University of Washington
U.S. Intercollegiate
Strong Finish Vaults UW To T-7th Finish In Georgia
October 19, 2014 | Men's Golf
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – A late flurry propelled No. 20 Washington to its best round of the U.S. Collegiate Championship, a 6-under 282, to climb into a tie for seventh. The Dawgs finished at 2-under 862 for the championship, squarely in the middle of the pack in a tournament that boasts one of the best fields of the year.
No. 9 Texas hung on for a one-stroke victory over No. 25 Virginia after both teams shot 11-under for the day. The Longhorns finished at 21-under for the tournament with the Cavaliers at 20-under. Third place went all the back to 7-under and No. 11 LSU as the field was tightly bunched after the first two teams.
Individually, Derek Bard of Virginia took the team title with a scintillating final round of 8-under 64 to finish at 15-under 201 for the week. His Virginia teammate Denny McCarthy of Virginia finished second at 9-under, while Husky senior Cheng-Tsung Pan was tied for third at 7-under.
Pan matched his opening 67 with a final round of 5-under 67 that included an eagle on the final hole to move up into the tie for third. Pan made five birdies, two bogeys and that eagle for his second-straight top-three finish after missing the first two tournaments of the season while he was away at the Asian Games.
“It was another great week for Pan,” said head coach Matt Thurmond. “It may be the strongest field, outside of the NCAA Championships, that'll we play all year. He finished a solid third place.”
Pan was not the only one to finish well as the Huskies played their final hole, the ninth at the Golf Club of Georgia, at 5-under.
“I love how we finished today,” said Thurmond. “No matter where you are in the field, you want to finish well and that flurry on the final hole pushed us up a couple spots and turned a mediocre day into a good one. Our last hole of the fall was probably our best one.”
Corey Pereira joined Pan by making eagle on the last hole to finish at 1-under 71 for his final round. Pereira tied for 39th on the week at 3-over.
Also playing well for the Dawgs was sophomore Kevin Kwon who had a steady day of three birdies and only one bogey. Kwon shot 2-under 70 and moved up to a tie for 32nd at 2-over for the championship.
Tyler Salsbury bounced back from a tough second round with a 2-over 74 for the Dawgs to round out the scoring. He made four birdies and four bogeys on the day, but a costly double-bogey on the par-five 11th accounted for his over-par score. Salsbury ended up 14-over for the weekend and tied for 70th.
Finally, Jordan Lu could not match his great second round, finishing Sunday with a 6-over 78. He ended the week at 9-over and tied for 62nd.
The tournament concludes the fall season for Washington. The Dawgs had their ups and downs, but clearly have the talent and the depth to make another run this spring. The spring season begins on February 5 at the Waikoloa Invitational on the Big Island of Hawai'i.
Players Mentioned
