University of Washington
Itani Quality Homes Collegiate
Dawgs Respond, Climb To Fifth At Palouse Ridge
September 30, 2014 | Men's Golf
PULLMAN, Wash. – After a disappointing day on Monday, Washington responded in a big way Tuesday, firing the low final round at the Itani Quality Homes Collegiate to charge up the leaderboard to fifth place. The Dawgs began the day in ninth, but after a round of 6-over 286, ended up fifth at 6-over 846 for the tournament.
“Fifth place is never where we want to be,” said head coach Matt Thurmond. “The first day was a real struggle for us, so to leave with the best final round for a second-straight week is good. We'd obviously like those final rounds to be for the win, but I thought it showed a lot of resiliency out of our guys.”
Scoring was difficult all day with cold temperatures and winds gusting up to 25 miles per hour. The tough conditions seemed to suit the Dawgs, who finished with the low final round for the second-consecutive tournament.
“Today was extremely tough, but we were substantially better than most teams,” said Thurmond. “I was proud of that.”
Oregon and USC tied for the overall lead at 6-under with the Ducks winning the playoff. California was the only other team under par. Washington was 12 shots off the lead, but made up six strokes on the final day.
Individually, Sang Lee of Washington State and Cameron Shaw of California tied for the win at 6-under. Frank Garber led the Dawgs, overcoming a poor start to his round to shoot 3-over 73. His round kept him inside the top-10 in a tie for 10th.
“I am really happy for Frank,” said Thurmond. “He earned his first college top-10 and was really solid from the start. He played great yesterday and then today got off to a terrible start, but battled back and showed a lot of resiliency.”
A day after the top two players in the Dawgs lineup struggled, both came back with great final rounds. Corey Pereira was one of only four players to shoot par or better, firing an even-par 70 to finish tied for 34th. Jonathan Sanders was just one stroke off par at 1-over 71 and also ended up in the tie for 34th.
Kevin Kwon was the other score kept by Washington as he fired a 2-over 72. Kwon finished tied for 19th after a steady tournament that ended at 1-over 211.
“I was happy for Kevin who got is second-straight top-20,” said Thurmond. “That was well done by him.”
Chris Babcock rounded out the Husky squad in a tie for 55th after firing a final round 77.
Playing as an individual, Tyler Salsbury had a strong tournament, finishing at even-par for the week. Salsbury fired a final round of 2-over 72 to place tied for 15th and was the top individual in the tournament.
Greg Gildea led the rest of the Husky individuals by finishing tied for 27th. He finished up with a 4-over 74 to complete the week at 3-over. Spencer Weiss (T-55th) and Jordan Lu (T-62nd) completed the Husky squad this week.
The Dawgs have another quick turnaround before their next tournament, the Swoosh Invitational in Fort Worth Texas, beginning October 5. The three-day 54-hole tournament will feature an elite field and also the return of Husky senior Cheng-Tsung Pan who is back from the Asian Games after winning two gold medals.
Players Mentioned
