-place showing. Simsby, playing in the No. 4 slot for the Huskies, shot even-par 72 on the day. He played consistently with just two bogeys that he negated with two birdies and 14 pars.
Sophomore Gerrit Chambers, competing as an individual for UW, was next on the leaderboard among Huskies. He tied for sixth with a 73 - also a career-best finish.
Sophomore Cory McElyea was the only other Husky to finish in the top 10, shooting 2-over 74 to tie for eighth.
Senior Ty Chambers and junior Larry Iverson, each competing as individuals, shot 77 (T19th) and 78 (T25th), respectively.
Pan, one of the world's top amateurs, shot 78 in his college debut. Hughes ended up at 79.
Freshman walk-on Yifan Liu shot 84 in his college debut.
The Huskies are off until playing in the Prestige at PGA WEST in La Quinta, Calif. from Oct. 9-11.
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| Course:Gold Mountain Golf Club: Olympic Course Par 72 - 7124 yards |
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| current position |
team | scoring | rounds | total score |
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| to par | thru | today | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 |
|
+5 | F | +5 | 293 | 293 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T2 |
|
+11 | F | +11 | 299 | 299 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| T2 |
|
+11 | F | +11 | 299 | 299 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 |
|
+16 | F | +16 | 304 | 304 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 |
|
+19 | F | +19 | 307 | 307 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 |
|
+23 | F | +23 | 311 | 311 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Players Mentioned
